Barre Select Board drops revenue percentage, backs $30,000 marijuana facility pact

BARRE — May 10, 2017 — Barre Select Board agrees to $30,000 flat annual payment in medical marijuana host community agreement. After lengthy debate, the board dropped a demand for a percentage of gross revenues from CPC, a nonprofit registered marijuana dispensary operator seeking to open a cultivation and processing facility in town, settling instead on the $30,000 figure with an inflation adjustment and a renegotiation trigger tied to a three-to-five-year review or any conversion to recreational sales. One board member had argued that a quarter-percent levy on gross revenues was "fair and consistent with the industry," while CPC's representative called such a charge "plain extortion" and said the state does not permit municipalities to assess what amounts to an income tax on a nonprofit. The board voted to authorize attorney Jim Cranston to finalize the agreement language with a follow-up session set for the following Thursday.