We legalized weed.
We imposed taxes on weed.
And now, we have to vote about what to do with those tax revenues.
In 2013, voters approved Proposition AA, which authorized excise and sales taxes on retail marijuana.
The good news is that tax revenues from the sale of marijuana came in higher than anyone anticipated and more than presented by the authors of the Blue Book, which is prepared to explain issues for voters.
Under Colorado’s Taxpayer Bill of Rights (TABOR), the state must refund new tax revenues if they exceed revenue estimates published in the Blue Book at the time of the vote on the new tax.
Proposition BB asks voters to utilize those excess revenues by allocating $40 million for public school construction and $12 million to fund marijuana education, substance abuse treatment and prevention, youth mentoring services, Future Farmers of America and 4-H programs at the Colorado State Fair, school bullying prevention, programs to prevent students from dropping out of school, poison control centers, local government marijuana impact grants and training peace officers to recognize impaired drivers. The remainder of the refund has not been allocated, as final numbers for the fiscal year are still undetermined.
If Proposition BB doesn’t pass, excess marijuana tax revenues collected during the first full year of the new Proposition AA taxes must be refunded.
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