Members of the Danville City Council’s Public Works Committee are continuing to discuss whether to allow the growth and sale of recreational marijuana in the city. Mayor Rickey Williams Junior expects the full city council will address it next week….
{‘’I think next Tuesday the Council will decide whether or not they want to allow it to be sold, and at what rate it will be taxed. And then it will go from there,’’ said the Mayor. ‘’And the next step after that would be – if they choose to allow it – how would we address the zoning.’’}
The Mayor agrees with some other council members who note it could be a good source for new revenue…
{‘’Without negotiating with the individual vendors, between the 3-percent allowable by the new state tax, and the 1.25 percent we would receive in sales tax money, you’re looking at 4.25 percent. So every $10-million dollars of marijuana that is sold you would make roughly $425-thousand dollars,’’ said Mayor Williams during an interview with VermilionCountyFirst.com News. ‘’If we’re able to negotiate additional percentages – as some communities have – then we could have substantially more,’’ he added.}
Alderman Bob Iverson noted that one of the ironies of the legislation making the use and sale of recreational marijuana legal in Illinois – effective January 1st of next year – is that Danville is located near the state border. The sale and use of recreational marijuana in Indiana is illegal.