Counties on horns of a fiscal solution: Lawmakers look to give commissions power to raise revenue with 1 percent sales tax hike

Read our words: Yes, (potential) new taxes.
That’s a knock-off of a famous phrase by a presidential candidate at his nominating convention in 1988.
It’s uncertain how SB 580, which allows counties to impose a 1 percent sales tax, will fare in what remains of this legislative session.
But if its passage out of the Senate Government Organization Committee is any indication, it’s a sure thing.
That committee, composed of 14 senators — eight Republicans and six Democrats — advanced that bill to the Senate Finance Committee by a 13-1 margin.
The bill notes that the intent of this added sales tax is to meet the growing demands of higher regional jail bills, infrastructure repairs “and other expenses place(d) on our county government … .”
That last phrase would suggestion a lot of flexibility on how counties could use these revenues.
It does not apply to cities that already have their own added sales tax, to avoid doubling, which no community in Monongalia County does. Such a 1 percent sales tax will go into effect in Kingwood on July 1.
It will take a majority vote of a county commission to impose this additional sales tax, which would jump from 6 percent to 7 percent.
One problem that has emerged with the advent of home rule, which allows municipalities more local control, is the imposition of a 1 percent hike in sales tax by many.
That has resulted in a substantial boost in their revenues, which in some cases has allowed municipalities to poach county employees with better pay and benefits, especially of law enforcement officers.
Meanwhile, many counties are hard pressed to provide services, raises to employees and fill vacancies without raising property tax levy rates.
Most counties oppose doing that because the burden falls solely on already overtaxed residents.
However a countywide sales tax would also apply to visitors and tourists. Visitors and tourists who often place higher demands on county services at no cost.
An proposal to require a majority-vote referendum on such a tax was defeated in committee, which might have made the decision to raise a county’s sales tax fairer.
Yet, if such referendums failed, indeed, some counties will eventually resort to raising property tax levy rates.
If we had to choose we vote to leave levy rates alone far into the future and impose an added 1 percent sales tax.
Of course, we would rather no new taxes altogether but this bill appears to be the next best option.
It also ensures accountability for these added funds by requiring counties work with the tax commissioner’s office to administer, enforce and collect this tax.
Nothing about SB 580 is certain, but new taxes are almost always a given.