County holds hearing on marijuana sales tax

The Hill County Commission held a hearing Wednesday evening on the prospect of implementing a 3 percent sales tax on marijuana products sold in the county - which will be a question on November's election ballot in Hill County - and what money from such a tax would go toward.

The commission attempted to hold a similar hearing last week but due to it not being properly noticed to the public it only attracted two attendees, Hill County Commission Executive Assistant Sheri Williams and Hill County resident Les Odegard, who are both running for a seat on the Hill County Commission in this year's election, as a Democrat and independent respectively.

Hill County Commissioner Diane McLean, a Republican, is running for reelection and also attended the meeting.

Fellow commissioner Mark Peterson and Jake Strissel, Hill County Treasurer Sandy Brown and Hill County Deputy Clerk and Recorder Lexis Dixon, who is unnopposed in her bid for clerk and recorder in the general election, also attended.

Other than Odegard only one member of the public who doesn't work for the county attended, Linda Hoines.

Strissel, who led the meeting, said that the tax would bring in a substantial amount of money to the county, calculating that, had it been in place since the beginning of the year, it would have collected $85,000 so far.

He also said he once again wants to stress that the tax only applies to people actually buying marijuana products, so if someone isn't using it, they will not be paying anything.

The meeting mostly revolved around discussion of the tax money's use, and two schools of thought seemed to emerge from the discussion, whether the tax should go to the departments most affected by legalization, or whether it should go toward improving the county as a whole.

Strissel read a letter from Hill County Sheriff Jamie Ross which requested that the money go toward his department, for staff, equipment and training, the county attorney's office for prosecution of offenders and providing services to victims of drug crimes, and the county health department for education on the dangers of drug use.

Ross letter said that many, if not most crimes, they investigate are in some way drug- or alcohol-related, and the vast majority of the people they interact with on a daily basis are under the influence or are dealing with the long-term effects of addiction.

Odegard and McLean agreed with Ross' evaluation and Strissel said he's spoken to addiction counselors throughout the county and they have seen an uptick in people coming in for addiction treatment since the drug became legal.

Williams said the people who have come to her have mostly said the same as Ross.

Lindsey Ratliff, a member of the Havre City Council, also sent a letter supporting use of the money for addiction treatment and educating young people on THC abuse.

"Hill County needs to take advantage of dollars taxed from this lucrative industry and put them to work as the community needs."

On the other hand, Brown and Hoines said they feel the money should be used for the betterment of the county as a whole, not just for a few departments.

Brown said the health department already receives money for treatment and education programs and she's not sure that's the best use for the money on the county level.

Hoines said she supports efforts to curb addiction and drug use, but feels strongly that everyone should benefit from the tax by using it for something like road improvements.

Hoines said she also wants to see data from the sheriff's office about how much their work has been affected by the legalization of marijuana and most at the meeting agreed that they'd like more information on how departments would use the money they get from the tax.

Strissel said the younger people he's heard from have said much the same, with their primary concerns being road conditions and the general cleanliness of the area, but he's also heard from others more in line with Ross' opinion.

He said he thinks using the money for the betterment of Hill County as a whole is best practice, but what that looks like is up for debate.

Peterson said he received a text asking that the tax go toward replacing the Beaver Lodge at Beaver Creek Park.

He also said the use of the money from the tax could be reevaluated every year, and Strissel said he liked the idea.

"Our needs are ever changing at the county," Stissel said.

Another subject of discussion was whether medical and recreational marijuana products should both be taxed and at the same rate.

Strissel said he's gotten a fair few people who want them separate, but the resolution to put the question on the ballot has them both together like most counties that voted for the tax.

He said of the 26 counties where it is legal, 24 voted to tax both at 3 percent.

Ratliff's letter said she supports the tax overall, but doesn't think they should be at the same rate, and Hoines agreed, saying a lot of medical users may not have a great amount of money to pay for the increase.

Odegard disagreed and said he thinks they should be taxed at the same rate.

The next hearing will be Tuesday Oct. 4.