Tax and Budget

April 29, 2013 by Sean O'Leary
FY 2014 Budget Update

On April 17, 2013, the West Virginia legislature passed the Fiscal Year 2014 budget. Only minor changes were made to Governor Tomblin’s $11.3 billion proposal, which was introduced at the start of the legislative session, with the final budget only $2.0 million smaller than the governor’s proposal, a reduction of 0.02 percent. The FY 2014…

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April 29, 2013 by Ted Boettner
How Should We Pay for Our Roads?

As we stated last month, West Virginia, like most states, is finding it increasingly difficult to pay for construction of its road and bridges because its gas tax can't keep up with the growth of fuel-efficient vehicles and the increasing number of miles driven on state roads. And while a vehicle miles traveled (VMT) tax…

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April 16, 2013 by Sean O'Leary
How Do House and Senate Budget Proposals Differ from the Governor’s Bill?

Later this week, the West Virginia Legislature will vote on the FY 2014 state budget. However, both the House and the Senate have their own budget bill, as well as the budget bill proposed by Governor Tomblin at the beginning of the legislative session. These three budgets must be reconciled into one bill before the…

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April 16, 2013 by Ted Boettner
We Must Invest in Our Communities, Our Families, and Our Economy

Taxes are how we pay for the things we do together for our communities, our families, and our economy. Working together through government allows us to accomplish things that are vital to us in West Virginia and that we cannot do alone. Our roads allow us to get to work each day and they allow…

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April 11, 2013 by Ted Boettner
Is the Coal Tax Credit a Giveaway?

Yesterday, the Senate Energy Committee passed out HB 3072, which gives West Virginia coal companies a severance tax credit of $3 per ton for coal that is sold to power plants in the state that is an excess of what was sold in 2012. As we noted in an earlier post, the tax credit could…

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April 5, 2013 by Ted Boettner
Do Coal Companies Need Another Tax Subsidy?

This week the House passed the "West Virginia Coal Employment Enhancement Act," which gives local coal producers a $3 per ton tax credit on coal sold to West Virginia power plants and other industries. According to the bill (HB 3072), the tax credit (upon the severance tax) is given only to West Virginia coal that…

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April 3, 2013 by Sean O'Leary
More Budget Cuts Coming for West Virginia

With revenue collections running $49 million below estimates, the Senate Finance Committee has introduced a bill to enact immediate spending cuts, with the full Senate expected to vote on the bill today. Lower than expected personal income, sales and severance tax revenues have contributed to the revenue shortfall prompting the budget cuts. SB 664 cuts $28 million…

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April 1, 2013 by Ted Boettner
Should West Virginia Adopt a Mileage Tax?

As the Gazette reported on Wednesday, the WV Department of Highways is pushing a bill to study the feasibility of replacing or supplementing the motor fuel tax with a vehicle miles traveled (VMT)  tax to help address the declining State Road Fund revenue which is partly due to more fuel efficient vehicles. The VMT tax…

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March 14, 2013 by Sean O'Leary, Ted Boettner
Analysis of Governor’s FY 2014 Budget Proposal: Declining Revenue Hurting State

On February 13, 2014, Governor Tomblin released his FY 2014 budget, setting the state’s priorities for the coming year. While West Virginia avoided the major budget problems that plagued many other states during the recession and its aftermath, recent events have finally caught up to the state’s budget, and many programs and agencies will see…

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March 6, 2013 by Ted Boettner
Amazon Law Key to FY 2014 Budget

We learned last week from the Associated Press that Governor Tomblin is pushing legislation to require some online retailers with facilities in the state to collect sales taxes. The legislation (HB 2754 & SB 377) is commonly referred to as an  "Amazon law" because in many states, like West Virginia, the online retail giant does…

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