West Virginia Public News Service and Hampshire Review – State lawmakers are struggling to close a big budget hole, but a close look shows the legislature dug that pit with business tax cuts over the last eight years. Read
Sean O’Leary with the West Virginia Center on Budget & Policy pointed out that state spending has been basically flat for some time, but the tax cuts made since 2006 are part of what is causing a budget gap of more than $200 million next year.
“We’re collecting less business tax revenue this year than we did nearly 20 years ago, even before you adjust that for inflation,” O’Leary said. Revenue lost to cuts in the business franchise tax and the corporate income tax would just about equal next year’s shortfall, he noted.
