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Rifle voters approve tax on marijuana growing operations

Heidi Rice
hrice@citizentelegram.com

RIFLE — Voters here overwhelmingly approved a 5 percent excise tax to be levied on retail marijuana growers in the city.

Voters approved the measure 1,141 (62.8 percent) to 677 (37.2 percent).

Although the Rifle City Council has so far prohibited any recreational retail marijuana businesses in the city, four retail growing operations are allowed to sell outside of city limits.



“The voters have made their choice on the ballot issue,” Mayor Randy Winkler said. “There is no way to tell how much tax revenue it will generate because we have no idea what amount of grown marijuana is leaving Rifle.”

The ballot question asked whether the city’s taxes should be increased by $250,000 beginning in 2015 by imposing the 5 percent excise tax of the market rate of retail marijuana to a retail marijuana product manufacturing facility, retail marijuana store or cultivation facility.



The city does have four operating medical marijuana businesses in the downtown area.


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