By Phil Kabler, Charleston Gazette-Mail
CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Legislators from both sides of the aisle said Friday they are not sweating over a current $33 million shortfall in West Virginia’s tax collection.
“I’m not stressed by that number at all,” Senate Finance Chairman Craig Blair, R-Berkeley, said during a panel discussion on the budget and tax reform, part of the West Virginia Press Association’s annual Legislative Lookahead at the state Culture Center.
Blair told attendees he expects slumping energy prices — which have largely contributed to the downturn in state tax collection midway through the 2019-20 budget year — to rebound in the second half of the year.
“Our budget is so predicated on the roller coaster of severance taxes,” he said of taxes on coal, oil and natural gas, which can fluctuate wildly as export markets and domestic pricing expand and contract.
Delegate Mick Bates, D-Raleigh, agreed, noting, “In the context of the budget, $30 million is not a lot of money.”
Overall, the state’s general revenue budget totals about $4.7 billion.
Bates said that, while he anticipates the Legislature will be able to approve a 2020-21 budget plan without major disagreements, the big fiscal fight of the 2020 regular session will be over a leadership proposal to roll back the state personal property tax on business equipment, machinery and inventory. ..