An editorial from the Parkersburg News and Sentinel
PARKERSBURG — Unless tax collections pick up, there will be no “happy New Year” in Charleston. Instead, there will be notices going out to state agencies that they must cut spending for the remainder of the fiscal year, ending June 30.
Once again in November, revenue flowing into West Virginia’s general fund was below estimates used to set the budget. Just five months into the year, tax collections are running $57.4 million behind predictions.
At that rate, the state’s general fund could be nearly $130 million in the red by June 30.
That cannot be allowed to occur, so Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin is considering an order that state spending be reduced…
