Deschutes County suffers blow over marijuana grow fees
There’s controversy in Deschutes County concerning a fee the county collects from certain new developments — namely, commercial marijuana operations — and lawmakers have sided with the Oregon Farm Bureau in a move to block such fees.
A system development charge is a one-time fee that new developments have to pay to a county or city. Senate Bill 365 would exempt marijuana grow operations on farmland from paying SDCs — something only Deschutes County charges.
” This is terrible policy, ” Chris Doty, director of the Deschutes County Road Department, said Monday of the legislation. ” It’s embarrassing that the Legislature would consider this to be a fair and equitable way to apply some sort of exemption within their laws. Other users will come forward now and want the same thing. ”
Deschutes County imposes SDCs on all new developments, except for agriculture. The state classifies marijuana as an agricultural crop. By charging marijuana grows with SDCs, the Oregon Farm Bureau says the county is discriminating against a particular crop.
County commissioners and Road Department officials argue marijuana grows generate traffic more like a housing or commercial development would than a basic farm operation. Since those developments have to pay SDCs, they say marijuana grows should not be a special exception.
” There’s been a lot of pressure by marijuana growers to say they’re farmers just like every other farmer, ” said Commissioner Phil Henderson. ” You could say that if we were doing it outdoors and you were doing one crop a year or something like that. We really have a different kind of farming going on here. It’s more like running greenhouses or whatever. So it’s hard for us to understand why they would oppose that. ”
Doty said SDCs from marijuana production operations bring in up to $1 million a year to the county’s road budget. He said that money goes toward necessary safety improvements, like the roundabout at Neff Road and the Powell Butte Highway.
Losing that revenue is a real possibility right now. The bill has passed through both the Senate and the House. It now heads to the governor’s desk for approval.
