Q&A
Council Member Brewer inquires about cannabis taxation and legal dispensary projections
2:23:31
·
175 sec
Council Member Gale A. Brewer engages in a Q&A session with Alaina Turnquist from the NYC Independent Budget Office, discussing cannabis taxation and projections for legal dispensaries in New York City. They explore the breakdown of cannabis taxes between state and city, as well as the expected number of legal dispensaries in the future.
- Cannabis purchases in NY are subject to a 13% sales tax (9% to state, 4% to locality)
- There's an additional 9% tax between wholesalers and distributors
- OCM projects around 400 legal dispensaries for NYC, with currently about 80 in operation
Gale A. Brewer
2:23:31
Thank you.
2:23:31
I have one quick question.
2:23:32
Just to explain to, I think, the public, because how the tax is collected, how much goes to the state, how much goes to the city.
2:23:42
And if there's any that's a different type of process, I think, than most taxes.
2:23:47
Can you explain that?
Alaina Turnquist
2:23:49
Yeah.
2:23:49
So cannabis is taxed differently in different states.
2:23:52
So in New York, we have a a tax that is placed at the time of purchase in retail.
2:23:59
So 9% of that goes to the state, and 4% of that goes to the city or the locality in which the purchase is made.
2:24:07
So overall, when you go yourself to buy from a a state license dispensary, you'll have 13% sales tax on that purchase.
2:24:16
The other tax we discussed is between wholesalers and distributors, and that is that base 9% tax.
2:24:25
That's something that most consumers would not see or experience because they'll be purchasing in the store.
Gale A. Brewer
2:24:33
Your numbers are I mean, it's hard to know.
2:24:36
We have 79.
2:24:37
I think we heard today legal at this moment.
2:24:41
So do you have some sense of what numbers you project to be legal to come up with the numbers that you came up with?
Alaina Turnquist
2:24:47
Yeah.
2:24:47
So our because a dispensary can sell, you know, the size of a legal dispensary can really range.
2:24:53
So some dispensaries do a lot of sales, some will do less.
2:24:57
It depends on probably the location that you're in within the city as well as the size of your overall operation.
2:25:03
So our projections are more about looking at what consumer patterns are.
2:25:09
So per capita, how much is the average person going to consume in a year and what price is that product being sold at, and that'll give us a sense of the overall size of the market.
2:25:23
We can then take you know, the number of dispensaries and, you know, divide by the number of dispensaries to get an average number.
2:25:31
But right now, we would expect to say that dispensaries are probably potentially doing more sales than they would do once there is a fuller rolled out market.
2:25:40
I believe from OCM, the number of dispensaries that are expected in New York City is supposed to be around 400.
2:25:47
So right now, if we're at around 80, we would still expect to see continued openings.
2:25:55
And again, that's up to OCM.
2:25:56
They could go above 400 below, but that's the number that we've we've heard.
Gale A. Brewer
2:26:01
Okay.
2:26:02
That's very helpful.
2:26:03
Thank you.
2:26:03
I I have one great story.
2:26:05
So the new cannabis legal opens in my district, in the course of people next door, a large building complaint.
2:26:13
And, you know, I say, explain that it's a good thing.
2:26:16
So I'm in there, and, of course, I swear to God, half of the customers who are in there are from that same building.
2:26:22
You never know.
2:26:23
Thank you very much for your testimony.
2:26:25
Alright.
2:26:25
Thank you.
