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City issues statement announcing support

ELKINS — The city of Elkins issued a press release Friday about supporting an effort to make the West Virginia Home Rule Program a permanent program.

Currently, the Municipal Home Rule Pilot Program is set to terminate on July 1. Elkins City Council voted Thursday to urge the state Legislature and Gov. Jim Justice to “approve and sign legislation removing the sunset date” in state code “and thereby make the Home Rule Program permanent in West Virginia.”

Friday’s press release states:

“In 2007, the West Virginia Legislature established the Municipal Home Rule Pilot Program and authorized four inaugural cities. Faced with expiration, but recognizing the interest and benefit of the program, the Legislature extended the sunset date in 2013 and opened the program for additional application. Elkins was approved for Municipal Home Rule designation in 2015 under this Pilot Program and has since utilized this tool to benefit our community. However, the 2019 sunset date is fast approaching and the thirty-four previously approved cities as well as municipalities seeking Home Rule status are working hard to prevent the cessation of the program. At the meeting of the Elkins’ Common Council held October 18, 2018, the body unanimously expressed support for the W.Va. Legislature to approve Home Rule as a permanent program by resolution.

“Through this program the City encourages local control in municipal government. The authorities Elkins has been granted have expanded our abilities to address vacant and dilapidated properties, increased opportunities for economic growth and stability, and provided the flexibility needed for smaller communities both internally and externally. ‘We are eager to move forward knowing we can rely on this incentive in our toolbox to support local government. Residents, businesses and investors are eager to see our community’s grow and prosper, and this program is a no-brainer when it comes to economic growth in Elkins,’ said Mayor Van Broughton.

“Elkins is very pleased to be part of West Virginia’s push for community and economic revitalization and recognizes that the Municipal Home Rule program Cities across the State are leading the way,” the press release ends.

The Home Rule pilot program was passed for municipalities in West Virginia in 2007.

The support document city council approved Thursday states, “The Home Rule Pilot Program has been used in the city of Elkins since 2015 to address revenue challenges, streamline administrative burdens and yield economic development.”

Among other changes, Home Rule has allowed the city of Elkins to create and implement a new sales tax.

Elkins City Council voted 7-3 to pass the new tax in December 2017, creating a 1 percent sales tax on businesses within the city limits, which became possible when the state approved the city’s application to amend the original Home Rule plan for Elkins.

In order to implement the new sales tax, Elkins needed to give the state six months’ lead time. The 1 percent sales tax went into effect July 1, with the advent of the new fiscal year. City officials have declined to earmark how the sales tax revenue will be spent.

On Thursday, city council members learned that $184,833.12 was raised during the first two months following the new tax’s implementation on July 1. Officials had only estimated in the city budget for $250,000 to be raised in the first full year.

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