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Humboldt’s commercial cannabis farmers will never again have to complain about the county’s cultivation tax: It’s gone.

Nine years after local voters approved Measure S— establishing a tiered cultivation tax of $1 to $3 per square foot, depending on grow type — the Board of Supervisors today agreed to eliminate the tax altogether. They did so after noting that the market has “completely crashed” amid rampant overproduction statewide.

The unanimous vote — which excluded Second District Supervisor Michelle Bushnell, who is active in the industry and therefore recused herself — following a public comment period in which nearly two dozen growers, consultants and advocates unanimously urged the board to repeal Measure S.

Third District Supervisor Mike Wilson initially indicated that he’d be voting the other way on the matter. While acknowledging that the industry is in the toilet, so to speak, he said he was “a little uncomfortable” repealing a taxation measure that voters had approved, especially when the only people who spoke up today were those with financial incentives to urge repeal.

Wilson also noted that local taxation isn’t the only factor in the industry’s struggles.

“The thing that made this work to begin with, under prohibition, was because you could hide it in the hills …and now that’s basically what’s making it not work,” he said.

But before the board could vote, there was some confusion about whether a vote to repeal Measure S would be permanent. Deputy County Counsel Joel Campbell-Blair stepped up to explain that it would not. The language of Measure S gives the board the authority to repeal or modify the voter-approved tax (as it did in recent years, suspending it for 2022 and 2023 and then reinstating it at a drastically reduced rate for 2024), but also the authority to bring it back. 

“The only thing that could take away a future board’s authority to reinstate [Measure S] would be the voters again,” Campbell-Blair explained. 

Following the explanation, Wilson said that, in that case, he’d be voting in favor of the motion.

In introducing the matter to the board, Deputy County Administrative Officer Sean Quincey set the stage with an overview of what’s happened since 2016, when everyone seemed to have dollar signs in their eyes and growers themselves helped draft the county’s land use ordinance, saying they were excited to come out of the shadows. (Marvel at the sunny optimism on display a decade ago, when a growers organization rejoiced that “the future of Humboldt is bright because the farmers and the people are organized.”)

Today, in the somber board chamber, Quincey recounted the obvious. 

“The cultivation sector has become oversaturated,” he said. “Licensed growers statewide have the capacity to produce more than eight times what Californians can actually consume, and illegal supply from out of state — namely Oregon — has significantly added to the flooding of supply in the state. This oversupply has driven wholesale prices down significantly.”

Worst of all, predictions that our region would become the Napa County of cannabis proved false.

“Contrary to expectations,” Quincey continued, “sun-grown cannabis from Humboldt’s legacy growers has not commanded premium pricing. The market actually pays far less for outdoor cannabis compared to indoor and mix light.”

The county’s Measure S tax revenues map the downward spiral:

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The board had two options today when it came to Measure S, Quincey said: Repeal the measure altogether or embark on a study to explore possible alternatives, with a goal of putting one on the November 2026 ballot. Wilson noted that there was a third option: Keeping Measure S and modifying it however the board sees fit, as it has been doing.

Meanwhile, the board was also charged with deciding what to do about the $11.45 million that local cultivators owe in back taxes and the $1 million-plus owed in current-year taxes.

The parade of public speakers sang an extended song of sorrow. 

“Our local cannabis industry has been desecrated by agency overreach and unfair financial regulatory burden — so much so that I could write a compelling book of agency injustices [that] our farmers have been subjected to in this era of implementing California cannabis,” one consultant said.

Lia Nelson of NorthPoint Consulting said, “We used to have upwards of 100 clients and now we just have a couple handful, most of whom are really, really struggling financially.”

Natalynne DeLapp, who spoke as one of the founders of the Humboldt County Growers Alliance (HCGA), recounted some history, saying “legacy growers” across the state were effectively kneecapped by the removal of a proposed one-acre cultivation cap in Prop. 64, the initiative that legalized commercial cannabis statewide.

Still, the market thrived for awhile, with local growers bringing more than $55 million in tax revenue to the county. But the market crashed in 2021 and never recovered.

“So many of the farmers that are in that room have given their all for this last decade to be part of this community, to normalize, to be trusted community partners,” DeLapp said. “And they have done everything. … [But] more and more and more people are dropping out. We are losing the very culture that makes this place unique.”

Bridgeville grower Nick Glass said he and his wife recently realized that this year could mark their last harvest. 

“We looked at each other and we said, ‘Oh, we need to get jobs,’” Glass said. “We spent the weekend building résumés, and hopefully Humboldt’s economy is good enough to support us as we have to move to town, if our farm closes. Which is sad, right? I’ve been doing it for 20 years, and I cannot afford to make a living doing this anymore.”

Several speakers said eliminating the cultivation tax would be a meaningful step in “normalizing” cannabis as an agricultural crop. 

When the matter came back to the board for discussion, First District Supervisor Rex Bohn cut right to the chase, making a motion to repeal Measure S. Fifth District Supervisor Steve Madrone immediately seconded the motion.

Wilson said the board still needed to consider the matter of 2026 taxes but was reminded that the motion at hand would eliminate those. 

Bohn offered up a summation of Measure S: “This has been an experiment gone to hell,” he said.

Fourth District Supervisor Natalie Arroyo said it’s still important to collect the $11.45 million owed in back taxes for the sake of fairness to those who’ve already paid their bills. Madrone said the county should hold firm on the established December 31, 2025, deadline for paying past-due taxes.

Once the confusion about the permanence of the vote was cleared up, the board unanimously approved zeroing out the Measure S tax rate indefinitely. Staff will need to bring the item back to the board before the end of the year to formalize the change.