Marijuana Revenue

by Mayor Sean Denison

This past January I had written in my Mayor’s Memo about how we were spending the revenue that we received from Marijuana excise taxes in 2021.  I explained some of the economic development incentives that we introduced and what their goal was.  This month, the city received another $282 thousand dollars in marijuana revenue.  Again, the city commission has decided to use this money to reinvest in our community.   We will be using half of the funds on economic development grants and incentives, and the other half we will be using towards quality-of-life initiatives.  Namely, park upgrades throughout the city.  Our parks have been neglected and require significant investment.  Our hope is to create outdoor spaces that will be fun, safe and beautiful.  By doing so, we will also be creating a community where more people will want to visit, live and invest.  We believe that the investments in our parks can also be considered economic development.

That being said, it is important to remember that upgrades of the scope we are considering do not happen overnight. Planning and designing takes time, and we will need to be patient – understanding that safe and fun playground equipment is very expensive. The funds we have available will have to be used along side grant opportunities, and the completion of all of our parks will more than likely take a few years to come to fruition. But we are making progress and we have already started making changes at Victory Park on the northside. We are just getting started – and we are excited for the future Buchanan has in front of it!

Thank you, see you around town,
Sean Denison, Mayor

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