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CHARLESTON, W. Va.–The state has now collected more than a half-billion dollars more in revenue this fiscal year than was originally projected.
The Justice administration said that revenue collections for January were $146.9 million ahead of estimates putting year-to-date collection totals at $540.8 million above estimates.
Collections have topped estimates in each of the fiscal year’s first 7 months. The January surplus total represents the largest surplus amount.
Gov. Jim Justice said the state continues to break all-time records.
“These numbers just didn’t happen by someone rolling off a pickle truck,” Justice said. “When it comes down to it, people worked, a lot of people worked and a lot of people took chances and a lot of people had vision.”
State Senate Finance Committee Chairman Eric Tarr, R-Putnam, credited Justice’s flat budget proposals and decisions by the legislature in the past few years to limit spending as a key part of the current growth.
“What happens for every year we hold that (budget) flat, it’s around 130 to 136 million (dollars) that we’ll see improvement in revenue over the expenses of the state,” Tarr said.
The state collected $575.2 million in taxes last month while the projection for the month was $428.2 million.
Personal income tax collections exceeded estimates by $64 million, severance tax collections were $57.3 million ahead of of estimates while collections of the consumer sales tax beat estimates by $14.9 million.
Tarr said lawmakers find themselves in a unique time to help the state for years to come.
“We can either be looked back upon in history as ones who had the opportunity to create perpetual opportunity for the children of West Virginia or we can looked at as the ones who wasted the opportunity,” Tarr said.
He then challenged fellow senators to submit ideas on how the surplus can be used in order to keep up the current momentum.
Justice said that a lot of the revenue collection surplus should be used to create a new fund to attract new businesses to the state.
“Look what we we just did with GreenPower, Owens & Minor and of all things Nucor,” Justice said. “That’s the kind of stuff we need to be doing.”
Sen. Ron Stollings said a lot of the surplus has come as a result of budget cuts to state agencies. He said lawmakers should use the surplus revenue to restore the funding and meet present needs within the state Department of Health Human Resources, hospitals, EMS and other services.
“With these surpluses, I certainly hope that we not just leave them flat and continue to have surpluses but to spend these dollars wisely, to spend these dollars in these areas of great need,” Stollings said.
Del. Todd Longanacre, R-Greenbrier, said surplus collections of more than a half-billion dollars means the state is collecting too much in taxes and needs to return it to residents.
“If we do not deliver some sort of tax relief back to the people who put that surplus here, we would be remiss and none of us deserve to be reelected,” Loganacre said.