CHARLESTON, W.Va. — On Monday, House Finance Committee members delayed a vote on legislation to raise money to help maintain West Virginia’s deteriorating roads — but they did recommend taking out the major funding component in the bill.
As it left the Senate, the bill (SB 555) would raise about $315 million a year in new funding for highways, but a House Finance subcommittee wants to eliminate a proposed 1 percent increase in the state sales tax, from 6 percent to 7 percent — which would eliminate more than $200 million of that total.
Committee members on Monday also raised concerns about another key component of the bill, increasing several Division of Motor Vehicles fees to raise about $66 million a year.
“People are struggling right now to make ends meet,” Delegate Carol Miller, R-Cabell, said. “We are just feeing people to death. I have a great concern these fees are too much.”
She cited the proposed increase in the certificate of title fee, which would go from $5 to $40…