Nearly a year and a half after St. Joseph voters approved a 3% tax on recreational marijuana sales, data is shedding light on how much the tax is generating for the city. As of September 2024, St.
Joseph had received nine months of marijuana sales tax revenue totaling $678,630.61, according to city Finance Director Dawn Lanning. The $678,630.
61 was captured from sales beginning in October and November of 2023 — when the tax officially went into effect — through July of this year. This table shows recreational marijuana sales tax amounts on a month-to-month basis beginning in October 2023, when the tax went into effect. A gap exists between when the actual sales occurs and when the city receives tax revenue from the Missouri Department of Revenue.
A notable gap exists between when the sale occurs and when the city actually receives taxes on it from the state. "Businesses will actually collect the tax in October, November (for example) Missouri's Department of Revenue will receive it in December and then the city saw the first marijuana tax revenues actually in January of 2024," Lanning said. St.
Joseph's tax on recreational marijuana was voted into law in April 2023 when just over 84% of voters in the election — roughly 4,620 people — approved the proposition. Buchanan County voters approved an additional 3% marijuana tax in November 2024. Marijuana tax revenue is directed to a restricted fund that is separate but still contributes to the city's general fund.
The city .