By Steven Allen Adams, Parkersburg News and Sentinel
CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Republican members of the West Virginia Senate hope a full slate of property tax repeals and tax increases in other areas will be enough to bring Democratic leaders on board for a phase out of the business and inventory tax.
The Senate Finance Committee adopted a committee substitute for Senate Joint Resolution 9 Monday afternoon.
SJR 9 is the latest version of two previous resolutions designed to phase out the business and inventory tax on manufacturing machinery, equipment, and inventory. If approved by a two-thirds vote of both the state Senate and House of Delegates and a vote by the public in a special election, SJR 9 would remove language from the state constitution requiring uniformity in taxation.
Additionally, the new joint resolution would give the Legislature the authority to repeal property taxes on certain vehicles and all-terrain vehicles, trailers, and other categories of commercial vehicles that cross state lines. The estimated costs of repealing these taxes would be $200 million.
Related to SJR 9, the committee originated a bill that would allow the Legislature to phase out the business and inventory tax, costing $100 million. The phase-out would be spread out over six years for property taxes on manufacturing equipment, inventory tax, and vehicles. The phase-out would be complete by fiscal year 2028.
To pay for the $300 million hole these tax reductions would put in the general revenue budget, the originating bill would raise the sales tax from 6% to 6.5%, the tax on a pack of cigarettes would rise by 80 cents from $1.20 per pack to $2 per pack (not counting the sales tax for purchasing the cigarettes). The wholesale price for other tobacco products would increase from 12% to 50%. Taxes on e-cigarettes and vaping products would change from 7.5 cents per milliliter to 50% of the wholesale value.
Senate Finance Committee Chairman Craig Blair, R-Berkeley, said SJR 9 and the originating bill are products of stakeholder meetings during the fall with the West Virginia Manufacturers Association and the West Virginia Association of Counties. Blair said he presented the bills to the Senate Democratic Caucus last week. …
“It’s a commitment to the future of West Virginia,” Blair said. “It’s all about getting a foundation laid that we can work off of.” …
