Bulletin 2022-05: Cannabis Grants

The purpose of this bulletin is to provide guidance to Office of Cannabis’ (OOC) grantees about the new grant effort for 2022. This bulletin discusses grantee eligibility, documentation requirements, and eligible expense categories.

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Grantee Eligibility

To be eligible for grants, applicants must meet the following eligibility criteria, adopted by OOC in coordination with the Cannabis Oversight Committee:

1. The equity applicant must have a Cannabis Business Permit application submitted to OOC without disqualifying factors (which include but are not limited to withdrawal, abandonment, and applicant ineligibility);
2. The equity applicant must own at least 51% of their Cannabis Business Permit application;
3. The equity applicant’s Cannabis Business Permit application must have been formally referred to the Planning Department no later than 12/17/21.

Grant awards must be used to support the Cannabis Business Permit application that meets the above criteria. The OOC will circulate an award notification to eligible applicants. Applicants will then be required to notify the OOC no later than April 1, 2022 of their intent to move forward.

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Documentation Requirements

Grantees must enter into a new grant agreement and provide one or both of the following: (1) a request for advancement of funds that includes an estimated budget detailing how they plan on spending down their grant award; and/or (2) a request for reimbursement that lists and documents past expenditures eligible for reimbursement. Grant funds will be disbursed in lump-sum advancements and/or via reimbursement requests. The OOC may determine that specific applicants for grants are eligible only for reimbursement, and not for advancement.

Grantees must maintain accurate files and records for at least five years and provide these records to the City, upon request. If a particular expense is $25,000 or more, then the Grantee must provide documentation (e.g. invoice, cancelled checks, receipts) for that expense without waiting for a request from the City.

During the grant term, grantees seeking advancement must provide Progress Report(s) reflecting the amount of grants expended and whether there are any changes to their estimated budget.   

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Eligible Expenses

Grant funds may be used for the following eligible expenses:

Grant awards may be subject to local, state, and federal taxes. The OOC strongly encourages grantees to consult tax professionals. Free technical assistance is available at no charge.

If grant funds are not expended by the end of the grant term or used for non-eligible expenses, then the grantee must return those funds to the City and County of San Francisco or risk enforcement action.  Enforcement may include, but is not limited to: civil penalties, criminal penalties, permit revocation, and being unable to apply for future grants for a period of 5 years.

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