California! Tax greed driving black market

[OregonBorn]

Can anyone provide some insight on whether or not it makes sense to get a cultivation license in CA?? If anyone with a license could tell me, are they happy they did, do they regre it, do they suggest current growers to do it?

Well, it depends on your situation, what you want to grow for, the scale, the county that you want to grow in, and what is happening in in CA of late. One thing is that due to all the fires there, insurance companies are not issuing fire insurance policies to a lot of people near any forested areas now. Not just growers, anyone in CA.

Also there are lots of hurdles to go through to get a license here. Some (but not all) are listed here:

https://www.begreenlegal.com/how-to-get-a-cultivation-license-in-california/


Also in CA, each county and city are either open to commercial growing or it is banned. It is still in a state of flux. In most counties and cities in CA commercial growing is banned. And in those cities and counties where it is open to commercial growing there are all kinds of restrictions and permit requirements, as well as added taxes, mainly based on canopy area. It also keeps changing. For example, Monterey Co. on top of all the other state taxes and permit and license fees on business and by weed weight grown and sold, the county has an added annual canopy grow tax of $8 per sq ft of grow area, and that tax increases starting in 2021 by a $1 a year and goes up to $15 per sq ft. in 2027.

In general it is REALLY expensive to grow rec weed commercially in California. It varies a lot by county and city in California though. Far cheaper in Oregon, though Oregon is not issuing any new commercial grow licenses right now. Oregon has the same grow requirements and licensing fees state-wide, though the majority of areas in Oregon do not allow for commercial grows.

 

[redlaser]

I mean...in a hypothetical scenario, one has a few locations with lets say a few greenhouses that run year round. The program runs without issue...does one continue the "normal" program and go with that? Or should one go through all the hoops and bullshit to turn them into licensed grows... With the laws being the way they are, anything over 6 plants is a misdemeanor for cultivation, most poeple get tickets and released if they hit their spots and happen to still be around...SO, realistically, is it worth it??? Maybe just for peace of mind??? Diversifying is security and peace of mind, so one should have more ventures going on anyway IMO....If growing more than 6 plants is a crime....a misdemeanor....not all that scary...

As to if it’s worth it, depends on your risk tolerance and initial amount your willing to invest, as well as having all parts of the equation satisfied. ( manpower, needed skills, a home for new cannabis)Over 6 plants is misdemeanor, but the MAUCRSA states “ a person engaged in commercial cultivation without a license is subject to civil penalties up to three times the cost of a commercial license fee per day of operation.”

Sheriff will bring code enforcement, people from environmental health, maybe water board, all those agency’s will pick apart those sites unless your up to date on all that. Water board initiates a lot of pot busts when they are identifying illegal diversions and polluters.
The code enforcement fines can get pricey, versus just being fined a day or two at 3x the cost of the license. Assuming you cut it down once it’s identified.

Regarding fire insurance, you won’t be able to get it for greenhouses that have pot in them, if you go with California fair plan, which is the last chance insurance plan in high fire risk areas. Cannabis is a main reason for denying coverage. CaFairPlan costs between 2-10 times what other carriers would charge, depending how deep into the sticks you are located.

 

[TheDeafZip]

Well, it depends on your situation, what you want to grow for, the scale, the county that you want to grow in, and what is happening in in CA of late. One thing is that due to all the fires there, insurance companies are not issuing fire insurance policies to a lot of people near any forested areas now. Not just growers, anyone in CA.

Also there are lots of hurdles to go through to get a license here. Some (but not all) are listed here:

https://www.begreenlegal.com/how-to-get-a-cultivation-license-in-california/


Also in CA, each county and city are either open to commercial growing or it is banned. It is still in a state of flux. In most counties and cities in CA commercial growing is banned. And in those cities and counties where it is open to commercial growing there are all kinds of restrictions and permit requirements, as well as added taxes, mainly based on canopy area. It also keeps changing. For example, Monterey Co. on top of all the other state taxes and permit and license fees on business and by weed weight grown and sold, the county has an added annual canopy grow tax of $8 per sq ft of grow area, and that tax increases starting in 2021 by a $1 a year and goes up to $15 per sq ft. in 2027.

In general it is REALLY expensive to grow rec weed commercially in California. It varies a lot by county and city in California though. Far cheaper in Oregon, though Oregon is not issuing any new commercial grow licenses right now. Oregon has the same grow requirements and licensing fees state-wide, though the majority of areas in Oregon do not allow for commercial grows.

Appreciate the info

 

[TheDeafZip]

As to if it’s worth it, depends on your risk tolerance and initial amount your willing to invest, as well as having all parts of the equation satisfied. ( manpower, needed skills, a home for new cannabis)Over 6 plants is misdemeanor, but the MAUCRSA states “ a person engaged in commercial cultivation without a license is subject to civil penalties up to three times the cost of a commercial license fee per day of operation.”

Sheriff will bring code enforcement, people from environmental health, maybe water board, all those agency’s will pick apart those sites unless your up to date on all that. Water board initiates a lot of pot busts when they are identifying illegal diversions and polluters.
The code enforcement fines can get pricey, versus just being fined a day or two at 3x the cost of the license. Assuming you cut it down once it’s identified.

Regarding fire insurance, you won’t be able to get it for greenhouses that have pot in them, if you go with California fair plan, which is the last chance insurance plan in high fire risk areas. Cannabis is a main reason for denying coverage. CaFairPlan costs between 2-10 times what other carriers would charge, depending how deep into the sticks you are located.

Thanks for the info. Do you know of they are issuing those fines in socal? I havn't heard of them around here, but i have up north...As far as socal, they raid pretty regularly. When the caravans come with the black dump trailers word spreads super fast and either take the day off or stay alert and keep your ears open...they usually never catch anyone except old people. Anyway, the garden bandits/gang of thieves (sheriffs dept) code enforcement has actually been to one of my locations....nobody was there they cut my greenhouses and did some childish vandalism and left...code enforcement had no beef with my setup though, they approved LOL. Insurance was a challenge you guys are right about that, got it handled through the company you both mentioned however.

 

[mircomm]

Thanks for your sharing,It's really useful for me
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