The 2024-25 Santa Barbara County Grand Jury investigated the current Santa Barbara County cannabis tax revenue and cannabis tax expenditures and how they are reported. During its investigation, the Jury learned that Santa Barbara County’s tax revenues from the cannabis industry have been declining steadily since cannabis was approved for recreational use in the County in 2018.
In this same period of time, the County’s expenditures in regulating the cannabis industry have increased. As a result, the County’s expenditures covering the Cannabis Program are projected to become a financial burden in the near future unless the County takes corrective measures.
The Jury also found that a significant number of growers have left the Santa Barbara County cannabis industry due to high cost of operations, price collapse, and market oversupply in part due to black-market competition.
Currently, budgeting, tax collection, and compliance activities are the responsibility of different agencies and departments in the County. Inefficiencies in the management and required reporting of the Cannabis Program can be mitigated by the creation of a centralized information database that tracks the budget, tax revenues, expenses, and administrative activities related to licensing and compliance.
In addition, Cannabis Program spending can be reduced by allocating tax revenues to support only operating expenses directly related to it. Given the volatility of the cannabis market, the Jury further recommends that the County maintain the solvency of the Cannabis Program by ensuring that expenditures do not exceed cannabis tax revenues each year.
This Grand Jury Report was based on an investigation conducted from August 2024 to May 2025. The Report was in the final stages of production on June 3, 2025, when the Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors initiated significant changes to the County’s Cannabis Program, many of which are consistent with the Findings and Recommendations in this Report. This Report was not altered or amended in any way following the Board’s actions.
The full report can be read here.
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https://www.edhat.com/news/county-sheriffs-cannabis-enforcement-team-is-disbanded/
https://www.edhat.com/news/reality-check-county-supes-cut-1-4-million-in-cannabis-related-costs/
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Good work by the Grand Jury. Makes perfect sense though. Lots of government bureaucracy overhead, outpacing revenues very soon at the rate we’re headed. Supply and demand, including so-called “black market” production. If/when we start net losing revenue on this, I vote we pull the plug. Adios weed farmers.
why is the grand jury involved in analysis on topics like this when SB County has a Auditors- Controllers office?
Yeah, makes sense, and guess where cannabis will come from! South of the US border, where it’s cheaper to produce. Welcome back, illegal immigrants! Wild, yes?