CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Oversight is what West Virginia Auditor J.B. McCuskey is promising to Mountain State voters if road bond sales are approved during an October Special Session on the proposed Roads to Prosperity Amendment of 2017.
As proposed, approval would allow for sales of $2 billion in road bonds to fund road construction projects statewide.
If that happens, McCuskey’s office already has plans to launch a publicly accessible website providing information in real time about how exactly that money is being spent.
“The people of West Virginia deserve to be able to see that credit card statement to hold their government accountable to do the things they promised with it,” he said during an appearance on Wednesday’s MetroNews “Talkline.”
.@mccuskeyforwv tells @HoppyKercheval about a website that will show real time spending of road bond money. WATCH: https://t.co/wkudfIAoe1 pic.twitter.com/B0BJ0d0m72
— MetroNews (@WVMetroNews) July 26, 2017
“What you’ll be able to find is what contractors are being used, where they’re from, the dates of payments, the costs for projects. We will likely be able to break it down by spending by county,” he said.
McCuskey would also like to see the spending broken down by individual roads.
In part, the bonds would be funded with $130 million annually out of DMV fee and vehicle purchase tax hikes along with adjustments of calculations to the wholesale tax on gasoline that took effect in West Virginia on July 1.
With the website, “The idea here is that you’ll be able to see the totality of what this project is doing and make sure that you can tell your representatives that this money needs to be spent in the way that it was promised,” McCuskey said.
The West Virginia Constitution requires any amendment to be submitted to voters for ratification or rejection in a special election.
On June 28, Governor Jim Justice signed a proclamation setting Election Day for Oct. 7. Early voting is scheduled from Sept. 22 to Oct. 4. The last day to register to vote in the election is Sept. 18.
Secretary of State Mac Warner has estimated the special election will cost upwards of $2 million.