Being the dope capital of the Midwest finally pays off—in tax dollars.
Of the state’s $150 million in taxes on $1.1 billion in pot sales last year, $49.3 million went to the Michigan Transportation Fund and an equal amount went to the School Aid Fund. But $42.2 million is being distributed among the state’s county and municipal governments—and Washtenaw County is getting by far the biggest share.
The county got a bit more than $600,000 last year, “but this year it is close to $1.8 million,” says county administrator Greg Dill.
The county spent $230,000 of last year’s money supporting “equity work, and the rest we allocated as part of our year-end surplus,” Dill explains. “We hired an equity officer in 2017, and we are working on strategies and solutions to make the county organization a more equitable place to work and our service delivery models are more equitable models across the whole of the county.”
Board of commissioners chair Sue Shink says they chose equity because of “the demographics of people who have been impacted by the legal system and particularly in relation to use of substances like marijuana—it seemed appropriate to use the money to further racial equity in the county.” Equity officer Alize Asberry Payne now leads a collaborative effort with the sheriff, treasurer, prosecutor, and public defender on fine and fee reform.
“Overwhelmingly, poor people and poor people of color are impacted by the criminal legal system,” Shink explains. “And the fine and fees are regressive, and they add an additional punitive layer. If people are poor, a lot of times they just can’t afford it. [And] we know that a lot of people are probably still serving time for having been caught with marijuana.
“Now it’s a different demographic,” she continues. “It’s a wider demographic of people who are making money off of this legal marijuana. And we wanted to do what we could to recognize the disparate impact that the legal systems had on people of color.”
As for the vast majority of this year’s pot tax money, Dill figures what “the board of commissioners would be comfortable with—and this is not a recommendation at this point—but my guess is something that supports the work of public health or community mental health.”
Though Dill reckons pot tax money will continue to increase as more folks realize legal pot is cheaper than illegal pot, he says they are only projecting “a steady stream. We’re super conservative with our numbers on the front end until you have some kind of trend analysis …
“Over the next few years, we’ll start to see what those trends look like and then settle in on a number that we think is comfortable, reasonable, and appropriate for our circumstances.”
So far, the trend is overwhelmingly positive. While less than a third of Michigan pot purchases were legal in 2020, according to BridgeMI.com, that number jumped to 56 percent by the end of 2021. A huge drop in prices fueled the increase: while an illegal ounce retails at $500, a legal ounce costs $130. While that’s stressing sellers, it’s also boosted sales—and the county’s revenue.