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The Building Excellent Schools Today (BEST) program was created in Colorado in 2008 to provide grants for schools needing repairs or new facilities. It has received a boost of $16 million this year from revenues generated by legalization of marijuana in 2014, creating more construction jobs in the region.
Sales of marijuana are subject to a 15 percent excise tax which goes into the state’s public school capital assistance fund before it is transferred to the BEST program.
“There are actually a few taxes accessed in this process,” says Scott Newell, the director of the Colorado Department of Education’s office of capital construction.
“There’s a retail sales tax and a retail special sales tax that goes into the state’s general fund for discretionary purposes,” explains Newell, “and then there’s the excise tax, which is assessed when a grower sells to a retailer.”
Those who supported the constitutional amendment to legalize marijuana had predicted the tax would generate $40 million annually for Colorado schools.
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