For Immediate Release: December 15, 2020Contact: Renee Alves, 559-916-5939 Charleston, WV - With West Virginia still feeling the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic recession, the state’s leaders face difficult choices in the upcoming legislative session. The choices legislators make will help determine whether or not the state will have a swift and equitable recovery with an economy…
Tax and Budget
Charleston Gazette-Mail - Since the pandemic began, America’s billionaires have grown their wealth by a staggering $1 trillion. At the same time, families in West Virginia and across the country are facing increasing hardship and difficulty meeting their basic needs as the health and economic effects of COVID-19 drag on. Read the full article. In…
The personal income tax is the state's largest source of tax revenue. In FY 2019, West Virginia collected $2.096 billion in personal income taxes, funding nearly half of the state's base budget. West Virginia's income tax is structured so that higher-income residents pay a larger share of their income in personal income taxes compared to…
Charleston Gazette-Mail, Huntington Herald-Dispatch - State tax collections in November continued to top expectations, likely as federal pandemic stimulus funding continues to churn the state economy. Read the full article. Justice and Revenue Secretary Dave Hardy have downplayed the impact of the infusion of more than $3 billion of federal pandemic stimulus funds into the…
Charleston Gazette-Mail - While West Virginians are dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic and trying to figure out if their kids can attend school, the oil and gas industry is working with the West Virginia State Tax Department to cut its property taxes by as much as $62 million per year. Read full article. Last month,…
Charleston Gazette-Mail - While West Virginia has avoided major budget problems, so far, it is unlikely to continue as several billion dollars in federal aid dries up and the economic reality of the pandemic-induced recession continues to put downward pressure on state and local budgets. Link to op-ed here. Policymakers would be wise to take…
The pressure on the state budget from the COVID-19 pandemic and resulting economic fallout continues to mount. In April, state revenue collections were $192 million below estimates, setting the stage for what could be a total $500 million shortfall by the end of the fiscal year. Moreover, recent economic projections from the Congressional Budget Office…
Morgantown Dominion Post - Over the past several months, the Monongalia County Commission has been negotiating a “payment in lieu of taxes” (PILOT) deal with Longview Power LLC to build a gas-fired power plant. PILOT agreements are property tax abatements where corporations agree to make annual payments to local governments instead of paying the property…
Although Congress allocated $1.25 billion in state fiscal aid for West Virginia in the CARES Act that passed last month, it's highly likely this will not be enough money to shore up state and local government budgets from the economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. To make matters worse, the U.S. Treasury issued guidance on…
Charleston Gazette-Mail - A crisis like the coronavirus outbreak creates an immense amount of pressure on state and local government finances. Demand for vital public services escalates just as the revenue to support those services takes a major downturn. Read op-ed. West Virginia is already in a tight budget situation, with resources stretched thin. Before…