MORGANTOWN — Monongalia County Commission President Tom Bloom likes to pose a question when the topic of Amendment 2 comes up.
If you’re not happy with how the state maintains your roads, why would you trust it to maintain the budgets that fund your county, municipalities, board of education and levying bodies?
Amendment 2 is one of four constitutional amendments that will go before West Virginia voters when early voting opens Oct. 26. If passed with a simple majority, it would give the state legislature the authority to change or eliminate personal property taxes.
Elimination, West Virginia Association of Counties Executive Director Jonathan Adler explained, would pull at least $550 million in constitutionally guaranteed revenue from county budgets — and replace it with a promise.
“There’s no protection of county revenues. They say right now they’re going to backfill us, and I believe them. I believe current leadership that they’re going to pay us back this $550 million, but that doesn’t hold future legislatures into account. They can lose that promise,” he said during a recent information session.
“How long can they sustain that? How long can they do that?” Adler continued. “They can’t answer that.”
Both Adler and Monongalia County Assessor Mark Musick question what will happen when/if the state’s current budget surplus becomes a shortfall. What about counties that see sustained growth? Will that be reflected in their annual payout?
Those questions and a host of others prompted the WVACO as well as the County Commissioner’s Association of West Virginia to come out against the amendment. Gov. Jim Justice has also voiced serious reservations.
Bloom said the Monongalia County Commission intends to make official its position with a resolution on Wednesday.
Commissioners have previously expressed concerns over the prospect of counties fighting for money in Charleston, then coming home so the fight can begin locally as the commission would be tasked with disbursing those dollars.
It is believed that if passed there will be a move to eliminate taxes on personal road vehicles, machinery and equipment, furniture and fixtures, leasehold investments, computer equipment and inventory.
Those categories generated a little over $24.5 million in Monongalia County in 2021. A plan being circulated among the counties indicates those property taxes would be replaced by a fixed annual allocation from the state. In that plan, Monongalia County is provided a little over $30.8 million.
Will that be the county’s allocation for one year? Five years? Forever? Musick said he’s been asking without success.
Musick also said it’s a good possibility that any future shortfall in allocations from Charleston would be made up locally on increased taxes on homes and property.
According to information provided by Musick’s office, the board of education would lose constitutional protection over some $16 million in base and excess levy dollars based on 2021 numbers. Excess levy funds for transit ($497,614); parks/rec ($262,378); volunteer fire ($171,903) and public libraries ($122,141) would stand to lose that protection as well.
Morgantown Public Library System Executive Director Sarah Palfrey said she can see the writing on the wall.
“There are a lot counties and municipalities who will take this as an opportunity to walk away from funding those entities because they will no longer be required to do so,” she said, adding “Whether the reality of this is that the money doesn’t come back to the county, or if it does, it just opens the door for it to not go where people asked for it to go. That’s the real danger in it for me.”
Bloom said he believes the lack of available information beyond the elimination of vehicle taxes is purposeful and that local officials need to explain passage of the amendment will shift local authority to Charleston.
“This is one of the biggest things to happen to the state of West Virginia in 90 years or longer,” Musick said.
