CHARLESTON, W.Va. — County commissioners around the state expressed concerns and gathered ideas from one another during an annual meeting of county leaders in Charleston Monday.
The County Commissioners’ Association of West Virginia is holding legislative meetings through Tuesday at the Embassy Suites, as county leaders put together an agenda for the 2022 regular legislative session and lay out goals for the future.
The group, which gathered both in person and virtually, heard from West Virginia Senate President Craig Blair, U.S. Senators Joe Manchin (D-W.Va) and Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.) and U.S. Congresswoman Carol Miller (R-W.Va.) on Monday morning. U.S. Congressman David McKinley (R-W.Va.) spoke to the crowd Monday afternoon.
“It’s a good time for our commissioners and their staff to come together and have a discussion about issues with counties and how to problem solve and share information,” Jennifer Piercy, Executive Director of County Commissioners’ Association of West Virginia (CCAWV) told MetroNews.
CCAWV legislative briefing and & HJR3 panel discussion took place Monday. HJR 3, Property Tax Modernization Amendment, will be on 2022 General Election ballots as a constitutional amendment to be approved by the public. The resolution could allow lawmakers to lower personal property taxes, including on vehicles.
Piercy said there are concerns from counties on how counties would be funded with those changes.
“It will be on the ballot in Nov. 2022 at the election. Citizens will be allowed to go in and vote. If it passes, it will give a future legislature the ability to open up that section of property tax code and go in and make changes,” she said.
Agnes Queen, a Lewis County Commissioner and the President of CCAWV led the legislative briefing panel. She said county leaders are also concerned with the regional jail bill, where an increase for the daily rate counties pay for inmates could happen in July.
In 2021, the House and Senate approved a bill that froze the daily rate that counties pay for inmates at $48.25. The per diem was scheduled to increase to $55 a day on July 1. Queen said the counties are pushing for another freeze. She said it would cost Lewis County an additional $100,000.
American Rescue Plan (ARP) funding was also a main topic of discussion. Queen said Lewis County is receiving $3.9 million, enough for “shovel ready projects” in the county. Piercy said her organization has been pushing information out to the counties in recent months on how the funding can be spent.
Queen said with many important issues on the table for counties, now is the time to come together.
“It doesn’t matter what side of the ticket you’re on, your’e the people. We are not an R or a D. Once you’re elected, you’re the people. You should be working for the people, not the party,” Queen said.