Michigan Officials Are Sending Nearly $100 Million In Marijuana Tax Revenue To Cities And Tribes Across The State After Record-Breaking Cannabis Sales In 2024
From toxifillers.com with love
Michigan officials have announced that they’re disbursing nearly $100 million in marijuana tax revenue to over 300 cities and tribes across the state thanks to the state’s adult-use legalization law. That’s part of the overall $331 million in tax dollars Michigan is distributing across various initiatives.
The tax dollars will support various local infrastructure, education and other needed services, the state Treasury Department says.
“Starting this week, my team will begin to distribute adult-use marijuana payments to Michigan’s local units of government and tribal partners,” State Treasurer Rachael Eubanks said in a press release on Friday.
“The dollars received from the adult-use marijuana taxes and fees go toward schools, roads and back into Michigan’s neighborhoods,” she said. “Local entities and tribes can spend these dollars however they deem fit for their needs.”
For the first time, following an amendment to the state’s cannabis law, $931,000 is being granted to four tribal governments.
Also, in addition to the nearly $100 million that’s being distributed to localities, the state has sent $116 million to the School Aid Fund for K-12 education and $116 million to the Michigan Transportation Fund.
“Municipalities, counties, and tribes certainly benefit from their local cannabis businesses in many ways, including good-paying jobs, community involvement, and increased revenues for important priorities in their budget,” Cannabis Regulatory Agency (CRA) Executive Director Brian Hanna said. “This portion of the excise tax revenue makes a direct impact in the communities where our licensees work and live.”
The tax revenue supporting these disbursements is the result of a record year for marijuana sales in Michigan, with over $10 billion in adult-use cannabis products sold in 2024.
Despite dropping prices and at least some slowdown in sales by dollar amount, Michigan nevertheless also set a few monthly sales records in 2024, hitting nearly $289 million in March and more than $295 million in August.
This latest revenue distributions, accordingly, exceeded that of last year’s, when officials announced they’d granted more than $290 million in marijuana tax dollars to localities, public schools and a transportation fund. A total of 269 municipalities received $87 million, while education and transportation efforts got $101.6 million.
And even that represented a substantial increase in cannabis tax-funded disbursements that are required under the state’s adult-use legalization law. In 2022, Michigan distributed about $150 million total to the three funding buckets, for example.
State officials said in late 2023 that tax revenue from legal marijuana grew by 49 percent compared to 2022, surpassing the amount of revenue made from alcohol sales. Marijuana sales incur a 10 percent excise tax—among the lowest rates in the nation—as well as a 6 percent state sales tax.
Also, late 2023, CRA announced the launch of a new social equity grant program that will award $1 million to eligible marijuana businesses for education, business needs or community reinvestment.
Elsewhere in Michigan’s legal cannabis landscape, a change approved by the state Civil Service Commission took effect in October 2023 to end pre-employment marijuana testing for most government employees. The shift also gave people who’ve already been penalized over positive THC tests an opportunity to have the sanction retroactively rescinded.
That same month, Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D) signed a pair of bills into law to allow state-licensed marijuana businesses to conduct trade with tribal cannabis entities. Both took effect immediately.
Meanwhile, the Michigan Chamber of Commerce said in January 2024 that a rash of recent break-ins at legal marijuana retailers in the state underscores the need for federal cannabis banking reform, which the group says would reduce the risks of theft and fraud that stem from the industry’s current reliance on cash.
Last year, lawmakers also took steps to align the state’s medical marijuana regulations with the adult-use market.
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