Marquette County leads the U.P. with 13 licenses and $702,222.30 in distributions. But County Board Chair Joe Derocha says that’s about a 21% decrease from two years ago.
“Perhaps the 24% sales tax that the legislature has enacted on the industry, I suspect that’s a big impact,” said Derocha.
Counties and municipalities will allocate marijuana funds to their annual budgets. Derocha says Marquette County has used half of the money for public safety.
“To pay and offset the jail expense with the overcrowding in the jail because we’ve utilized our collaborative partners in other counties to use their jails for the over-capacity that we’re currently experiencing,” said Derocha.
The city of Marquette uses the funds to support general operations, such as the police and fire departments. The city received less from the marijuana fund this year ($162,051.30 from three licenses) compared to last year ($291,143.30 from five licenses). City Manager Karen Kovacs says that’s a statewide trend.
