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SANTA CRUZ — In a flurry of cannabis-related activity, Santa Cruz County Supervisors endorsed a state bill to lower the statewide pot tax, sped along a local cannabis equity program and weighed changes to local licensing fees and signage regulations Tuesday.
The state legislation, Assembly Bill 286, would lower California’s cannabis excise tax from 15 percent to 11 percent until June 2022 to give the legal pot sellers more leeway to compete with a persistent black market.
4th District county Supervisor Greg Caput was alone in abstaining from endorsing the bill. “The concern I have is we are reacting to the black market,” he said. “It’s like the black market is telling us what to do.”
