POULSBO — A new state law will require the state to share revenues from marijuana sales with counties, cities and towns that allow marijuana retail businesses to operate within their limits.

The City of Poulsbo has a ban on recreational and medical marijuana retail stores, and one of the reasons for the ban was lack of revenue sharing.

“(That is) certainly why I encouraged the city, from my viewpoint, to take the position they did,” Poulsbo City Council member Ed Stern said.

Stern has been vocal that the state should share revenues with local governments in which marijuana retail is permitted.

“It’s been a real battle,” Stern said. “We ended up in a much better result for every city and county in the state.”

But, the city will likely stick with its ban on marijuana retail businesses.

House Bill 2136 was signed by Gov. Jay Inslee on June 30 and became effective July 1.

The bill addresses comprehensive marijuana market reforms, particularly in relation to regulation and taxes. The bill increases the taxes to 37 percent of the retail selling price. The total marijuana sales tax will be collected and distributed by the state. Perhaps one of the most significant aspects of this bill is that 30 percent of the tax will “be distributed to counties, cities and towns where licensed marijuana retailers are physically located.”

The percentage each local government receives will be based on the population of the juridiction.

Poulsbo Mayor Becky Erickson said, “Our 10,000 people — in the whole State of Washington revenue, you’re talking — it’s not going to be a lot of money.”

Erickson said she doesn’t think revenue sharing would be very beneficial to Poulsbo should the city overturn its ban on marijuana retailers.

“More importantly,” she said, “they changed the rules about where these things can be located.”

Before HB 2136, the minimum distance between a retailer and a park, transportation center, school, etc. was 1,000 feet. The new bill gives cities and counties the option of lowering that minimum distance to as little as 100 feet.

“If we decide to go another way (than the 100-foot limit), then it’s litigious,” Erickson said.

Stern, however, felt the change was a good one.

When the city originally zoned for marijuana retailers, when recreational use was first legalized in the state, there was only a small area in which a retailer could be located, Stern said. That area was right by the Little League fields on Viking Way, and “every teenager with half an athletic inclination would be going by there on a one-way street.”

With the change, he said, “If we allow for it, this gives us a lot more room to find the most appropriate place in town.”

But currently, the City Council has no plans to readdress the issue.

“If you go back, the night marijuana was banned by the city … each one of the council members had a different point of view,” Erickson said.

Aside from Stern’s-revenue-sharing concerns, Erickson said other reasons included conservative, moral objections, and concerns about exposing the community’s children to marijuana. The new bill only addresses one of the mentioned concerns, she said.

Stern said that any council person or the mayor could add the topic to the business agenda of the City Council meetings, and, in light of the passing of this bill, he “would certainly be in a much better place myself for reconsidering it.”

“The key is, and always has been, it needs to be done responsibly, if at all,” Stern said.

— VIDEO: On July 2, Poulsbo City Councilman Ed Stern talked with Comcast Newsmakers host Sabrina Register about how marijuana laws affect cities and counties. His message to the Legislature regarding revenue sharing: “Give us what we need to carry out the voters’ will responsibly.”