by Michael J. Marino
The City of Billings allocated the first $200,000 in local marijuana taxes to the YWCA Women’s Shelter, according to Finance Director Andy Zoeller.
In 2021, Billings voters approved a measure to legalize medical marijuana. Along with legalization came the taxation of selling and growing it, including a “local option tax.” In the fall of 2022, Billings City Council was tasked with deciding how best to spend the revenue the City received from taxing local marijuana businesses.
At the time, City Administrator Chris Kukulski recommended committing the anticipated $400,000 in additional revenue to expanding the Nurse Family Partnership (NFP), a program by Riverstone Health Clinic, which their website states, “partners first-time mothers with a trusted nurse” to guide them through their pregnancy and help them become better parents as their child grows.
In an interview Feb. 2, Kukulski said the City intends only to provide funds to the NFP program temporarily, acting as a “catalyst” to help expand it. He explained that the data shows the Billings NFP program likely “needs about 12 to 15 nurses, and right now they have two and a half.” The City will, in essence, “double the size of the program for a few years” to include four or five nurses.
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