Lawmakers Eye Exemptions, Teachers

By ANTHONY GAYNOR And Heather Judy, Staff Writers
(Editor’s Note: This is the second in a series of reports in which area lawmakers discuss which topics they think will be most prevalent in the upcoming legislative session.)



The 2008 legislative session begins Wednesday and area delegates believe the Legislature will address tax exemptions, Homeland Security, teacher shortages and Tier 2.5 issues, among other issues.

Delegate Allen Evans, R-48th District, said one of the biggest issues facing the Legislature in the coming session is the Homestead Exemption and he plans to work on switching it to a percentage-based system.

Currently, the law provides a property tax exemption for individuals age 64 and older or individuals who are permanently disabled. It applies to owners of occupied Class 2 property. For individuals living in rural areas, the maximum exemption is around $250 per year.

“I have run into a lot of people in my area that reach the age of 65 and get the exemption but the appraisal goes up and they cannot even see that there has not been anything accomplished with savings,” Evans said.

Evans also wants to take a look at the timber industry. He said the individuals who are timbering need help with their severance tax.

“It makes it tough for our people in West Virginia to compete with Virginia and Maryland because they do not have a severance tax or their rates are lower,” Evans said.

Evans plan to introduce at least one bill this year that will help farmers who may no longer be able to farm their land.

“In essence what the bill is going to do is, for a farmer that have been farming for 10 years or more and they get put into a nursing home or something happens to them before they die and quit farming, their land goes up in a class and they can get an exemption so they do not have to pay the property value of the farm until they pass away,” Evans said.

Evans is a member of several committees including Finance, Roads and Transportation, Agricultural and Natural Resources.

He said roads in his district are a major concern and the Home Access Roads Program needs work. He hopes the governor will step in and do something for those roads.

“They (Department of Highways) go in and put a little coat of asphalt and gravel on the roads and they deteriorate fast, and I get a lot of complaints on those,” Evans said. “Hopefully the governor will set some money aside to work on those.”



Delegate Stan Shaver, D-46th, said he will support the will of Tucker County residents at the legislative session and that includes a measure addressing Tier 2.5.

According to Shaver, at the last session the Tier 2.5 component of the Clean Water Act was not brought to the floor and has since been in limbo. The West Virginia Legislature adopted Tier 2.5 in order to bring a level of protection to the state’s highest quality waters and to not allow rivers and streams that are already polluted to get any worse.

“This is a property rights issue, that’s what it comes down to,” Shaver said. “They are going to have to determine how many streams are going to be placed on that list.”

In 2002, the state received 4,000 letters opposing Tier 2.5.In 2005, there were 1,600 letters from Tucker County land owners alone. Residents are concerned that the Tier 2.5 protection will decrease property values, prevent farmers from accessing their land and interfere with the daily maintenance of property and livestock.

“My concerns are that most of the streams on this list are not being abused and this act can restrict what land owners may do in the future,” Shaver said.

Gov. Joe Manchin required that the list of streams be downsized from the originally proposed 309 to 156.

“This is an issue that needs to be taken care of,” Shaver said.

Shaver is also interested in the recent PEIA and Medicare study in which co-payments went from $20 to $50. According to Shaver, this issue is supposed to be taken care of in July.

“These people that have retired are having problems buying the medications they need,” he said. “Some are having to sacrifice who gets their medications for the month because of the extra cost.”