Council will be discussing business licence fees for cannabis stores at their upcoming meeting on Jan. 21. (Vanessa Broadbent photo)

By Vanessa Broadbent

Osoyoos Times

Anyone interested in opening a cannabis store in Osoyoos could be looking at a $500 business licence.

That’s what town council tentatively decided at a meeting on Dec. 17.

Town staff asked council to consider reviewing and increasing costs for all its business licences, but specifically including cannabis sales.

Staff suggested that licences cost $1,000. Currently, business licences for liquor retail stores and pubs cost $100.

The difference concerned councillor C.J. Rhodes, who argued that cannabis sales and liquor sales should be categorized together.

“We have to be very careful about pulling out things and charging more for them just because they do something that may or may not be acceptable in our community,” he said.

“I would never want business fees in general, including cannabis, to be punitive in any way. If we’re going to do that then we need to separate out businesses that sell tobacco products in our community.”

Staff also suggested considering increasing all licences on a cost recovery basis, and fees be increased in increments over several years.

For example, in the current fee structure which was set out in 1997, some licences cost $75 which doesn’t cover the associated costs of required fire inspection or staff time

• Read more: Council Moves Forward With Two Cannabis Stores

Level 1 licences, including home-based businesses and personal services, are currently $50. Staff suggests that they become $150 in 2020, and $300 in 2021.

Liquor stores require a level 5 licence, currently $100, which staff recommended an increase to $500 in 2020 and $1,000 in 2021. Associated support services include fire administration, fire inspection and RCMP call outs.

However, councillor Brian Harvey pointed out that at this time, the town does not have information proving that cannabis stores would incite $1,000 of associated costs.

“It comes across as a sin tax,” he said. “It doesn’t seem to me as a cost recovery. I can certainly see the RCMP callouts at the pubs and licenced establishments, I just want to make sure we’re not putting on a sin tax and we’re actually doing it on a cost recovery basis.”

Rhodes proposed that staff draft a bylaw that would include the fee in the same category as liquor stores, and for the same current fee of $100.

Mayor Sue McKortoff thought the fee “seems very low” and was concerning.

The motion was defeated, with McKortoff and councillors Jim King and Myers Bennett voting against it.

Instead, King proposed that the bylaw present an interim fee of $500, pointing out that cannabis stores could require the same or more costs as liquor stores.

“I think you’re really talking about the unknown, comparing liquor and cannabis, because you don’t know how many times it might get broken into, per say,” he said.

Council voted for staff to add cannabis sales to the existing bylaw for $500. The bylaw amendment will be presented and further discussed at council’s Jan. 21 meeting.

The cost recovery associated Increases to all other licences will be presented at a later meeting.