CHARLESTON, W.Va. — If you ever wondered where the money you send to Charleston in the form of taxes winds up, you’ll now be able to track every single penny of it. State Auditor J.B. McCuskey has unveiled a new tool on their website to give taxpayers an itemized statement of where there money winds up.
“You’ll find the breakdown of where your money went,” said McCuskey. “You’ll find out how much went to public education, higher education and how much went to DHHR or Medicaid or to the various other agencies.”
The idea came from Mike McKown and Anthony Woods, to members of McCuskey’s staff who kept working on existing technology to produce what they needed to lay out all of the tax payer information for all to see.For McCuskey it’s fulfillment of a commitment to transparency as well as accountability by state leaders to taxpayers.
“This will give voters the ability to have an intelligent conversation with elected officials,” he said. “Then they can say, ‘Hey, this is where my money is going and here is where it could do better.’ Or they could say,’Hey thank you I think our money is going where it should be.”
“You’ll also see our budget analysis of road fund, public education, and other services,” said McCuskey. “The reports these guys are putting together in this budget analysis division are really world class.”
McCuskey advised if you’re displeased with what you find, it’s not an online tool that lets you change the allocation.
“You’ll have to do that on election day,” McCuskey said.