The Exponent Telegram – West Virginia’s 2012-13 fiscal year state revenues ended June 30 with a $90.6 million budget deficit. Many state officials claim a drop in severance tax collections on both coal and natural gas was the primary reason for this revenue shortfall.
But the best-kept secret in Charleston is that the deficit could have been avoided if state lawmakers had heeded a 2011 report created for the Legislature. Read
The report, titled “Investing in the Future — Making the Severance Tax Stronger for West Virginia,” was authored by Sean O’Leary, a policy analyst with the West Virginia Center on Budget and Policy. The study takes an in-depth look at our state’s severance tax on natural resources.
