GREENFIELD — When customers go to purchase recreational marijuana in the city on July 1, they can expect to pay a little bit more.
The City Council voted to approve an option offered by the state, adding an additional 3 percent tax on recreational marijuana sales. According to city officials, though, the total revenue from the tax is uncertain and the money generated is not yet earmarked for any specific funds or projects.
The 3 percent tax — the maximum local tax allowed by the state — will bring the total tax on recreational marijuana sales to 20 percent. The remaining 17 percent is made up of a 6.25 percent state sales tax and a 10.75 percent special excise tax enacted by the state.
According to Mayor William Martin, early estimates from the state project $75,000 per recreational marijuana facility to be generated for the city, though he believes that number could be much higher.
Finance Director Elizabeth Braccia, however, said that she is uncertain the amount that could come from the tax until the money actually comes to the city.
“We don’t know how much is going to come in,” she said. “It could be tons of money, it could be less money.”
The city is currently slated to have one recreational marijuana sales facility, Patriot Care, when a moratorium on recreational sales ends July 1. Before that, though, Patriot Care is expected to begin medical marijuana sales next month.
Martin said that the city also has at least one business that is in the process of filing paperwork for recreational sales in the city, and his office has received three inquiries from others looking into the possibility of opening a location the city.
According to Martin, the money received from the tax will eventually go into Greenfield’s general fund and will be similar to the city’s local option taxes on both meals and lodging.
City Council voted to accept the option during their meeting last week.