by Jason Simpkins
Outsider Club
Legal weed has been a financial boon, no doubt. But only recently have we begun to see the tangible effects of the flooding cash.
Colorado’s 938 dispensaries generated $65 million in state taxes, Bloomberg reports. Of that, $6 million was shared with cities, which used the money to plug budget holes and repair decrepit infrastructure.
Trinidad, a former mining town plagued by evaporating industry, received $850,000 in weed revenue last year. It’s using that money to dig up 140-year-old brick streets and replace clay and wooden water lines. The taxes make up 10% percent of the city’s budget and are replacing revenue lost to declining property taxes after railroad and mining operations closed.