Tag: Construction

WorkForce Still Working to Recalculate Prevailing Wage

The prevailing wage in West Virginia expired on July 1 of this year after a political battle between lawmakers and the executive branch, but WorkForce West Virginia says they’re still working to recalculate the wage.

The prevailing wage is the hourly rate workers are paid on construction projects that are paid for with state dollars.

Lawmakers attempted to repeal the wage rate during the 2015 legislative session, but instead passed a law calling on WorkForce West Virginia and economic researchers from Marshall and West Virginia universities to recalculate it.

The method of recalculation was presented to lawmakers in June, but the Joint Committee on Government and Finance voted it down. As a result, the wage expired on July 1.

Workforce West Virginia researcher Jeff Green said Wednesday he is still working with Marshall and WVU to collect wage surveys they sent to local contractors to determine the actual wage rate in the state so they can re-file the prevailing wage.

“We have a soft date of trying to get the data collected by August 31 and hopefully to publish by September 30, but there technically right now isn’t a deadline,” he said.

Green said so far, the surveys have about a 42 percent response rate.

Bid Dispute Snags W.Va. Lottery Renovation, Cost Could Rise

The expected $7.6 million cost for the renovation of the West Virginia Lottery’s headquarters could mount amid a protracted bid dispute.

The renovation involves the lottery’s 13-story home in Charleston. In May, a circuit judge law clerk directed a lawyer for Maynard C. Smith Construction to draw up an order for the renovation contract. But the state and Wiseman Construction challenged the proposed order.

The Charleston Gazette reports that the state said in court papers that the renovation’s costs will increase significantly if the bid dispute drags on. They also say the state stands to lose $465,000 annually in rental income.

The Lottery building renovation will include space for the state Insurance Commission. It hopes to move its offices there from a state-owned building on the city’s East End.

Commission Recommends Increase in Fees, Road Bond to Fund W.Va. Road Projects

Members of the Governor’s Blue Ribbon Commission on Highways released their final recommendations Wednesday after a 20 month delay.

The commission was charged by Gov. Tomblin in 2012 with finding new revenue sources for the state’s aging roadways.

The 57 page report recommends lawmakers increase DMV fees and the state sales tax on motor vehicles. Those two increases, along with a new annual fee on alternative fuel vehicles, would create more than $115 million in new revenue.

Commission members also recommend diverting the consumer sales taxes paid on car parts and services from the general revenue fund to the state Road Fund for an additional $25 million gain.

The largest, and most controversial, recommendation calls on lawmakers to keep tolls in place on the West Virginia Turnpike inevitably, leveraging the highway to float a $1 billion road bond for new construction across the state.

“The very last study, which was done in 2010, showed that 74 percent of the tolls that are paid on the Turnpike are paid by out-of-state drivers,” Commission Chair and Secretary of the Department of Administration Jason Pizatella said after the report’s release,

Pizatella said if sucha  project is approved, 25 percent of the bonds funds would be dedicated to construction projects in the four counties that house the turnpike. They include Kanawha, Raleigh, Mercer and Fayette.

W.Va. Authority Awards $43 Million for School Projects

 The West Virginia School Building Authority has awarded more than $43 million for construction projects in seven counties.
 
The grants approved Monday include more than $12 million for a new elementary school in Gilmer County.
 
Mingo, Monongalia and Wayne counties each received more than $8 million for school projects.

Wayne County’s grant is contingent on voters approving a bond. If the bond is approved on May 13, the county will receive another $10 million grant next year. Wayne County plans to build a new Ceredo Kenova Elementary School, a new Crum pre-kindergarten through 8th grade school, and to renovate Wayne County High School.
 
Authority members also awarded grants for projects in Brooke, Doddridge and Ohio counties.
 
 

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