WV cities, counties worry tax changes will mean cuts
Charleston Gazette
Cities, counties worry tax changes will mean cuts
by Phil Kabler, Staff writer
Cities and counties are already struggling with low tax revenues, and mayors and county commissioners urged state legislators Tuesday not to make changes that could cut their already limited sources for those revenues.
“Most counties are struggling financially. It’s become very hard for us to fund anything but those things specially required in law,” Cabell County Commissioner Nancy Cartmill told members of the legislative Joint Committee on Tax Reform.
Most counties are maxed out on property tax levy rates and have no ability to generate new revenue, she said.
“Any decrease in taxes, particularly business personal property taxes or inventory taxes, or an increase in Homestead exemptions, would put us under,” Cartmill said.
Likewise, Patti Hamilton, executive director of the state Association of Counties, noted that the inventory tax -- which has been described as a disincentive to business investment, and even called a “job killer” -- provides $68 million a year for counties and public school systems.
The personal property tax on business machinery and equipment, also seen as a detriment to attracting business by some, provides nearly $164 million for school systems and counties, she noted.
As a practical matter, Hamilton said, eliminating or reducing those taxes would require voters to approve an amendment to the state constitution – which she suggested could be a hard sell.
"Would a single mom or dad or a minimum-wage young adult have much interest in supporting a constitutional amendment that allows equipment owned by businesses to be exempt, but their own cars are not?” she asked.
More
http://www.wvgazette.com/article/20150609/GZ01/150609210/1453
Have Repubs learned nothing from Kansas' fiscal failure?