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Reality Check
2007 $13.73 billion
2008 $14.19 billion
2009 $16.27 billion
2010 $17.60 billion
2011 $18.30 billion
This is an example of our over-spending government.
An $18.3 billion budget that has increased 33.28% in five years!
And since 1999, it has doubled!
According to the West Virginia Center on Budget &
Policy, state government is projected to experience a budget
shortfall of $244 million in FY 2011. That gap will widen to over
$369 million by FY 2013.
In addition, unemployment has more than doubled in the last year.
Enrollment in social safety net programs has increased 11 percent.
The more jobs that are lost, the more people depend on welfare
programs. The liberal-minded legislature has chosen to ignore what
has been happening all around them.
Large scale economic development won't happen because
government spending is responsible for 52 percent of all money spent
in West Virginia! Private industry only represents 48 percent. Until
the tax burden is lifted, government is downsized and business
development is encouraged, our economic growth will be stunted.
Now is the time to make a change.
Reality Check
The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) was designed to
preserve and create jobs, promote economic recovery and assist those
most impacted by the recession.
Of the $1.76 billion* from the ARRA stimulus money being funneled
to West Virginia, only 1.5% is directed to workforce
programs.
The bulk of the stimulus money is going to propping up budget shortfalls
(Health – 35.70% for Medicaid, food stamps, etc. and Education –
32.76% for grants, Education Stabilization, Special Ed.).
*source: WV Center on Budget & Policy
Reality Check
February 2, 2010
DMV wants to raise fees
By Phil Kabler
Staff writer
CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- Division of Motor Vehicles Commissioner Joe
Miller wants state lawmakers to approve nearly $61 million a year in
fee increases to help fund a cash-strapped state Road Fund, and to
update driver fees that haven't changed for nearly 30 years.
"Many of the fees in DMV are so old they're antiquated," Miller told
the House Finance Committee on Tuesday. He said many of the fees the
DMV wants to increase have not changed since the 1970s and early
1980s.
The DMV is seeking increases in nearly 30 fees the division charges
for various registration, licensing and other services.
Key proposals include:
Raising the vehicle privilege tax -- essentially the state sales tax
on a vehicle -- from 5 percent to 6 percent, to raise an additional
$34 million a year. The tax on vehicle sales has not changed since
1971.
Increasing the vehicle registration fee from $28.50 to $38.50 a year
to raise $13 million a year. The fee hasn't changed since 1976.
Increasing costs for a driver's license from $12.50 every five years
to $25. That fee was last increased in 1981.
Reality Check
West Virginia Taxes as a Percent of
Personal Income vs. US Average
West Virginia state taxes as a percentage of
personal income, are over eight
percent - almost a full two percent higher than the national average.
According to the Federation of Tax Administrators, West Virginia’s
tax burden is the fourth highest in the nation!
Reality Check
Monday March 1, 2010
After tough month, W.Va. tax revenues still ahead
By the Associated Press
CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) -- Budget officials say West Virginia's
general revenue picture weakened by more than $30 million last
month.
But for now, state tax collections remain ahead for the budget year.
February's preliminary
figures show the state missed the month's general tax revenue
forecast of $229 million.
Two key revenue sources, sales and personal income taxes, keep
missing projections. Severance taxes, on extracted natural resources
such as coal, continue to beat expectations but not by enough to
offset those shortcomings.
Manchin administration officials say they expected a rough February,
citing the same timing issues that boosted January's revenues. They
also continue to warn that
the budget year will end
June 30 around $200 million shy of the $3.7 billion forecast.
Monday March 1, 2010
W.Va. jobless fund sinks below $100M
by Lawrence Messina
The Associated Press
CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) -- The fund that provides benefits to jobless
West Virginians has dropped below $100 million, and
officials fear it will run
out of money by October.
The state's unemployment compensation fund ended February with a
balance of about $93 million.
Director Michael Moore
projects that unless the economy turns around, the fund eventually
will become insolvent.
At least 30 other states have been forced to borrow a combined $33
billion from the federal government to keep benefits flowing.
But Moore estimates that West Virginia's fund would only have $13
million left if lawmakers had not passed last year's proposal from
Gov. Joe Manchin. That legislation increased what state employers
pay into the fund, while also providing a one-time $40 million
transfer.
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