How High? Gallatin County Voters to Decide on Local Marijuana Tax

The sale of recreational cannabis was officially legalized in Montana on January 1, and the state already imposes a 20% tax on recreational cannabis. Medical patients are required to pay a 4% tax.

The Gallatin County Commission recently announced that two local-option marijuana taxes will be added to the primary election ballot this year.

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The two questions below will be added to the June 7 ballot and voters in Gallatin County will decide whether or not the local taxes get approved in the county.

• A 3% local-option sales tax on all non-medical (recreational) marijuana products sold in Gallatin County.
• A 3% local-option sales tax on all medical marijuana products sold in Gallatin County.

If approved, recreational and medical customers will pay a little more for cannabis products at dispensaries in the county. State law does not allow county governments to impose similar taxes on any other product.

In November 2020, Montana voters passed Initiative Measure 190. The initiative passed in Gallatin County with 65.6% of the vote.

This is a really unique, brand-new feature in state law and that’s the reason we have this opportunity to even put this question in front of the voters. We’re not making this decision on behalf of the voters. The voters get to weigh in.

said Gallatin County Commissioner Zach Brown.

If voters in Gallatin County approved a local-option marijuana tax, 50% of the tax must be retained by the county, 45% apportioned to the cities and towns in the county based on population, and the remaining 5% given to the Montana Department of Revenue to defray state costs associated with the tax.

If passed, the local-option taxes would go into effect on Oct. 1, 2022. Gallatin County Commissioners say that, if passed, they will use the county’s portion of the local taxes to fund mental health services.

Other Montana counties that have already asked voters to decide on similar local-option marijuana taxes include Yellowstone, Missoula and Park counties. Lewis and Clark County has opted to also put questions on their June ballot. And Butte-Silver Bow is also considering the ballot questions as well.

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