Tag: Revenue

Tomblin Seeks to End Special Casino Fund

The state’s budget is always the final bill approved by lawmakers before they end their legislative work for the year. But even though that vote won’t come until the end of March, members of the House Finance Committee are already looking for ways to deal with declining revenues. On Wednesday, they focused in on lottery funds.

The West Virginia Lottery Commission has generated 22.1 billion dollars since it was created in 1985. More than 8 billion dollars of that revenue has gone to support senior programs, education and tourism.

Representatives of the Lottery Commission presented their budget to the House Finance Committee Wednesday morning, and discussed ways the Legislature could help the industry be more competitive with surrounding states while helping to balance the budget by the end of the 2016 session.

Lawmakers also discussed the future of the Racetrack Modernization Fund. Lottery revenues each year are set aside in the fund to help casinos pay for updated video lottery games, helping to keep them competitive with out-of-state casinos.

However, Governor Tomblin’s Cabinet Secretary Bob Kiss says the Racetrack Modernization Fund will be going away.

“The Modernization Fund, which is going to expire anyway even under current law, is not something that was ever intended to be in place permanently; I’m sure you can hear different opinions, but the governor believes that it can be ended now, and we’ll make a proposal to do so,” Kiss explained.

Instead of relying on the Modernization Fund, Acting Director John Myers, says the lottery commission is looking for novel ways to generate new revenue. Things like online poker and a smartphone-based iLottery.

No legislation was proposed during Wednesday’s House Finance meeting, but lawmakers say they will be thinking of ways they can improve the state’s revenue through the lottery commission.

Utility, Rail Property Values Increase in W.Va.

Counties in West Virginia will benefit from an increase in the assessed value of properties owned by utilities and railroads.West Virginia Property Tax…

  Counties in West Virginia will benefit from an increase in the assessed value of properties owned by utilities and railroads.

West Virginia Property Tax Division director Jeff Amburgey says the assessed value of utility and railroad properties increased by more than $411 million to $9.5 billion in the past year. The increase will provide about $9 million in additional property tax revenue to counties.

The Charleston Gazette reports that Amburgey released the figures Tuesday during a meeting of the state Board of Public Works.

Amburgey told the board that the assessed value of properties owned by electric companies increased despite the closure of four small coal-fired power plants.

Companies can appeal the assessments prior to the board’s Nov. 18 meeting.

W.Va. Lottery Revenue Falls in January

West Virginia Lottery officials say revenue continued to drop in January.The Charleston Gazette reports that state lottery revenue fell 12 percent from…

West Virginia Lottery officials say revenue continued to drop in January.

The Charleston Gazette reports that state lottery revenue fell 12 percent from January 2013 to $89.45 million.

Racetrack video lottery at the state’s four racetrack casinos continued to fall in January, as competition in Ohio, Pennsylvania and Maryland continues to put a crunch on revenues.

Table games at the casinos experienced a sharper plunge, with gross revenue down 35 percent from a year ago. Traditional on-line and scratch-off games also were down.

Officials say year-to-date lottery revenue of $612.49 million is down 8 percent from the same point in the 2012-13 budget year.

The state’s share of lottery profits year-to-date of $263.93 million is down $24.74 million from the same point in the previous budget year.

Huntington Mayor Enacts Hiring Freeze

Huntington Mayor Steve Williams has enacted a hiring freeze and stopped unnecessary spending for the remaining five months of the fiscal year. Williams…

Huntington Mayor Steve Williams has enacted a hiring freeze and stopped unnecessary spending for the remaining five months of the fiscal year.
 
     Williams said at a City Council work session Thursday that Huntington’s revenues and expenditures are normal, but the state’s second-largest city has less than $100,000 in contingency funds.
 
     The Herald-Dispatch reports the move means vacated positions won’t be filled and Huntington won’t undertake new major projects until July 1.
 
     After Williams was inaugurated in January 2013, he cut each city department’s budget by 2 percent.

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