At Tuesday’s meeting, the Phoenix City Council considered whether or not to tax the medical marijuana industry to pay for public safety upgrades. The Council rejected the regressive tax.
Councilman Sal DiCiccio stated, “Today, the citizens of Phoenix won. But they never should have had to fight this fight. For this Council to have ever tried to push a massive tax like this – one that puts an enormous burden on a very small number of people – without any real public input would have represented an absolute abdication of our responsibility to the people who elected us.”
“Any consideration of this type must proceed through the public input process, be thoroughly vetted by the Council, and include input from the industry. All businesses must be treated fairly and the same. We can’t treat one any differently than the other unless there is an actual, demonstrable impact to city services,” said DiCiccio.
DiCiccio applauded the “rest of the Council for following my lead today and putting an end to this poorly thought out, badly executed, and un-democratic attempt at balancing our books on the backs of sick people.”
Poor management of the City over the years has led to a budget shortfall and forced Council members to look for revenue streams.