Slip repair planned for Brooke Trail
By Warren Scott, The Weirton Daily Times
WELLSBURG, W.Va. — The Brooke County Commission agreed Tuesday to share with federal and state officials their concerns about a major miscalculation by the state’s Tax Division while learning of pending repairs to a slip along the Brooke County Pioneer Trail.
County Commissioners A.J. Thomas, Stacey Wise and Tom Diserio approved a letter to Gov. Jim Justice, state Auditor J.B. McCuskey and several local representatives to the state Legislature expressing their concern over the loss of millions of dollars in tax revenue for Brooke and other counties.
State tax officials have confirmed an error was made in calculating taxes on natural gas produced by wells in several counties that had gone into production in 2021.
It’s been the state’s practice to estimate annual production for each well on the gas it produced on its first day of operation.
It’s been estimated that more than $30 million in taxes should have been collected for active gas wells in Brooke, Doddridge, Harrison, Marshall, Monongalia, Pleasants, Tyler and Wetzel counties.
The commission’s letter states, “Even more appalling is the fact the state tax department was made aware of this issue in March of 2023, prior the time that 2023 real property tax statements were distributed to the taxpayers, but failed to alert the affected counties until September of 2023.”