A Pittsfield, Massachusetts hashish firm is suing town over its Group Influence Charges, alleging officers haven’t recognized any “impacts” the corporate has had on the group, JD Supra experiences. Underneath the state’s legalization regulation, the Group Influence Charges imposed on hashish companies have to be “fairly associated” to the prices incurred by a municipality on account of hashish enterprise operations and municipalities should furnish yearly documentary proof of such prices to operators.
Berkshire Roots is in search of to recoup $440,000 in Group Influence Charges it paid to Pittsfield since 2018; nevertheless, the state’s legalization regulation doesn’t expressly handle whether or not hashish companies might recoup previous Group Influence Charge funds that weren’t in accordance with the regulation.
In keeping with the complaint, Berkshire Roots has two so-called Host Group Agreements with town – one for its medical hashish operations and one for its adult-use operations.
Amendments to the state’s legalization regulation expressly authorize licensees to sue host communities for breach of contract if a licensee believes the previous yr’s municipal value documentation – which a municipality is now required to offer to an operator through the license renewal course of – shouldn’t be “fairly associated” to the precise prices imposed on the municipality. Underneath these provisions, licensees can sue to “recuperate damages, attorneys’ charges, and different prices encompassed locally impression price that aren’t fairly associated to the precise prices imposed upon town or city,” in line with the JD Supra evaluation. Berkshire Roots’ lawsuit doesn’t cite the brand new regulation because the authorized foundation for the lawsuit however references the prior statutory regime and a 2020 Steerage Doc issued by the Hashish Management Fee on Host Group Agreements.
Pittsfield-based Bloom Brothers filed its personal lawsuit in opposition to Pittsfield final yr and is in search of to recoup $110,000 in Host Group Agreements charges, alleging town has by no means offered the documentation exhibiting the corporate’s impression on town.
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