Charleston Gazette Mail: Beware a Compromise That Takes from the Poor and Gives to the Rich

An assessment by Mark Muchow, deputy secretary of the Department of Revenue, estimates that by 2020, this will cause a revenue decline of $220 million due to income tax cuts. This would come on top of year after year of major budget cuts.

On top of that, the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy found that the proposed compromise would raise taxes for the bottom 80 percent of West Virginia households, while cutting them for the wealthiest 20. The biggest winners would be the wealthiest one percent, who would see a cut of over $3,700.

This comes at a time when revenue increases are needed for the things we value most: schools, higher education, infrastructure, kids, seniors, veterans, parks, recreation, etc.

It’s one thing to raise revenue to maintain our quality of life. But making the tax system more unfair to low-income families in order to give yet another break to those who don’t need it is just wrong. Read more