While some have blamed the state's budget crisis on the decline of coal severance taxes, declining natural gas severance taxes are also taking their toll. The decline in mineral extraction, along with a weak economy and major tax cuts phased in between 2006 and 2015, is the central driver of the state's weak revenue growth…
Tax and Budget
The state budget directly affects everyone living in West Virginia. It is the one law that makes state government function. It defines how we plan to use our resources to do the things together that cannot be done alone, such as creating good schools for our children, protecting the environment, making our communities safe, making…
When lawmakers reconvene this spring to address the state’s looming budget crisis, it is clear that West Virginia should take a balanced approach that includes additional revenue, rather than a cuts-only approach that threatens our state’s struggling economy. Our state’s worsening revenue situation isn’t due entirely to plunging energy prices. Rather, that situation exacerbates the…
On Tuesday, Governor Tomblin revised his estimates for the FY 2017 General Revenue Fund Budget. Since the legislature failed to pass the state budget during the regular session, the governor is expected to call a special session sometime this Spring to pass a budget for FY 2017. Altogether, the FY 2017 revised revenue estimates for the…
After hearing from the coal industry about their desire for cut in the severance tax, SB 705 was quickly introduced and sped through the Senate Finance Committee on Monday, and is already on 2nd reading in the Senate today. In its current form, the bill cuts the severance tax on coal from 5% to 4%…
This week, the House of Delegates will consider a bill (HB 2704) that will extend the state's sales and use tax to more services in conjunction with lowering the sales tax rate. HB 2704 would remove several services currently exempted in West Virginia's sales tax, including services provided by lawyers, accountants, architects, engineers, investment counselors,…
Governor Tomblin’s plan for closing an estimated $381 million budget gap for the current fiscal year (FY 2016) and a $466 million shortfall for the 2017 state budget (FY 2017) includes a mix of spending cuts and budget reductions, as well as tapping the Rainy Day Fund, using surplus and one-time revenues, and raising taxes…
Beckley Register-Herald - As officials in Charleston grapple with how to tackle West Virginia's $354 million budget shortfall, due largely to less than expected severance tax collections, states facing similar financial gaps are using other ways to shore up their finances. ReadNearly one out of every seven dollars going into West Virginia's coffers comes from…
For Immediate Release Contact Sean O'Leary, 304-720-8682 (Charleston, WV) Too many working families in West Virginia are paid low wages and have trouble making ends meet, with basic living expenses stretching family budgets beyond their limits. With tax overhaul a likely focus of the 2016 Legislative Session, a bottom-up tax cut like a state Earned…
Too many working families in West Virginia are paid low wages and have trouble making ends meet, with basic living expenses stretching family budgets beyond their limits. With tax overhaul a main topic in front of the legislature, a bottom-up tax cut like a state Earned Income Tax Credit that would help people who work…