Clay County Commission

Dan Haglund

The Clay County Board of Commissioners has approved the Planning and Zoning director’s suggestion at setting the retail cannabis fee schedule and penalties to state maximums – to begin with.
Matt Jacobson, Director of Planning and Zoning, made his recommendations to the local body on Tuesday morning in Moorhead.
Jacobson advised the board to get a bit ahead of the game by setting a cannabis and lower-potency edibles fee schedule for retail outlets planning to sell such items.
He said retail cannabis businesses in the state are required to register with whatever jurisdiction in which they plan to operate. The fee schedule would include one for registration and an annual renewal premium.
Application fees, license fees and annual renewal fees have all been pre-set at $250 each.
The state has already set 13 cannabis business categories, with myriad stipulations and limits for each level.
Among them are: microbusiness, mezzobusiness, cultivator, manufacturer, retailer, wholesaler, transporter, testing facility, delivery service, event organizer, lower-potency hemp edible manufacturer, lower-potency hemp edible retailer and medical cannabis combination business.
“What I’m proposing is essentially the maximum for every category and for violations as well,” Jacobson said.
Jacobson said penalties could be levied at $2,000 per violation occurrence and/or up to a 30-day suspension of a registration.
“I would anticipate potentially in Clay County we could see the Office of Cannabis Management reach out for preregistration of businesses, site, valuation, zoning compliance, things like that happening this month,” Jacobson said.
Commissioner Kevin Campbell, Dist. 4, inquired if such fees and rules would only apply to unincorporated areas within the county. Jacobson said it would apply to unincorporated areas as well as small towns such as Georgetown, Felton or Ulen which may decide to delegate their registration authority to the county, thus adopting the auspices and rules under this body.
Jacobson said this move would allow Clay County Public Health to administer annual compliance checks, and the Planning and Zoning Department to keep tabs on zoning and verification inspections.
Campbell added that he has never been in the “money-making business” with operation fees, but said that because the cannabis area is new, he doesn’t mind starting with the maximum penalties because of the uncertainty of just how involved county offices may find themselves.
“I think it’s appropriate to start here,” Campbell said. “But I think we should end up having a review of this after it’s been up and running for a little bit.”
Campbell said he would be uncomfortable charging businesses fees above and beyond what costs the county would incur to implement the permits.
A rundown on the Minnesota cannabis laws for retail businesses are as follows:
1. Selling without a proper license can range from fines of $3,000 to $100,000, depending on the amount of cannabis sold, or three times the market value, whichever is greater.
2. Selling to minors (under age 21) is a felony with a maximum prison sentence of 20 years a $250,000 fine.
3. Failure to register within a jurisdiction as required can result in a civil penalty of up to $2,000 per violation.
There are also public usage laws and as well as cultivation violations of more than 16 plants can result in a year in prison and/or a fine of up to $3,000. Cultivating more than 23 plants can lead to up to five years in prison and/or a $10,000 fine.
Lastly, a cannabis business may face license revocation or suspension for repeated violations or serious offenses. And the state has set a 10 percent cannabis tax for businesses which sell cannabis products.
Commissioner David Ebinger, Dist. 5, agreed with Campbell to start these businesses at maximum penalties, as he said, “we don’t even know all the rules yet. It’s easier to go back and cut back to it than to argue an increase.”
Ebinger said as far as enforcement goes, he said the state will have more of a say in that than local governments are used to.
The fee and penalty schedule, Jacobson said, is a fairly close match to what the City of Moorhead has already passed.