MORGANTOWN — Officials in Granville have their eyes and ears focused on Charleston as a bill that would eliminate a substantial percentage of the town’s B&O taxes continues to move through the legislature.
On Tuesday, the West Virginia House of Delegates voted 83-13 in favor of HB 4567, which would remove B&O taxes on the sale of new vehicles.
The bill is currently in the Senate Finance Committee.
Of the 29 municipalities statewide that will be impacted, Granville — a city of just over 4,000 residents with five car dealerships — will be among the hardest hit. Others high on the list include South Charleston and St. Albans.
South Charleston Mayor Frank Mullens has been quoted saying his city would lose about $300,000 out of its $30 million budget.
Granville has been told it will lose about $300,000 out of a $6 million budget. About half that budget, an expected $3.18 million in the current fiscal year, is B&O taxes.
“That’s part of the real concern we have is we can’t verify those numbers. In the state of West Virginia, tax returns are not broken down into new or used car sales. We have no real way of knowing. That’s just the number that was given to us,” Granville Mayor Patty Lewis said. “It seems low to me.”
And unlike both South Charleston and St. Albans, Granville has not implemented Home Rule, which would allow the city to seek new revenue sources, such as a sales tax or user fee, in order to recoup lost funds.
“Our elected officials have never wanted anything like that — a sales tax, a user fee. Even though it’s been an option for a long time, they haven’t wanted to do that when we haven’t needed to,” Granville Administrator Latina Mayle said. “We want people to come to Granville and shop. We want them to come here and work, so we’ve tried not to do that.”
If the city were to successfully navigate the Home Rule process, it would likely be at least 2024 before it could implement a new revenue source, Mayle added.
Further, the bill is being considered while every municipality across the state is putting together fiscal year 2023 budgets.
Will this cut be phased in over years, or will the budget that goes into effect July 1 need to reflect the reduction in tax revenue? Lewis said she’s heard both, but she’s budgeting for the latter until told otherwise.
And that, she said, could potentially mean cuts to the town’s staffing.
Granville currently has 48 employees, including 17 with the Granville Police Department, 13 with the Granville Fire Department, 11 in public works, and seven in city hall.
“The part that bothers me is you never want to go backwards. You always want to maintain or improve your level of service,” Lewis said. “We’re going to do everything we can to see how we can make that money up. We’re not ever in favor of losing employees, but if a percentage of your budget goes away, that leads to difficult decisions.”
The Monongalia County Commission on Wednesday approved a letter opposing HB 4567.
Both Lewis and Mayle said they’re concerned but trying to remain hopeful.
“It’s expected to go to Senate Finance later this week and then a full Senate vote, and we anticipate it going through,” Mayle told members of the commission. “The reports we’re hearing from the municipal league are not particularly positive.”
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