FRUITA VOTERS DECIDE ON SALES TAX FOR MARIJUANA

FRUITA - Voters in the western Colorado town of Fruita were deciding
Tuesday whether to make their town the first in the state to tax
medical marijuana.

The City Council decided to ask voters whether to impose a 5 percent
sales tax on medical marijuana to help the town of about 11,000 cover
costs of regulating dispensaries.

City Manager Clint Kinney says the town estimates the most it could
possibly generate from the tax is $100,000, although even that may be
lofty. Only one application to open a dispensary is pending.

A voter-approved amendment to the Colorado constitution allows limited
marijuana use for certain medical conditions but doesn't regulate
dispensaries. Fruita's rules include background checks for dispensary
owners.

Last year, Oakland, Calif., became the first city in the country to
create a special tax on marijuana sales. Voters approved a measure
requiring dispensaries to pay $18 for every $1,000 in gross sales. The
rate for other retailers is $1.20 for every $1,000 in gross sales.

The ballot question in Fruita is among dozens of questions posed to
voters in at least 134 Colorado cities and towns Tuesday, according to
the Colorado Municipal League.

The nine towns of Buena Vista, De Beque, Fruita, Garden City, Haxtun,
Moffat, Morrison, New Castle, and Woodland Park had sales or use tax
measures on the ballot.

Among other towns, Nederland was asking voters whether it should
remove criminal penalties for the possession of marijuana for persons
over the age of 21, similar to a measure passed last fall in
Breckenridge.

Gilcrest was asking voter approval to operate a high-speed Internet
service.