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County Commissioners’ Association relays legislative priorities to lawmakers

CLARKSBURG, W.Va. — As the upcoming legislative session approaches, representatives from six counties had the opportunity to present their priorities to state lawmakers.

Representatives from six counties come together to discuss legislative priorities
Representatives from six counties come together to discuss legislative priorities

The County Commissioners’ Association of West Virginia held its Region 7 –Barbour, Harrison, Marion, Monongalia, Preston and Taylor– meeting Tuesday at North Central West Virginia Airport with state senators and delegates, along with representatives from the governor’s office and federal delegations.

Vivian Parson, Executive Director for the County Commissioners’ Association said the reason for dividing the state into eight regions is to create small enough groups that all voices can be heard.

“We invite our commissioners, we invite the legislators, other interested parties in that area, talk about the agenda as it’s adopted by the County Commissioner’s Association and then also reserve some time for local issues, what’s going on in that region.”

The legislative platform is divided into the group’s priorities, what it will support and what it will plan to oppose.

Three of the four priorities which have drafted legislation deal with counties being able to generate revenue.

Besides allowing counties to hire an attorney to collect delinquent

Harrison County Commissioner Ron Watson addresses the association Tuesday
Harrison County Commissioner Ron Watson addresses the association Tuesday

property taxes and deduct the expense from tax collection before distribution, along with the elimination of the hotel/motel tax 30 day exemption, the counties are asking for a better way for the Regional Jail authority to collect court costs.

Parsons said one of their suggestions would be to allow the debt to be paid through funds found on an individual when incarcerated that may not be involved in forfeiture, similar to what is done with child support.

“This is a debt that’s owed and if they have money available when they are incarcerated to pay those costs, then we should be able to collect that at that time.”

The fourth piece of legislation the CCAWV plans to draft ahead of the session relates to raising the threshold for number of signatures needed to require the commencement of removal process of a local elected official from the current 1 percent or 50 people (whichever is lower) to 10 percent.

The rationale is not change the benchmarks for what constitutes as grounds for removal, but that 50 people in Kanawha County (135,506 registered voters) is different from 50 people in Clay County (5,704 registered voters).

“We think it should it based on percentage,” Parsons said. “We also think that there should be a process to this that states the parameters of putting this petition together. Anything that is signed should state what the charges are.”

Currently, there is nothing in the statute that prohibits an citizen from handing a sheet off paper that, other than the 50 signatures, is blank.

The group also plans to support legislation proposed by other groups such as permitting alternate means of disposing county property (change of location or internet sales), while planning to oppose other legislation they have heard is in the works like any attempt to take, remove or lessen county 911 revenues for use in any other purpose.

While the platform is predominately locked in with approximately 2 months until lawmakers converge on Charleston, Parsons and the association are open to improvements.

“Sometimes people make suggestions of things that might make it better, things that we could work on,” she said. “That’s the basic concept. The drafting will take place as we go along and get closer to the session.”

The legislators in attendance appeared to appreciate the opportunity to hear directly from the county commissioners rather than just from a representative for the group, especially as the conversation turned into debate over solutions for the state’s problems such as infrastructure and the prison system.

“I represent five different counties and if we didn’t have these types of forums, it’d be difficult to gauge the interest of all those elected officials who represent all of the citizens in their particular areas,” Sen. Mike Romano (D-Harrison, 12) said. “There’s nothing more important than communication, some good, lively debate.”

The next CCAWV Legislative Roundtable meeting is scheduled for Region 8 –Brooke, Hancock, Marshall, Ohio, Tyler and Wetzel– Wednesday at 6 p.m. in the Wheeling Island Resort.





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