The cost of applying for a medical marijuana card in Michigan could drop to $40, after state officials realized they collected nearly $7 million more in fees last year than they needed to cover the program’s operational budget.

In the past three years, fees paid by patients and caregivers to the state for medical marijuana cards have generated enough money to cover the operations of the program for at least the next five years, according to a request filed with the state’s Office of Regulatory Reinvention.

In the 2018 fiscal year, the state collected $11.97 million in fees from medical marijuana patients and caregivers -- but only needed $5.33 million to run the program, according to Bureau of Marijuana Regulation. That year 146,505 people applied to become patients, and 38,937 patients sought to renew their cards.

From 2015 to 2018, excess fee revenue has been appropriated to fund grants to sheriff’s offices across the state in the name of enforcing the Medical Marihuana Act.

The bureau is now proposing a number of changes to fees that medical marijuana patients and caregivers face.

Those include dropping the application fee for new patients from $60 to $40, dropping a $25 background check fee for caregivers and cutting a $10 fee to update information on a registry card.

The department is able to cover those costs with the money the program has already brought in.

“Our team has worked hard to streamline the process for medical marijuana cardholders in Michigan,” said Orlene Hawks, director of the Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs. “The proposed updated rules will dramatically lower the costs associated with medical marijuana registry cards for Michigan residents.”

There are 294,105 medical marijuana patients and 41,989 registered caregivers as of February 1, 2019, according to the bureau.

Other proposed changes to the Michigan Medical Marihuana Program include increasing the time patients have to renew their cards from 60 to 90 days, and allowing state staff to email patients, caregivers and physicians to verify information in applications.

The state recently added more online services for medical marijuana patients, with the potential for cards to be issued to patients within three days.

-- Amy Biolchini is the marijuana beat reporter for MLive. Contact her with questions, tips or comments at abiolch1@mlive.com. Read more from MLive about medical marijuana.