Taxes come back to us as services and improvements

There are only two guarantees in life: Death and taxes. Neither of which people look forward to.

But as painful as it is to watch taxes whittle away at an already anemic paycheck or add to an already cringe-worthy total at the register, taxes do serve a purpose.

We complain about paying our taxes, but then we turn around and complain the government never fixes anything. But if government doesn’t collect taxes, there is no funding for projects.

Effective July 1, Morgantown will implement a new 1% sales tax, which is projected to bring in about $3.75 million in revenue for the 2021 Fiscal Year.

Part of that money will be used to get the airport runway project off the ground (pun fully intended) until the city can put together a TIF district. The extended runway will allow larger planes to fly in and out of the Morgantown Municipal Airport, which will make it competitive with the North Central West Virginia Airport in Clarksburg. When Morgantown’s airport can accommodate commercial airplanes, we’ll have better access to commercial flights to more destinations.

That sales tax will also send $827,063 to BOPARC. BOPARC has worked on renovating and expanding the ice skating rink; it replaced the Krepps aquatic play area last summer; and it maintains multiple parks, trails and pools throughout Morgantown. In the summer, BOPARC hosts sports leagues and arts camps. It also has a variety of classes and programs for children and adults alike. (In all seriousness, BOPARC does way more than we initially thought.) And yes, we do have to pay a fee for certain services, but the money we pay at the door doesn’t cover the operating costs on its own.

What we’re getting at is this: Yes, we all hate taxes, but we’re not getting nothing for the money we’ve paid. We get it back in the form of services and improvements. And raising taxes is how municipalities like Morgantown survive on a dwindling tax base.

So it won’t just be locals footing the bill. A sales tax allows Morgantown to collect money from people visiting Morgantown. West Virginia is one of a handful of states that doesn’t exempt food from sales tax, so every time there’s a major sporting event (like home football and basketball games) or a show at the CAC and people visit restaurants or fast food joints, there will be an influx in revenue to the city.

Not to mention that for nine months of the year or longer, WVU students will be paying the sales tax, too, every time they go shopping.

So no worries, Morgantown. We won’t be footing the whole $3.75 million bill.

But we will reap the rewards.