While proponents of legal pot in Oregon are thinking green, the state’s city and county governments are seeing another kind of green. And they’ve got less than a month to think about it.

Voters will decide whether to legalize recreational marijuana in November. In preparation for the possible passage of the measure, the state has seen a flurry of new laws in recent weeks from towns that want to capitalize on the potential gold rush of taxes brought by marijuana sales.

Cities are voting to put their own sales taxes on top of the small tax that would be imposed by the state in the hopes of being “grandfathered” into the new state law.

While such a move may not hold up in court, it has the potential to be a new money stream.

And towns like Bend, which won’t create a tax, would be out of luck.

Since 2002, a charter in Bend has forced the city to take any question about raising local sales taxes to voters. That process takes time, said Bend’s assistant city attorney, Gary Firestone.

“Because of the fact that Bend has our charter requiring voter approval, we didn’t see any way we could get something adopted that would be effective in time to have any chance,” Firestone said.

If it wanted to ask voters to tax pot, Bend would have to put time and money into the effort to get voter approval, while the legalization initiative might not have made the statewide ballot or passed, Firestone said. The city decided that wasn’t a smart use of its resources.

A recent poll showed the legalization effort has a lead among Oregon voters of 44 percent in favor to 40 percent against, with 16 percent undecided. The state would tax marijuana $35 per ounce. Adults could possess up to 8 ounces and four plants under Ballot Measure 91. Marijuana would remain illegal at the federal level.

In Fairview, a town of about 9,000 in Multnomah County, the city recently voted to impose a 40 percent tax on top of all gross marijuana sales and 15 percent on sales for medicinal pot. Hillsboro, Lake Oswego, Ashland and others have passed measures to tax the substance at much lower rates.

If the measure passes, Bend may be surrounded by other towns working quickly to pass pre-emptive taxes on legal weed.

In La Pine, attorneys are drafting a proposal that councilors would have to debate and pass quickly before the Nov. 4 deadline, which attorneys say is the last chance for towns to impose their own taxes on pot.

“So the jurisdictions and League of Oregon Cities and counties are saying if you want to have a tax, you have to do it between now and the vote in four weeks,” said Rick Allen, city manager of La Pine.

The League of Oregon Cities wouldn’t comment on what advice, if any, it is giving to city administrators ahead of the general election.

But League Executive Director Mike McCauley highlighted home rule, which attorneys cite when talking about taxes that many consider certain to head to a courtroom.

Oregon law gives cities the ability to assess additional sales taxes under home rule. Cities are using that law in their interpretation of whether their new marijuana taxes would hold up if challenged in court.

“I can see some potential court challenges,” said Jeremy Green, an attorney who represents a handful of Central Oregon cities, including La Pine. “The argument is that under our local home rule charter authority, we as cities have the ability to adopt these ordinances and assess the tax.”

Peter Zuckerman, spokesman for the Yes on 91 campaign, said he doubts the pre-emptive taxes would, in fact, be grandfathered in. But he said, “I can understand why local cities and counties are eager to have some of the money currently going into the criminal market.”

In Deschutes County, officials decided not to explore the possibility of taxing marijuana.

During informal discussions earlier this year, county commissioners decided proposing a countywide tax would send a mixed message to residents. County Administrator Tom Anderson said although cities around the state are exploring the revenue-generating option, the commission has opposed legalization and informal discussions concluded an ordinance shouldn’t be drafted.

They also considered whether a county ordinance to tax marijuana could procedurally be “grandfathered” into the equation.

“It was felt that it would not be something the county would pursue even if we could mechanically do it,” Anderson said.

Deschutes County’s neighbor to the west began the process of drafting an ordinance on Sept. 30. Lane County commissioners directed their staff to look at a countywide tax on recreational and medical marijuana sales.

Jefferson and Crook counties have been more receptive to a local tax on marijuana.

“We’re giving it some thought,” said Jefferson County Commissioner Mike Ahern. “We’ll probably be giving some direction to staff and be doing some more research.”

Crook County Judge Mike McCabe said an ordinance was drafted but has since been scrapped after discussing the tax with the county’s attorney and deciding it would not be enforceable.

Deschutes, Jefferson and Crook counties are organized under general law, meaning a tax on marijuana at the local level would have to go before voters in order to be adopted.

The Association of Oregon Counties has not taken an official stance on the issue or said whether counties should consider a local tax.

— Reporter: 406-589-4347, tanderson@bendbulletin.com

— Reporter: 541-617-7820, tshorack@bendbulletin.com