Missouri Supreme Court’s Marijuana Ruling Says Cities And Counties Cannot Stack Local Taxes

*“Missouri customers already pay their fair share, with sales tax revenue
from cannabis in Missouri now tripling original state estimates.”*

*By Rebecca Rivas, Missouri Independent*

Cities and counties are not allowed to stack sales taxes on marijuana
products, the Missouri Supreme Court ruled on Tuesday.

In a 6-1 decision, the state’s highest court concluded the 2022
constitutional amendment that legalized recreational marijuana limits the
definition of “local government” to allow only one municipality to impose a
3 percent sales tax—a village, town or city in an incorporated area and a
county in an unincorporated area.

The drafters of the constitutional amendment “specified a ‘local
government’ is based on the area in which the dispensary is located,” the
court ruled.

The case focused on Florissant-based dispensary Robust Missouri 3 LLC,
where customers have been paying a total sales tax of almost 21 percent,
which includes a 3 percent sales tax from both the city of Florissant and
St. Louis County.

The court’s decision means only the Florissant sales tax can remain in
place and will impact more than 70 areas across the state where both city
and county governments have been imposing a 3 percent tax at dispensaries,
according to Missouri Department of Revenue data.

Judge Zel M. Fischer was the lone dissent, arguing that the constitutional
amendment’s definition of local government clearly includes both
incorporated and unincorporated areas. It would, Fischer wrote, therefore
allow counties to impose the sales tax and collect it in incorporated areas.

“The patently absurd results of holding that ‘and’ means ‘or’ and that St.
Louis County is not a ‘local government’ within its own territorial
jurisdiction confirms, once again, that simply applying the constitution’s
plain language meaning is the surest way for this court to implement the
law as it was intended,” Fischer argued.

A panel of Missouri appellate judges agreed with Robust in November, ruling
that the constitution’s “plain, unambiguous” language means cities and
counties cannot stack marijuana sales taxes.

That decision reversed a lower court’s ruling last year that allowed both
Florissant and St. Louis County to both impose a 3 percent sales tax on
marijuana products.

The ruling also determined the outcome of a second case, currently before
the Western District Court of Appeals. In that case, a Buchanan County judge
also ruled that taxes could be stacked. The Western District court stopped
action in the case while awaiting the Supreme Court decision.

Andrew Mullins, executive director of the Missouri Cannabis Trade
Association, said his organization and other industry partners went to
court days after the double taxation began in 2023 “to protect the very
customers that make Missouri’s marijuana program the envy of other states.”

Tuesday’s ruling, Mullins said, will save Missouri cannabis customers an
estimated $3 million every month.

“Missouri customers already pay their fair share, with sales tax revenue
from cannabis in Missouri now tripling original state estimates,” Mullins
said. “The ruling’s clarity preserves Missouri’s standing as one of the
nation’s most impactful and accessible cannabis programs, ensuring patients
and adult-use consumers continue to benefit from fair pricing, great
service and robust product choice.”

*This story was first published by Missouri Independent.*

The post Missouri Supreme Court’s Marijuana Ruling Says Cities And Counties
Cannot Stack Local Taxes appeared first on Marijuana Moment.