Counties Press Cannabis Officials to Fix Sales Tax Process to Support Local Distributions

County leaders and finance officers are calling on the New York State Office of Cannabis Management (OCM) to address serious deficiencies in providing counties with the necessary information to distribute local cannabis tax revenue to municipalities.
 
At the annual county finance school in Warren County this week, county treasurers, comptrollers, finance officials and budget officers voiced frustration with a cannabis tax distribution process that puts counties in between the state and the municipalities that host marijuana retailers. 
 
Under the Marihuana Regulation and Taxation Act (MRTA), counties are responsible for distributing 75% of the local 4% cannabis excise tax to cities, towns, and villages where dispensaries are located, but many counties have not received timely and complete sales information from OCM needed to fulfill this obligation.
 
According to the MRTA, counties must distribute cannabis tax money they receive quarterly within 30 days after receipt from the State Comptroller. However, counties have faced persistent challenges in receiving the required sales breakdowns from OCM, which are necessary to determine how much money each municipality should receive.
 
"County officials have repeatedly reached out to OCM for guidance with limited response," said NYSAC President Benjamin Boykin II. "This communication breakdown threatens to undermine public trust in the entire cannabis program and creates unnecessary friction between counties and municipalities."
 
The tax distribution process is meant to work sequentially: dispensaries report taxes to the Department of Taxation and Finance quarterly, the Office of the State Comptroller disburses funds to counties, OCM provides sales information to counties, and then counties distribute payments to municipalities. This system breaks down when counties do not receive the necessary sales data from OCM.
 
"Counties have worked in good faith to implement the state's vision for a legal cannabis market," said NYSAC Executive Director Stephen J. Acquario. "In return, we expect state agencies to fulfill their obligations to ensure the tax benefits reach the communities hosting these businesses. We're calling on OCM to immediately address these information gaps and establish reliable protocols for sharing sales data with counties."

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