07/22/2025 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 07/22/2025 13:38
Ruling could cost St. Charles County more than $1 million a year.
County Executive Steve Ehlmann is reacting to the Missouri Supreme Court's ruling that prohibits counties from collecting a sales tax on recreational marijuana when those sales are also taxed by a local city.
"I'm disappointed with the outcome, but I respect the court's decision, and we will abide by it," Ehlmann says.
At issue in the case was whether counties and cities can both impose their own 3% tax at the same time. The marijuana industry filed a lawsuit against St. Louis County claiming the "stacking" of the two taxes is not supported in the language of the constitutional amendment that allows recreational marijuana sales. St Charles County joined the suit with St. Louis County to protect its own interests.
"One thing this shows is how we need to stop putting everything that comes along into the state constitution," Ehlmann says. "Had this been just a regular law passed by voters, then the legislature could have come back and fixed the question of who can do the tax. But instead, we find ourselves bound by a final decision from the Missouri Supreme Court."
The 3% tax on recreational marijuana sales in St. Charles County is projected to generate $2 million a year. The money raised so far has been set aside unallocated pending the outcome of the court fight.
In St. Charles County, there are more than a dozen marijuana dispensaries in operation.