as he ducks into his cannabis nursery, eric pearson examines the growing stock for next year's crop. when his company began operating, he figured they were overestimating with the value to be in sonoma county. >> and that is acknowledged on tuesday at the board of supervisors meeting. >> and they hope that it could be used for other things in the county to make improvements. >> and this would be a cash cow and it is not. that is true for everyone. but be careful what you wish for, i guess. >> reporter: they voted to reduce how much they charge cultivators, about 8%. but cannabis, it's taxed four times in sonoma county from the time it's grown to sold. paying more than $90,000 for his three acres, while they're covered with grapevines that are not taxed at all. >> there is no agricultural crop in sonoma county that's taxed except cannabis. >> reporter: new local revenue was one of the selling points for legalization. the taxes, which remain fixed, they began killing off businesses. now pearson says there are only a handful of legal operators who are left to compete with those who have