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Justice says state’s revenues ‘rock solid’ heading into final month of fiscal year despite pandemic

CHARLESTON, W.Va. — State tax collection numbers are due out Monday and Gov. Jim Justice said he wouldn’t be at all surprised if they are a lot better than anticipated.

Gov. Jim Justice discusses state revenue with Revenue Secretary Dave Hardy, Deputy Revenue Director Mark Muchow and Chief of Staff Mike Hall.

Justice said during his media briefing back on Friday that the state’s finances are currently “rock solid” until the end of the current fiscal year despite a two-month near total shutdown of the state’s economy because of the coronavirus pandemic.

“Unless I am really surprised, we’re not going to have to call (the legislature) back into special session,” Justice said. “Absolutely the revenues are every day higher than where we’d thought they would be.”

The state missed revenue estimates in April by $192 million and some experts have predicted the state is on track to fall behind in revenues by as much as $500 million. But Justice has said more than once in recent weeks that his daily review of the collection numbers has left him optimistic.

“Things can change and if things change we’ll pivot and move very quickly but right now, right now I think we’re rock solid until the end of the year as far as cash,” he said.

Justice previously said his decision to keep essential businesses open during his stay-at-home order appeared to be paying off.

“We shut down the things that we had to shut down in West Virginia. But we really, for all practical purposes, never really shut the entire engine off in West Virginia,” Justice said at his May 29 briefing.

Several large manufacturing plants remained open along with the coal mining industry. Justice said that $500 million prediction is now looking more like $350 million and he said $200 million of that comes from a decision to move the state income tax deadline from April 15 to July 15. Justice anticipates the $200 million will eventually be paid by taxpayers.

So far there have been no significant spending cuts in state government including no layoffs of state workers.

Lottery money will be a big loss in May revenue numbers. The Lottery Commission reported last week it missed revenue estimates in April by $64 million. All Limited Video Lottery parlors and casinos were closed for parts of March, all of April and most of May. The parlors reopened Saturday and the casinos are set to reopen Friday, June 5.

Meanwhile, Justice said an all-out effort is underway by his administration to take advantage of every federal dollar it can through the CARES Act passed by Congress which provided $1.25 billion to the state for pandemic-related expenses.

“We’re trying to check in every single agency under every rock, any and everything we can do, to try to make sure that any dollars of federal money that we’re entitled to in West Virginia that we’re going to take,” Justice said.

He revealed last week his administration has hired the Charleston law firm Bailey & Glasser to assist in taking full advantage of the CARES Act.

“They’re doing a lot of great work and following up on stuff,” Justice said. “We’ve got all of our people in the Department of Revenue working on this.”

Justice said there’s already been more than $2.13 billion that’s come into the state in connection with the pandemic. He said that’s counting “all the buckets” including reimbursements to hospitals, public education and higher education.

Justice said he still believes there will be additional stimulus funds that will flow to the state with different guidelines that will allow the state to backfill its revenue losses.

“But all of us believe now that we’re going to be able to get to the end of June on the cash that we have and the cash that we’re getting in without any further changing of the guidelines that we have today,” Justice said.

Revenue collection numbers from the previous month are typically announced on the first day of the next month. June is the final month of the fiscal year.





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