WVEC Action Alert

April 4 , 2005

Note: the house shut down April 4 due to computer trouble, so there is still time to call to oppose SB 287/HB 2889 which is now scheduled to be taken up in the house after 11AM on April 5. See the previous alert for details and contact information:

Save EQB – Oppose SB 287/HB 2889

For all we know, the vote may be delayed even further. If it is, we will post updated information at the top of the above web page (no more EQB alerts tomorrow, we promise).

Also note this alert from CAG:

Tell Legislators to Make Timber Pay Its Share!!  Public Hearing on SB 746
 
You may recall that during the January special session, coal, oil & gas and timber agreed to pay a temporary higher severance tax to pay down the workers compensation deficit.  Now rather than doing its part to help pay down the debt, the timber industry is seeking to have it's already pathetically low severance tax reduced from 3.2% ro 1.2%. They cite increased taxes on workers comp as the reason they need the reduction. Timber is the most dangerous industry in the state and it is largely responsible for the compensations funds deficit.  A public hearing on SB 746 will be held tomorrow, April 5 at 2pm in the House Finance Committee room, 460M of the Capitol Building.  If you can't make it to the hearing, please contact committee member and tell them to make timber pay its share and to oppose SB 746.  See below for contact information, as well as timber facts provided by the Coalition for Responsible Logging (CORL).
 
Contact Information for House Finance Committee Members:
 
First Name Last Name District Email Address Capitol
Bill Anderson 8 eanders1@mail.wvnet.edu 340-3168
Bob Ashley 11 bashley@mail.wvnet.edu 340-3185
Brent Boggs 34 Boggs34@aol.com 340-3134
Larry Border 9 bordel@mail.wvnet.edu 340-3136
Richard Browning 22 rbrwning@mail.wvnet.edu 340-3113
Samuel Cann 41 whocann@mail.wvnet.edu 340-3186
Mitch Carmichael 12 mcarmich@mail.wvnet.edu 340-3115
John Doyle 57 jhndoyle@mail.wvnet.edu 340-3280
Allen Evans 48 aevans@mail.wvnet.edu 340-3399
Eustace Frederick 24 efreder@mail.wvnet.edu 340-3164
Mike Hall 14 mikehall@mail.wvnet.edu 340-3145
Nancy Houston 44 nhouston@mail.wvnet.edu 340-3173
Steve Kominar 20 kominar@mail.wvnet.edu 340-3378
Margarette Leach 15 mleach1@mail.wvnet.edu 340-3395
Harold Michael 47 hmichl@mail.wvnet.edu 340-3230
Corey Palumbo 30 cpalumbo@mail.wvnet.edu 340-3143
Bill Proudfoot 37 bproud@mail.wvnet.edu 340-3166
Doug Stalnaker 38 dstalna1@mail.wvnet.edu 340-3218
Sally Susman 27 ssusman@mail.wvnet.edu 340-3187
Ron Thompson 27 ronthomp@mail.wvnet.edu 340-3189
Scott Varner 4 svarner@mail.wvnet.edu 340-3249
Christopher Wakim 3 cwakim@mail.wvnet.edu 340-3177
Gil White 3 hkwhite@mail.wvnet.edu 340-3174
Harry Keith White 21 gwhite@mail.wvnet.edu 340-3117
Larry Williams 45 lwillia1@mail.wvnet.edu 340-3337

 Or, to send an email to all, copy-n-paste the following block of address to an email TO: field
eanders1@mail.wvnet.edu; bashley@mail.wvnet.edu; Boggs34@aol.com; bordel@mail.wvnet.edu; rbrwning@mail.wvnet.edu; whocann@mail.wvnet.edu; mcarmich@mail.wvnet.edu; jhndoyle@mail.wvnet.edu; aevans@mail.wvnet.edu; efreder@mail.wvnet.edu; mikehall@mail.wvnet.edu; nhouston@mail.wvnet.edu; kominar@mail.wvnet.edu; mleach1@mail.wvnet.edu; hmichl@mail.wvnet.edu; cpalumbo@mail.wvnet.edu; bproud@mail.wvnet.edu; dstalna1@mail.wvnet.edu; ssusman@mail.wvnet.edu; ronthomp@mail.wvnet.edu; svarner@mail.wvnet.edu; cwakim@mail.wvnet.edu; hkwhite@mail.wvnet.edu; gwhite@mail.wvnet.edu; lwillia1@mail.wvnet.edu

Timber Facts:

  • Proper assessment and collection of severance tax on timber will help alleviate the state’s budget problems.
  • 79% of the state’s 12 million acres of forest land is owned by private landowners, 9% by forest products companies and 12% by government.
  • Timbering is a $1 billion industry in West Virginia.
  • The State collected $2.97 million in severance tax on timber in 2002.
  • All of the timber severance tax goes to the Division of Forestry accounting for 43% of the Division’s budget.
  • Taxes are based on where the timber is sold:
    100% -- timber cut and sold where it falls
    75% -- timber moved to a collection point
    50% -- timber delivered to a sawmill
    25% -- timber processed into products
  • The current 3.22% severance tax rate on timber was established in 1993.
  • Severance tax is based on timber notifications supplied to the Division of Forestry by the logger.
  • 90% of the severance tax is paid by 25% of companies with more than $230,000 in gross timber receipts.
  • By percentage, West Virginia is the 3rd most forested state in the nation (with 78%) after Maine and New Hampshire.
  • Timber production in West Virginia has tripled since 1980
  • Wood exports rank 5th among the state’s export commodities and increased nearly 45% from 1992 to 1997.
  • West Virginia Department of Tax & Revenue estimates tax breaks for timber processing companies reduce timber tax revenues by 63%.
  • A 1996 Tax Department study found that one-third of loggers weren’t registered to pay severance taxes and that some out-of-state companies weren’t paying their fair share.
  • The Division of Forestry acknowledges underpayment of timber severance taxes and blames:
    Deliberate under-reporting by loggers
    Timber going out of state
    Use of a different calculation method
    Timber theft

With better oversight of the industry, the State will be able to correctly assess and collect taxes.