Notice is hereby given by the persons whose names appear hereon of their intention to circulate a petition within the Monterey County Regional Fire District (“MCRFD”) for the purpose of qualifying for the ballot an initiative measure entitled “Save Monterey County Cannabis Businesses & Jobs.” A statement of the reasons of the proposed action as contemplated in the petition is as follows:

As reported in numerous national media outlets, California’s cannabis industry is being strangled by costly regulations and high taxes which are driving many legitimate businesses to the brink of insolvency and empowering a surging black market.

In 2018, through Measure H, the governing board of the Monterey County Regional Fire District imposed one such tax – a permanent and onerous annual special tax on commercial cannabis business activity, including cultivation, processing, manufacturing, transporting, distributing, packaging, delivering, and selling.

The expectations of raising high levels of tax revenue from cannabis businesses has proven unrealistic and unsustainable. Monterey Countyhas drastically lowered its initial annual tax for cultivation and halted annual increases. The State has also eliminated its cultivation tax. Yet the MCRFD’s onerous tax remains in place.
This tax is unfair, unnecessary, burdensome, and driving otherwise viable cannabis enterprises out of business. It should be repealed in its entirety, as proposed in this initiative petition, to keep these jobs and businesses viable.