Marjiuana Tax Revenues Drop in Pueblo, Colorado

The second month of legal recreational marijuana sales in Pueblo saw three more stores open and $4,000 less in sales tax revenues collected by the county.

Pueblo County Clerk and Recorder Gilbert “Bo” Ortiz said five Pueblo County stores delivered $28,724 in sales tax to the county late last week, representing roughly $820,000 in total sales for the month of February. With fewer days than January, the net result was actually a slight increase per day.

The county imposes a specific marijuana sales tax of 3.5 percent, which is collected by the county clerk's office.

That tax is in addition to what the county earns from its general, 1 percent sales tax on all items sold in the county and its portion of the state's marijuana-specific 10 percent sales tax.

The state collects both of those taxes and those totals won't be official until the state issues a report sometime next month.

But based on what the county collected from its own tax, it stands to gain about $49,000 from the sale of recreational marijuana in February.

In January, the county collected $32,643 in county marijuana tax from just two stores and brought in a total of about $56,000 from all marijuana sales tax sources.

It may be that the novelty of legal weed has worn off a bit from its historic first month, but Ortiz said it will be difficult to make any real predictions or analysis until after the county has a full year under its belt.

“We really aren't expecting anything right now,” he said. “It's all new revenue and I think that's good enough for us.”

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