By Cheryl Jahn

FCM Wants A Third Of Cannabis Tax

Dec 7, 2017 | 1:11 PM

Though the legalization of marijuana is not expected until July of next year, municipalities are putting themselves front and centre. They have told the federal Finance Minister that communities want a third of the taxes generated through the sale of cannabis.

“We’ve done the preliminary math on it and, we’ve got another seven months before we have all the details  on how this is gonna roll out on a province-by-province basis, but even preliminary details show that it’s going to cost municipalities $210 amd $355 million,” says Garth Frizzell, Second Vice-President of the FCM.

Federal estimates have the federal government getting $620 million dollars a year is taxes collected from ythe sale of cannabis.

“You take a third of that and it’s just below the least amount [municipalities] for the cost of administration and policing.”

In fact, the FCM maintains the legalization of cannabis will impact 17 different departments in some City Halls.

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“It’s not just policing. What does this mean for our bylaws, for our business licencing? What does this mean for zoning, for community plans? It goes right down to the details around social issues, too.”

The federal government has indicated it will help municipalities, but has been lean on details.