Columbia City Council votes to add marijuana sales tax question to April ballot

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

The Columbia City Council unanimously voted at its meeting on Tuesday to add a sales tax question for recreational marijuana to the April 4 ballot.

The question will ask voters if there should be an additional 3% sales tax for recreational marijuana sales. This would be in addition to the state's 6% tax.

The council memo says the additional funding could go toward things such as mental health, addiction services and other community needs.

If it's approved by voters, the new tax would begin in October.

This comes after Amendment 3 was approved by Missouri voters in November, which approved the recreational sale of marijuana in Missouri to those 21 years old and older and expunged certain offenses from the records of people who had marijuana charges.

It went into effect on Dec. 8. Applications for personal marijuana cultivation opened up earlier this month. Sales at retailers are expected to begin in February, at the earliest.

The Cole County Commission on Tuesday also approved a marijuana sales tax question for voters in its county.