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Low wholesale prices have made it almost impossible for operators to run a profitable small business, pot industry insiders say.

Cannabis companies not paying their taxes; going out business do to their own neglect.

The Board of Supervisors approved a 45% tax reduction for cannabis operations, taking $800K from county revenue for the 2021/2022 fiscal year. Now, instead of the County funding essential services from cannabis tax revenues, as was promoted in Measure A (the legislation that legalized cannabis in Sonoma County), taxpayers will be shouldering the cost of the cannabis program instead.

In their ability to weather the emerging cannabis market, Sonoma cannabis operators share many similarities with Humboldt’s growers. Humboldt just approved an 85% tax reduction for growers -- erasing $13M from their budget. Instead of cannabis subsidizing communities, taxpayers will now be subsiding unprofitable, uncompetitive cannabis cultivation -- and living with worse enforcement.

Despite firestorms and a pandemic that have kept customers away from Sonoma County businesses, no special tax treatment has been proposed for our hotels, restaurants, or grape growers.