Hi Friend,
This week, the Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors held a budget workshop amidst the COVID-19 pandemic to help the public get a better understanding of the current economic situation and potential hardships ahead.One area of relatively good news to come from the workshop was the consistent and reliable revenue from the County’s cannabis tax collection. Over $8 million dollars in cannabis taxes were collected last year, and there is projected to be more than $10 million in the upcoming fiscal year.
Major news publications and media outlets underscored the importance and value of the cannabis industry in supporting Santa Barbara during these uncertain times, including KEYT, KCLU, and the Santa Barbara Independent.
The North County Farmers’ Guild is enormously appreciative of Governor Newsom’s directive deeming cannabis cultivation essential, as well as the supply-chain that supports the industry. This progressive act invariably saved hundreds of thousands of jobs and businesses across the state. As seen below in a graph compiled by Politico, California is one of only 22 states that have deemed cannabis businesses essential.
“As North County cannabis farmers, we are deeply aware of the challenges we all face as a family and community – continuing to provide good paying jobs, supporting our local restaurants, and assisting local organizations who help our most vulnerable during this time of crisis. We remain hopeful that we can sustain a viable partnership with the County and continue to provide vital tax revenue to its’ mission,” declared John De Friel and Sara Rotman, co-founders of Good Farmers Great Neighbors Community Initiative.
