Village of Marathon Board of Trustees. (Photo Source: Kevin L. Smith/Cortland Voice).
The village of Marathon Board of Trustees voted in favor to prohibit marijuana-based dispensaries and on-site consumption establishments at its meeting on Wednesday.
The village board voted 5-0 to opt out of allowing on-site consumption establishments. The vote for dispensaries was 4-1, with Rosemarie Fralick the lone board member voting against prohibiting dispensaries in the village.
In March, New York state legalized the recreational use of marijuana for adults 21 or older. The state is giving municipalities until Dec. 31 of this year to opt out of allowing marijuana retail sales and on-site consumption establishments.
If municipalities don’t take action, dispensaries and on-site consumption establishments are automatically legal at the beginning of next year. If a municipality chooses to opt out before the year-end deadline, it can opt in at any time in the future.
Village mayor Bill McGovern gave the board a month to research and review information from the state’s marijuana regulation and taxation bill, and public input from the hearing held at the Aug. 4 meeting.
Before the public hearing on Aug. 4, McGovern noted a drafted local law was in place to opt out of both parts of the MRTA bill.
At Wednesday’s meeting, McGovern’s stance on prohibiting dispensaries and on-site consumption establishments did not change.
McGovern expressed concern for the state’s newly arranged office of cannabis management, citing that the agency has “not been put in place yet.”
“It leaves a large gap in the processes,” he said. McGovern noted the lack of a staff at the developed agency, but Gov. Kathy Hochul did, however, appoint the staff on Thursday.
Board member Ralph Canfield, a former treasurer for Cortland County, crunched sales tax revenue numbers in relation to the MRTA bill.
According to distribution rates as of this week, Canfield said the village would receive 1.25% from the county from the sales tax revenue generated from marijuana-based retail sale businesses.
“And this is based on what is sold within the village or town (of Marathon),” Canfield said, who noted the percentage breaks down to 2.5 cents on every retail dollar.
McGovern mentioned that if the town and village of Marathon both opted in to allowing dispensaries and on-site consumption establishments, revenue could be distributed upon an agreement between the two areas. If an agreement does not exist, the revenue would be split.
Based on Canfield’s calculations, he added if the village and town allowed marijuana-based retail sales, the areas would get a combined $1,000 every year. This means the village would only get $500 of the cut, Canfield said.
“This is not a monstrous revenue generator for the village,” he added. “We’re not going to set the world on fire unless we become the cannabis capital of Cortland County.”
Canfield noted the state and county will “make out really well,” since they would end up with “almost all of the sales tax revenue” generated from the marijuana-based businesses.
“They’d get a piece of the retail-to-distributor rate and take a piece of the sales tax (revenue) from retail-to-consumer,” he said.
Canfield added that these newly developed businesses aren’t “going to be much of a revenue generator now” for most municipalities, including the village.
“And it won’t be for a while until the state has a good handle on their newest agency,” he said.
Board member Scott Chamberlin, who voted to opt out of parts of the MRTA bill, wants to see village residents vote on the matter in the general election this November.
For the topic to appear on the ballot, the matter would go through a permissive referendum since the deadline for a mandatory referendum was in August. A village resident would have to get 20% of signatures from registered voters for the issue to go to a referendum and appear on the ballot.
