Trending
Editor, News-Register:
On Nov. 8, West Virginia voters will decide whether to approve Amendment 2, which if approved, will allow the state Legislature to eliminate tangible personal property taxes for businesses as well as the personal property tax for vehicles, without an agreed upon plan to make up at least $500 million a year in lost revenue for counties, cities and schools.
This is the definition of fiscal irresponsibility. What will happen if our state budget surplus turns into a deficit? Where do you think the money will come from to make up the deficit? I have a bad feeling that the state Legislature may adopt a property tax scheme similar to that of Pennsylvania or Ohio. Which means you the taxpaying resident will make up the difference.
Just the title of Amendment 2, "Property Tax Modernization Amendment" speaks volumes about what could happen.
My immediate family and I moved to West Virginia from Allegheny County, Pa. to escape high property taxes. Allow me to explain. Residents of Pennsylvania pay property taxes levied by three different entities: the county, municipality and the local school district. So if you were to own a parcel of real estate located in the Borough of McKees Rocks and the Sto-Rox School District, as an example, and the assessed value of that property is $100,000, you would owe $4,045.50 a year in property taxes, using 2022 millage rates. And that is one of the lower-class communities in Allegheny County. There are some folks in higher class municipalities such as Fox Chapel that owe over $39,000 a year in property taxes. It is also important to note that in general, Allegheny County uses 100 percent of market value to determine assessed value, unlike any county in West Virginia. In addition, there is the Local Services Tax that is owed and a Local Wage Tax that may be applicable. If you want to strike a nerve with a Pennsylvania resident, just bring up property taxes, especially the school tax portion. If Amendment 2 is approved, I am afraid that what is happening in Pennsylvania with taxes could happen in West Virginia. Since Pennsylvania is one of the few states that has no tax on tangible personal property, it is a perfect illustration of what is not collected in one possible tax category is made up in another. Residents of West Virginia will not save any money in taxes in the long run if Amendment 2 is approved. If you are a renter, don't think that you are immune to this: your landlord will just pass the cost of higher property taxes on to you. West Virginia has some of the lowest property taxes in the country. Our state and local officials should be using that as an advantage to attract people with multiple skill sets.
If Amendment 2 is approved, I predict that it will turn into an expensive and irreversible mess for residents while giving tax cuts to big corporations.
Edward W. Zawatski
Weirton