Menominee County will also receive marijuana tax money

MENOMINEE — Menominee County, like the city of Menominee, will reap a benefit from cannabis taxes.

The county will receive $295,431.75 in state tax money by virtue of having five cannabis dispensaries open in 2023.

The Michigan Treasury Department announced earlier this month that about $290 million is coming from state taxes on adult-use marijuana products. Out of that Marijuana Regulation Fund total, $101 million each is going to the School Aid Fund for K-12 education and to the Michigan Transportation Fund.

That leaves about $87 million to be distributed among local municipalities, which receive approximately $59,000 for each dispensary within its limits. For Menominee County that’s five dispensaries at $59,000 each for a total of roughly $295,000. The city received the same amount.

The Board of Commissioners was going to vote on a budget amendment tonight (Tuesday) to officially accept the money.

County Administrator Jason Carviou, this afternoon (Tuesday), said the only action by the board is to receive the money and get it into the budget.

“Basically just bring it in and park it in the general fund with no plans,” he said.

Carviou said the county didn’t budget for any marijuana tax revenue because the status of the dispensaries was unclear.

“We didn’t budget for it in this current budget year because we didn’t know what was happening with the city of Menominee and the lawsuits and the licenses,” he said.

He said it wasn’t clear if the shops had to be open or just licensed in order for a municipality to receive tax money.

“We were just sort of going with the flow for this year to see if any (money) came in, and if it did, how much would come in, and we can plan better in the future,” Carviou said.

Regardless, he said, any additional money is positive for the county.

“Any time we bring in additional revenue, it means we can provide more services and stuff for the community, so that’s always good,” Carviou said.