The state Treasurer’s Office says it will begin to distribute the nearly $800,000 generated from taxes on high-powered fireworks.
Lawmakers passed a bill during the 2016 session to allow the sale of the high-flying fireworks in the state. The bill added a 12 percent surcharge to the fireworks on top of the normal sales tax to help fund two programs: volunteer fire departments and veterans facilities.
VFD’s across West Virginia will each receive around $400 this month after the first three months of product sales. That’s their cut of about $180,000, or 25 percent of the revenue brought in by fireworks distributors.
The other $740,000 will go toward maintenance at the VA Nursing Home in Clarksburg and the eventual construction of a new VA nursing home in Beckley.
Since the passage of the bill earlier this year, several municipalities have taken steps toward limiting the use of large fireworks to certain days of the year. Many of those cities are in the Kanawha Valley.