FLORISSANT, Mo. – A marijuana company is arguing at the Missouri State Supreme Court that dispensaries are being overtaxed.  

Attorney Eric Walter with Armstrong Teasdale LLP argued that Florissant marijuana dispensaries are paying too much in taxes. 

“They’re competing against the black market that’s always been there and they’re also competing against this Delta 8 that’s being sold in gas stations and that isn’t taxed,” he said. 

 In 2022, when the state constitution was amended for marijuana sales, it said the governing body of “any” local government is authorized to impose an additional sales tax of up to 3%. 

But Walter and St. Louis County disagree on if that applies to multiple governing bodies or just a single local governing body. 

Robust Missouri, which has a Florissant facility, argues the city imposes that 3% tax because the facility is within city limits. 

St. Louis County is also imposing its own 3% tax, though, which Walters argues is not the intention of the constitutional amendment.  

A circuit court sided with the county. An appeals court sided with the dispensaries. So now the case is at the supreme court and St. Charles County has also intervened.  

“Everybody pays taxes today on their bourbon or Budweiser and they pay a state tax, they pay county taxes and they pay city taxes,” said St. Charles County Executive Steve Ehlmann. 

 “They do co-exist and they do overlap and that is the regular sales tax that everybody pays on everything else, including marijuana products. So the counties, even on sales in the city, the counties are getting that portion that would otherwise come to them,” Walter said. 

Walter says this tax is on top of a 6% state tax and other local sales taxes that apply to all sales, leading to marijuana being taxed as much as 17%. 

But Ehlmann argues the counties are strictly following the state constitution. 

“If you put it in the constitution, you better get it right because, as we’re finding out right now, if it turns out that it’s not written the way you thought it was, you’re out of luck,” Ehlmann said. 

Ehlmann says this 3% tax has already generated $2.5 million for the county this year. 

St. Louis County says it has collected more than $6 million since this tax was implemented in 2023. 

There is no set time for when the supreme court will make a decision on the case.