Byron has high hopes for pot license

Byron City Administrator Al Roder is in his early 60s and was raised in an era where smoking cannabis was taboo.
Now, it’s possible Roder may be the de facto CEO of a city owned cannabis dispensary in the near future, as the city is prepared to move forward with applying for a municipal owned cannabis dispensary license.
“It’s very different, I was raised in an era where we were always told this is a bad thing, we don’t believe in this, so my personal values aside my responsibility is to the taxpayers of Byron,” Roder said during a phone interview. “What is in their best interest?”
On Feb. 18, the city’s Economic Development Authority unanimously approved moving forward with applying for a license.
The decision came following a feasibility study that was conducted, which showed the city could have success in the venture.
Roder said while there was an expense for the study, he chalked it up as really an insurance policy saying “before you spend a million or a million and a half dollars on attempting this venture, maybe we should find out if this is viable.”
“At this point the initial feasibility study supports the creation of a municipal dispensary,” Roder said.
Many Questions Remain
If the city is to be awarded a license by the state, Roder noted it doesn’t mean it’s a guarantee there would be a municipal owned cannabis shop in Byron.
“Applying for the license and even receiving one, doesn’t lock us into going ahead with a dispensary,” Roder said. “But the window to apply for a license is very small.”
If the city is awarded a license, Roder said there would be a lot to study including the possibility of working with other cities who are interested in owning a city owned dispensary.
Roder noted the city would be expected to make money off the venture, according to the feasibility study, but if the city were to join others through a joint power agreement, it would make it even more profitable.
Roder said the concept of a joint power agreement is that they could share certain services like sharing marketing campaign or training or having a municipal supplier
“It’s about jointly sharing some of those startup costs and operating costs moving forward,” he said.
According to the city, Minnesota is the only state which allows municipal owned dispensaries.
The city of Kasson, who had some discussion of exploring a city owned dispensary, isn’t likely to do so anymore.
Unlike Byron, the city of Kasson owns and operates a municipal liquor store.
“I don’t believe that anything has changed at this time from the Council’s stance last year,” City Administrator Tim Ibisch wrote in an email. “I don’t anticipate that Kasson will (be) operating a dispensary at this time.”
Offsetting Property Taxes
Similar to municipal owned liquor stores, Roder said the idea of looking at owning a municipal pot shop is to be able to offset property taxes.
Currently roughly 90% of the city’s budget is dependent on local property taxes.
“Is there a way to offset some of that dependency on property taxes with another funding stream and that’s what this amounts to,” Roder said.
Roder said if the city is issued a license, it would have approximately a year to come up with a decision.