[Adopted 9-8-2021 by Ord. No. 2021-19]
The purpose of this article is to impose a tax on the sale of cannabis or cannabis products by licensed commercial cannabis businesses operating in the Township of Lower pursuant to the New Jersey Cannabis Regulatory, Enforcement Assistance and Marketplace Modernization Act,[1] to specify the type of tax and rate of tax to be levied and the method of collection, and to comply with all requirements for the imposition of a transfer or user tax pursuant to state law. This article is enacted solely to raise revenue and not for regulation. This article does not authorize the conduct of any business or activity in the Township of Lower, but provides for the taxation of such businesses or activities as they occur.
[1]
Editor's Note: See N.J.S.A. 24:6I-31 et seq.
The terms and definitions enumerated in Chapter 400 of the Township Code and the definitions set forth within N.J.S.A. 24:6I-33 are hereby incorporated by reference as if fully set forth herein. For the purpose of this article, words and phrases herein shall have the same meanings as codified under state law, N.J.S.A. 40:48I-1d, and any amendments or supplements thereto, and the rules and regulations of the Cannabis Regulatory Commission. In the event of a conflict in the meaning of words or phrases as between the Township Code and the foregoing laws or regulations of the state concerning legal cannabis, state law or regulations shall govern and control.
The Township of Lower hereby imposes and shall collect certain local option taxes on cannabis business activity as follows:
A. 
A municipal transfer tax is hereby imposed on the receipts of each sale by a licensed cannabis business operating in the Township of Lower at the rate of 2% of the receipts from the sale of cannabis and/or cannabis items from one cannabis establishment to another cannabis establishment and 2% of the receipts from the sale of cannabis and/or cannabis items by a cannabis retailer to retail consumers who are 21 years of age or older.
B. 
A municipal user tax is hereby imposed, at the equivalent transfer tax rates, on any concurrent license holder operating more than one cannabis establishment. The user tax shall be imposed on the value of each transfer or use of cannabis or cannabis items not otherwise subject to the transfer tax imposed pursuant to this section, from the license holder's establishment that is located in the municipality to any of the other license holder's establishments, whether located in the municipality or another municipality.
All revenues collected pursuant to this article shall be remitted to the Chief Financial Officer of the Township of Lower in the manner provided by this article. The taxes imposed by this article shall be computed and paid for each calendar month. Said taxes are due and payable to the Chief Financial Officer on or before the 20th day of the succeeding month.
A. 
The Chief Financial Officer is hereby authorized and empowered to administer, regulate and collect payment of all taxes imposed by this article.
B. 
The Chief Financial Officer may order an audit of any taxpayer under this article for the purpose of ascertaining the correctness or completeness of any return or payment.
A. 
The payment of delinquent taxes or transfer fees imposed by this article shall be enforced in the same manner as provided for delinquent real property taxes.
B. 
In the event that the transfer tax or user tax imposed by this article is not paid as and when due by a cannabis establishment, the unpaid balance, and any interest accruing thereon, shall be a lien on the parcel of real property comprising the cannabis establishment's premises in the same manner as all other unpaid municipal taxes, fees, or other charges. The lien shall be superior and paramount to the interest in the parcel of any owner, lessee, tenant, mortgagee, or other person, except the lien of municipal taxes, and shall be on a parity with and deemed equal to the municipal lien on the parcel for unpaid property taxes due and owing in the same year.
C. 
In the event that a lien is imposed on a delinquent taxpayer pursuant to this section, the Township shall file in the office of the tax collector a statement showing the amount and due date of the unpaid balance and identifying the lot and block number of the parcel of real property that comprises the delinquent cannabis establishment's premises. The lien shall be enforced as a municipal lien in the same manner as all other municipal liens are enforced.