Municipalities in Illinois that have cannabis dispensaries will start seeing more money from recreational marijuana purchases.

Cities, counties and villages that passed an individual 3% cannabis tax could start collecting it as of July 1. In the Metro East, that means more revenue for St. Clair County, Collinsville and Sauget, areas that passed a tax levy and where the region’s two current dispensaries operate.

Madison County won’t collect an additional tax because county board members voted against allowing cannabis sales in unincorporated parts of the county last year.

While the tax increase will likely only be a few extra dollars per purchase, it represents more money for local city and county budgets at a time when some municipalities in the region have laid off workers or considered doing so because of the economic damage caused by the coronavirus.

So far, Collinsville has avoided layoffs by using the taxes it collects from cannabis sales to offset drops in other revenue sources, like sales tax, said City Manager Mitch Bair.

“It’s a safety net, a backstop,” he said. “We’re not going to rely on that 100% for operations after the pandemic, and that was never the plan.” [Read more at St. Louis Public Radio]