Transcript Wheat Ridge
Jefferson County, Colorado • Volume 30, Issue 12
September 12, 2013
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A Colorado Community Media Publication
ourwheatridgenews.com
Goff, Reinhart cleared of wrongdoing Probe resolves complaint about viewing sales tax receipts By Vic Vela
vvela@ourcoloradonews.com
State Sen. Pat Steadman, D-Denver, speaks on behalf of a marijuana tax ballot question at a Sept. 4 Capitol press conference. Photo by Vic Vela
Push is on for pot taxes Capitol rally urges voters to approve 25 percent levy
‘I also understand the importance of having the funding available to make sure that our
By Vic Vela
vvela@ourcoloradonews.com Supporters of a retail marijuana tax initiative held a Capitol rally on Sept. 4, urging Colorado voters to back pot sales taxes to ensure that the newly created industry “pays its own way.” The rally served as a campaign kickoff for Proposition AA, which will ask voters to give the go-ahead for retail pot to be taxed at 25 percent this fall, with the revenue going toward school construction and support for industry regulation. Retail pot sales will soon become a reality in the state, thanks to last year’s voterbacked passage of Amendment 64. The Legislature passed pot regulations earlier this year, but voters still must decide whether they will support the taxes needed to fund retail marijuana rules. State Rep. Dan Pabon, DDenver, who played a key role in crafting Amendment 64 legislation, said that unless voters back the pot taxes this fall, “we will have to do one of two things: Take money from edu-
communities are safe and that we build better schools.’ State Rep. Jonathan Singer cation and other programs in Colorado to fund this industry, or we’ll have lackluster or lax enforcement,” “This campaign kickoff is to acknowledge and recognize to the people of Colorado that these taxes absolutely must pass,” Pabon said. Proposition AA will ask voters to approve a 15 percent excise tax and a 10 percent retail tax on marijuana sales. Revenue from the excise tax will go toward public school construction, while the money collected from the retail tax will back the regulations that were enacted by the Legislature. The 25 percent state tax does not include whatever local taxes might be imposed by individual municipalities. Brian Vicente, an architect of Amendment 64, said the taxes are expected to bring in about $70 million in revenue for the state.
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Vicente also reminded voters that only pot-smokers will be required to cough up the tax money. “This is a tax that really would only apply to people who choose to participate in regulated marijuana,” Vicente said. “Those who do not purchase marijuana will not be subject to this tax.” Pot tax supporters were asked whether they had concerns that competing tax questions on this year’s ballot could affect the passage of Prop AA — such as Initiative 22, which will ask voters to support more than $900 million in new taxes to overhaul the school finance system. “I think these issues will rise and fall on their own merits,” said state Sen. Pat Steadman, D-Denver. “I think our voters are discerning.” Steadman also said that voters who supported Amendment 64 last November knew that the pot industry would have to be taxed. Proposition AA supporters also said they were pleased with the federal government’s recent guidance on states that allow legalized pot. The Department of Justice issued a memo saying it would not seek to block recreational pot sales in states that allow it, so long as
the retail pot industry abides by firm state regulations. State Rep. Jonathan Singer, D-Longmont, who sponsored the marijuana tax bill that led to Proposition AA, said the Legislature made “very responsible and very necessary first steps” in making sure the marijuana industry abides by a strict set of rules. Singer, who worked as a drug counselor at Colorado State University, said that he understands “the effects of drugs.” “I also understand the importance of having the funding available to make sure that our communities are safe and that we build better schools,” Singer said. “This is not just about making sure that we are protecting our communities, but making sure that marijuana pays its own way.” The package of Amendment 64 legislation received bipartisan support at the Capitol this year. However, no Republican lawmakers attended the rally. Pabon said his Republican colleagues are “on the record” with their support, and also noted Republican Attorney General John Suthers’ recent endorsement of the pot tax. “As we move forward, you’ll be seeing more and more GOP support,” Pabon said.
An investigation has cleared Wheat Ridge City Councilman Davis Reinhart and City Manager Patrick Goff of any wrongdoing, stemming from a complaint dealing with the viewing and dissemination of sales tax receipts of individual businesses in town. A 25-page report — which was authored by an outside attorney — was released to the Wheat Ridge City Council late last week and was made public during the council’s Sept. 9 meeting. The investigation looked into Reinhart’s and Goff’s roles in the request and disclosure of sales tax information of businesses along the 38th Avenue Corridor. The report determined that Reinhart did not act wrongfully and that Goff “did not intend (to) or commit a willful violation (of city code).” City Attorney Gerald Dahl concurred with the findings of the report and said in an email to council members that he did not believe further action was necessary. However, changes to the city code pertaining to how sales tax receipts are disclosed in the future are expected to come, as a result of the investigation. Reinhart was pleased with the report’s findings. “I am grateful with the outcome of the investigation,” Reinhart, the District I council member, said after the meeting. “The report completely validates what I’ve stood by all along.” The investigation was spurred by a complaint filed by Councilman Joey DeMott in late July. The District IV council member had expressed concern that Reinhart may have used sales-tax information of businesses along 38th Avenue, “to see if business owners had been telling the truth” about losing business as a result of the road diet that was put in place there a year ago. The 38th Avenue road diet, which involved reducing lanes and revising parking spaces on 38th as part of the city’s revitalization, has received mixed reviews. Reinhart supports the road diet, while DeMott has been critical of its implementation. Reinhart acknowledged to city officials in an email last month that he asked Goff for tax-revenue information of 38th Avenue businesses. But he also insisted in the same email that he was not singling out particular businesses in his request and that his sole intention in requesting the information was “to try to understand what types of businesses were being hurt by the road diet.” The report, which was authored by Denver attorney Samuel J. Light, backs up Reinhart’s emailed statements. “…I find Mr. Reinhart did not solicit in his request specific sales tax amounts for individual businesses on the corridor,” Light’s report reads. Reinhart has also said that he shared the tax receipt information with no one, which the report’s findings also back. Light’s report states that Goff provided Reinhart with more detailed information
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