The Peoria City Council approved a three percent recreational cannabis tax at Tuesday's meeting.
The council voted 9-2 in favor. Under the new state law, cities have until the end of this month to pass a special sales tax if they hope to collect a split of recreational cannabis revenue next year.
The three percent tax would be imposed if the council votes to allow recreational cannabis sales within city limits.
Councilmen Denis Cyr and John Kelly voted no. Kelly says he's concerned imposing an additional tax on recreational pot will only help the black market.
"The higher we run the tax, the more the black market is going to like it," he said.
But Mayor Jim Ardis calls that a "fallacy."
"Consenting adults that want to participate want to know where their product came from from seed to sale, and it's not going to be on the black market," Ardis said.
Tuesday's vote doesn't legalize recreational cannabis sales in Peoria come January 1, when it becomes legal for adults 21 and over to possess up to 30 grams of cannabis.
The council still needs to approve zoning requirements for businesses before that could happen.
