CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Sen. Chris Walters (R-Putnam) says state revenue numbers for July, the first month of Fiscal Year ’17, are a cause for concern but not necessarily indicative of a another bad fiscal year for the Mountain State.
Last week, the state confirmed that revenue numbers for July fell $28 million short of estimates.
“Services are not subject to the consumer sales tax,” Walter explained. “Due to that, we saw a lot more money being spent in the medical arena, which does not have the consumer sales tax. We saw a lot less consumer sales tax collections. Whereas we need to be cognizant of what happened, we don’t really know that we can set this as a barometer for the entire year.”
Still, Walters said there’s no question that West Virginia is hurting badly, with coal severance not coming in, and natural gas prices low. He called the Mountain State’s picture “bleak.”
“A lot of West Virginians are hurting, and it’s going to be difficult to ask them for more,” he said referring to raising more taxes. “Whoever the new executive is going to have to help lead in those decision, because that’s the position of the governor.”
Walters said that possible special session on the budget before the next regular session might be determined by governor-elect Bill Cole or Jim Justice.
“It’s going to be a call (by the new governor). It’s really going to be a tricky situation we find ourselves in as to what will be the right decision.”
There was no question in Walters’ mind that West Virginia needed to diversify its economy away from solely the energy sector, which it has failed to do since coal’s downturn.
“We’re completely reliant on the extraction industry, which has been a great industry for our state,” he said. “That’s why I’ve been so adamant in pushing ideas to diversify the economy like broadband to move us into the 21st century. We’ve not done that, and we’re reaping what we sowed.”
Some state officials said last week that the July revenue numbers could have been negatively affected by the historic June 23 flood.
The next round of legislative interims are scheduled for Aug. 21.