Cleveland City Council members should be able to spend part of the city’s marijuana tax money directly on neighborhood projects, Ward 5’s Richard Starr said on Monday.
Starr introduced legislation this week to send half of Cleveland’s marijuana revenue to council members’ discretionary spending accounts, known as neighborhood equity funds. Members have used their discretionary money to upgrade city parks, buy police fitness equipment and purchase food and grocery store gift cards for residents.
The Cleveland voters who helped to legalize recreational marijuana in 2023 ought to see that money come back to their communities, Starr argued at this week’s council meeting.
“The question before us today is simple. Who benefits?” he said. “Ths ordinance answers that question clearly: the people, the neighborhoods, every ward in the city.”
Cleveland’s marijuana tax collections are relatively modest and go to the city’s General Fund, which pays for basic city services. Since the state first began collecting the 10% tax on dispensary sales in 2024, the city has received $919,338, according to state data.
The total that went to Cleveland in 2025 was $650,249. If half of that were split among the city’s 15 wards as under Starr’s proposal, each council member would receive another $21,675 in discretionary money.
Last year, council distributed $600,000 to each member’s neighborhood equity fund. This year’s budget deal added $300,000 per ward.
Bibb not ready to take a position
Mayor Justin Bibb’s administration needs more time to review the legislation before weighing in on it, a spokesperson for the mayor’s office said. Currently marijuana revenue goes to the city’s General Fund, which pays for basic city services.
Starr ran into opposition from the mayor’s administration three years ago when he proposed expanding council’s share of a different source of discretionary dollars: casino tax revenue. Council receives 15% of Cleveland’s casino taxes. Starr had wanted to expand that to 50%.
At the time, the city’s finance director argued the change would open a hole in the budget, while council members complained that City Hall took too long to spend casino dollars they had directed to ward projects. Since then, council has updated the spending rules.
Starr said on Monday night that his marijuana tax legislation was about sharing governance, not taking away from the mayor’s administration. He asked his colleagues to support the idea.
“Legalization created opportunity,” he said. “This ordinance ensures that this opportunity is shared, shared fairly, shared transparently and shared with the residents who made it possible.”
Cleveland’s marijuana tax allocation was the least of Ohio’s “three Cs” big cities. Columbus received $5.5 million and Cincinnati nearly $3 million. Both cities host more dispensaries than Cleveland does.
