Ohio County Awaiting Tax Valuations From Charleston | News, Sports, Jobs

Photo by Joselyn King
Melissa Thompson, community development specialist for the city of Wheeling, provides the annual report of the Northern Panhandle Home Consortium to Ohio County commissioners.

WHEELING — Ohio County and the rest of West Virginia’s counties continue to wait for tax valuation data typically provided to them by now by the State Tax Department in Charleston, which is having staff issues.

“We still have the issue that the assessors at the State Tax probably won’t be able to certify values on time,” said Ohio County Administrator Randy Russell.

“They’re still working on it. Right now, I don’t know if there is any solution.”

County employees use the numbers to determine the bills sent to taxpayers, and to establish the county budget.

Ohio County Assessor Tiffany Hoffman said the only word she is hearing is that “most every county has gone down significantly” with regard to its overall property values. As such, using last year’s valuations wouldn’t be advisable.

In addition, the State Tax Department employee responsible for the personal tax valuations has resigned, leaving the agency with 11 openings, according to Hoffman.

There has been no clarification on what counties should do about county certification of numbers, which must take place by March 3, she said.

“In this age, it’s more important to get it right than to get it on time,” said Commission President Randy Wharton.

He said there was “enough experience in the room to put together some numbers” if the need arose.

“We can put together numbers — I just don’t know how close to right they may be,” Hoffman said.

Local loss in tax revenue likely “will be in the millions of dollars,” but she was reluctant to give a figure. Most local taxes collected in Ohio County go to Ohio County Schools, and the school district would be most affected by any loss, according to county officials.

In other matters, Melissa Thompson, community development specialist for the city of Wheeling, provided the annual report of the Northern Panhandle Home Consortium — an agency charged with assisting first-time home buyers.

Last year, the consortium received a budget of $305,207, and assisted 22 families in the county with home purchases, according to Thompson.

Commissioners approved a hotel-motel tax revenue request from the Mountain East Conference basketball for $10,000 over each of the next three years.

The first-ever Heritage Music Winter Blues Weekend was granted their request of $1,000 for its inaugural event.

Among community grants from the county, Easter Seals received $1,000 for its “Inclusion on Ice” program; and the Route 2/ I-68 Authority, $4,000 to push for highway projects in the area.

The commissioners will next meet at 6 p.m. on March 8 at the City-County Building, 1500 Chapline St., Wheeling. The Ohio County Development Authority meets at 6 p.m. Thursday at The Highlands Event Center.