County Gets $1.3 Million in Surplus Cannabis Money

Santa Barbara’s legalized cannabis industry has generated enough heat during its short time in existence that even when there’s good news, the County Board of Supervisors can still find a way to get their collective noses out of joint. In this case, the most pained proboscis in the supervisors’ chambers belonged to 1st District Supervisor Das Williams. 

When it turned out that the cannabis industry generated, $6.7 million last year, $1.3 million more in tax revenues this year than the county supervisors had initially budgeted, Williams pushed fellow supervisors to take advantage by bumping spending to the tune of $1 million for a handful of key pet programs. Such a spending change, however, requires a four-vote supermajority, but not one of Williams’s colleagues would agree to sign on.

Williams was not shy about expressing his displeasure. “If we don’t do anything, it’s really going to tick me off,” he stated. When that didn’t achieve the desired results, Williams declared, “It really pisses me off. It’s wrong.”