SARANAC LAKE — The village board got rolling on a program to put tax revenue from cannabis sales in the village into a grant program for local organizations and events on Monday. The board plans to vote on the law at its next meeting on Dec. 8.

On Monday, the board adjusted several details of the proposed law — planning to put 75% of the cannabis tax revenue toward the grant program, setting maximum grants at $5,000 and setting the process for applying for these grants.

This program would be similar to the one the town of North Elba established in July 2024.

Trustee Kelly Brunette’s been working on Saranac Lake’s proposal for a while. She brought a proposal to the board at its Nov. 10 meeting.

The full proposed law can be found at tinyurl.com/4tk9p26j starting on page 45.

Every sale of cannabis is taxed at 13% — 4% of that is a local tax. Of that 4%, 75% is allocated to the municipalities where the sales occur. This tax is split 50/50 between the town and the village. Village officials are estimating this will bring in around $40,000 annually.

There were discussions of having any request over $2,500 require a match from the group requesting it, or for the board to only need to vote on requests higher than $2,500. But these ideas were not solidified. They could still be added before the board vote at the next meeting, though.

There was debate on the board over how much of the cannabis tax revenue to use on the grant program. Mayor Jimmy Williams saw it as a way to avoid tax increases, a new revenue stream to lessen the tax burden by bolstering the general fund. He said it could be used for new business, housing or beautification initiatives.

Trustee Matt Scollin felt the amount of cannabis tax revenue isn’t large enough to move the needle on these initiatives.

Other trustees did not want to use the cannabis tax to plug the budget. It’s not a reliable source, they felt. The relatively small amount of cannabis revenue could do more for local organizations and events than village projects. And, this money can be spent on things regular tax dollars can’t be spent on.

The cannabis tax grant program would allow the village to give money to the groups who come to the village to request money for their events — things like the adult, youth and civic centers; the arts, music festivals and other events.

Scollin said the amount of money coming in from the Franklin County bed tax grant program has been hit or miss, changing its structure and eligibility every year. He felt the village could use cannabis money as a “sure thing” to fund events if the bed tax money has any hiccups.

Trustee Aurora White said if they use the cannabis taxes to fund organizations and events, they’ll spend less from the general fund on those things and open up more money in the general fund to spend on other things.

Currently, the only licensed dispensary in the Tri-Lakes is Elevate ADK, which is in the village of Saranac Lake and the town of North Elba. Alpine Agronomy, a cannabis cultivation facility in the village of Saranac Lake and the town of Harrietstown, has been licensed to start dispensary sales but has not opened yet. When this second dispensary opens, trustees said it may increase the cannabis tax revenue.

The village has accumulated almost $100,000 in cannabis tax revenue since Elevate opened in May 2023.

Village Manager Bachana Tsiklauri wants to use the cannabis revenue already received for a new snowmaking pump at the village-owned ski area at Mount Pisgah. He plans to bring a resolution to the board requesting those accumulated funds to be used for this soon.

He said, if they can’t make these upgrades, this might be the last season they have snowmaking with this existing system. He estimates the entire project will cost $300,000.

White said she feels she doesn’t want to use all the accumulated money for Mount Pisgah. Tsiklauri said they need to act fast on replacing this pump, to be able to open the mountain next year. They agreed to have village Parks Manager John Dixon attend the next meeting to discuss this.

Cannabis tax funds are paid out to the village quarterly. The state overpaid the village last year through an accounting error, so the village has not been getting payments since August 2024 to make up for it. The village got another check earlier this month, indicating that they are caught up.

But the error has made it a bit more difficult to estimate how much revenue they can expect each quarter. Tsiklauri estimated a potential $10,000 to $15,000 quarterly — or around $40,000 annually.

Williams said this is not as “grandiose” as the $100,000 the village was initially anticipating, based on the quarterly revenue they were getting overpaid on.

Because of this, Scollin said he’d rather put 75% of the total cannabis revenue toward the grant program, instead of the initial proposed 50%, to make the program “worth it” for local organizations. That 75% program cap would be based on the previous year’s cannabis tax revenue, and the percentage would be reviewed annually.

The board will need to figure out where the other 25% will go.

Applications could only be made by non-profits or those with a non-profit sponsor. The board said the program webpage should link to local nonprofit sponsors people can partner with, so they don’t have to form their own nonprofits.

Applications could be accepted on a rolling basis. The funds could not be used to pay salaries or wages, and would not be allowed to be applied to costs retroactively.

This fund would be used to reinvest in the community by funding eligible projects and initiatives that benefit residents, prioritizing youth, seniors and recreation. All proposals must align with one of these priority groups.