West Springfield Mayor Will Reichelt has created a Facebook Survey which asks residents whether it istime to revisit the issue of recreational pot in the city.
The last time residents voted on the issue was five years ago or so and they rejected the concept.But now the Mayor says so much has changed over the years and that it is time to look at it again and recoup some of the revenue that has been lost to Springfield and other communities that have adopted recreational pot stores as a way to raise tax revenues.
The Mayor says when the city first rejected the issue there really wasn’t any hard data available on the local level to determine whether it would be a good fit. But now he says with the success of Chicopee and Springfield as well as Holyoke it is time to take another look at it.
The Mayor doesn’t see a downside and says the tax revenue that could be banked would lower taxes and fund so many more projects.
A public hearing is also planned for June on the issue.