By Steven Allen Adams, for The Intelligencer of Wheeling
CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Cities and towns in West Virginia are being stiffed on tax revenue by subcontractors working on state projects, according to the Legislative Auditor’s Office.
In a letter released Tuesday to Senate President Mitch Carmichael and House Speaker Roger Hanshaw, Post Audit Division Director Justin Robinson said his office was following up on a 2017 report that found that out-of-state subcontractors working on state projects were not registering with local municipalities where the work was being done. By not locally registering, the municipalities were missing out on tax revenue.
“This report underscored the fact that the primary cause for cities’ inability to collect taxes owed for projects under state contract is that they were unaware of the contract itself or that the contractor or subcontractor was performing this work in their area,” Robinson wrote. “To the best of the Legislative Auditor’s knowledge neither the agency through which the contract is executed, nor the Purchasing Division, is required to notify the municipalities of the contract after it is awarded.” …