Two marijuana accounts that are included in the Pueblo County 2018 budget will contribute roughly $6 million to help with 20 county community projects as well as medical research and high school student scholarships.

The county's $164 million budget was approved last week.

Pueblo County Commissioner Sal Pace said Monday that next year's budget includes $4.3 million coming from marijuana sales tax and another $1.4 million in marijuana excise tax funds. Neither, Pace explained, are part of the general fund.

"Voters want to know exactly where the marijuana funding is going and that is exactly what we did," Pace said.

Pace said the county spells out exactly where the revenue is coming from and where it is being spent.

"We would run into trouble if we just threw it into the general fund where it's general operation of government. Frankly, I think it is better policy not to do that. The operation of government should not be relying on cannabis funds because we don't exactly know what may happen on the federal level with revenue."

Pueblo County's proposed Marijuana Impact Cash Fund revenues include $1.4 million from the county's 3.5 percent sales tax on marijuana. The county also receives $600,000 from a 15 percent allocation of the state's 10 percent tax on pot.

Another $50,000 comes from 15 percent of the tax revenue the county collects from a Pueblo city marijuana tax.

Pace said the county is under a memorandum of understanding with Pueblo in which it collects marijuana taxes for the city for 15 percent of the revenue. The city keeps the remaining 85 percent of the tax revenues, Pace said.

Fees for service include $150,000 for medical license fees, $2 million for retail marijuana license fees, $60,000 for marijuana applications fees and $40,000 for licensing penalties.

Expenditures include $156,000 for salaries and benefits, $50,000 for professional services, $84,000 for operating costs, $7,000 for capital and $438,000 for cost sharing from other departments. The total is $735,000.

Altogether, the revenue minus expenses amounts to $3.565 million in the Marijuana Impact Cash Fund.

Pace said the county is using funds from that for 20 community projects to improve the county (see accompanying box),

Some of those projects include $963,300 for the City County Health Department operations, $702,872 for Pueblo Animal Services operations and a $540,000 contribution to the Pueblo County Community Services Advisory Commission.

The marijuana excise tax fund revenues are an estimated $1.4 million. In addition, the county will use $72,000 from 2017 rollover revenue.

Expenditure in the excise fund include $635,000 for scholarships and $65,000 to operate the administration of the scholarships. The total scholarship program will cost $700,000, which is 50 percent of the excise tax revenues.

The remaining funds are for programs approved in 2015 by voters under ballot question 1B.

The 2015 ballot question listed 15 projects that the excise money would be used for.

"You can't use it for anything else until you do those 15 projects," Pace said.

The excise funding expenditures also will include $250,000 for medical marijuana research projects at Colorado State University-Pueblo, $200,000 for Zinno Subdivision roadwork, $150,000 for professional services for Trails and Confluence Park and $60,000 for a facilities project manager for Confluence Park.

The excise tax also will contribute $60,000 for the South West Chief project planning and $46,000 to go toward the Desert Hawk golf cart lease payment.

"We chose programs that would have the greatest impact on the community and address some of our critical needs," Pace said.

anthonym@chieftain.com