It appears no tax revenues from retail cannabis is coming for municipalities in B.C. any time soon.

B.C.’s Finance Minister Carole James says the provincial and the Union of B.C. Municipalities are continuing to have good dialogue, however no deal has been struck for the percentage that cannabis tax revenue will be split between the province and local governments.

She says the province is in charge of background and criminal record checks, and municipalities are responsible for creating bylaws and issuing licenses.

“We want to make sure we’re clear about who’s doing what because that then helps us make a determination. But I think the other important piece here is there isn’t a profit right now to be able to share. Our costs outweigh the revenue that is coming in,” James says.

“We’ve been having that conversation with the UBCM and we’ll get back to the table and continue to monitor the dollars that are coming in. There may some shifts as you look to edibles this coming spring, that’s the next step in the legalization piece, but we’re continuing that work on that committee with the UBCM.”

James says cannabis revenues are less than what was first forecast for this fiscal year because of the slow pace of government cannabis stores opening in B.C.

The UBCM has been asking for a determination of how cannabis revenues will be split since last year, and had hoped a deal could be struck before its annual convention which is now less than two weeks away.

Some municipalities say they may have to raise property taxes unless they’re reimbursed by the province for retail cannabis costs.