Kodiak eyes 3% marijuana tax

Two Kodiak Island Borough Assembly members have proposed a 3% excise tax on retail marijuana sales that would fund health, housing, and childcare programs. Assembly Members Caroline Roberts and Jeff Woods advanced the proposal.

Woods said the revenue should go "strictly for public benefit, for projects, services, and grants that promote health, safety, and well-being, like education, housing stability, reentry, recovery. Childcare, and quality of life for borough residents."

State law requires voter approval for new sales taxes. The Assembly must introduce the ordinance no later than July 16, and must adopt it by August 6 to place it on the October 6 ballot.

The draft ordinance would establish a Community Well-Being Fund to receive all marijuana excise tax revenue. The draft also calls for the Assembly to review the tax and the fund no later than three years after the effective date to evaluate revenues, administrative impacts, and community benefits.

City of Kodiak sales data puts taxable marijuana sales at roughly $4.5 million to $5 million annually. A 3% tax would yield an estimated $135,000 to $150,000 per year. The borough currently collects no marijuana excise tax.