Marijuana growers in Colorado avoided being singled out in an agriculture tax measure that advanced Thursday.
The bill codifies tax practices for greenhouses and nurseries, which are considered agricultural property and not commercial property in most cases. That makes them eligible for lower property taxes.
The sponsor of the greenhouse bill proposed an amendment to say marijuana-growing sites can’t qualify. But a Democratic Senate committee rejected the amendment last week.
The change left confusion about the fate of the overall tax measure, which sparked little notice until the pot amendment was added. Without the marijuana amendment, the Senate Finance Committee approved the bill 5-0. It now awaits a vote by the full Senate.
Colorado law currently states that medical marijuana growing sites can’t get agricultural tax breaks, but there’s no mention of how to tax recreational pot greenhouses. A panel that reviewed marijuana policy last year made no suggestion about whether agricultural tax breaks should apply to pot.
Growing marijuana outside isn’t allowed in Colorado, so greenhouses and nurseries would encompass the entire marijuana industry.
