These cities around KC will vote on local weed taxes in April. How the rates would work

Cities and counties across the state are gearing up for the rollout of recreational marijuana sales by having voters decide whether or not to add an additional 3% local sales tax on the substance.

Kansas City, Belton, Raymore and Kearney, to name a few, will be adding a question to the April 4 general municipal election ballot.

In Kansas City alone, Mayor Quinton Lucas and city officials hope that the additional 3% tax would lead to an average of $3 million in revenue in the first year and $10 million by the fifth year of taxing the recreational drug.

These additional local sales taxes would be on top of the 6% state sales tax on recreational weed. They would also be on top of already existing sales taxes.

So how much extra will my weed be taxed all together?

Recreational marijuana is slated to start hitting the shelves in newly licensed facilities as soon as February. When that happens, many local and county taxes will not be in place yet, since those tax rates will be determined in the April 4 general municipal elections.

So, if you plan to buy any flower between February and April, you would pay state, local and county retail taxes plus the state’s additional 6% sales tax on recreational weed, but you wouldn’t pay any new local weed taxes yet.

For example, people buying recreational weed in Kearney in February will have to pay the city’s 3% regular sales tax, Clay County’s 1.12% regular sales tax, Missouri’s 4.23% regular sales tax, plus the added statewide 6% sales tax on recreational weed. If Kearney voters approve the added local 3% tax in April, those buying weed would pay more than 17% in sales taxes, according to Kearney’s city administrator Sheila Ernzen.

In Kansas City, the additional 3% sales tax would be in addition to the city’s 10.85% sales tax. So a regular consumer could see nearly 14% in city sales taxes alone if the ballot question is approved.

Jackson county is considering a 3% countywide tax as well though. The county legislature will decide on Monday whether to add a weed tax question to the spring ballot.

Which cities will be putting a 3% local weed tax on the ballot this spring?

Voters in Belton, Grandview, Kansas City, Kearney, Liberty, Raymore, Raytown, Riverside, Smithville can all expect to see a marijuana sales tax ballot question in the April 4 election.

Other surrounding municipalities like Jackson County, Blue Springs, Gladstone, North Kansas City, Lee’s Summit and Independence will decide on whether to add the local weed tax question to the ballot in the upcoming days. The deadline for cities to decide to add the question to the ballot is next week on Jan. 24.

What will cities do with that extra tax revenue?

In Kansas City, the additional money would go through the city’s health department and would be put toward city clean-up efforts, homelessness prevention and violence prevention, according to Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas. Cities like Raymore and Smithville will put the extra revenue into the city’s general fund.