West Virginia state budget

From Sunshine Review

National Taxpayers Union
Transparency in your state Public employee salary States with spending online Collaborative transparency projects Model transparency legislation #statebooks on Twitter SMTS on Twitter
Action center
Sign up for e-updates Take action

West Virginia is facing an estimated $120 million deficit by the end of the FY 2010 budget as reported December 2009.^[1] Gov. Joe Manchin III and his staff are “cautious but not alarmed” by the shortfall given West Virginia finished FY 2009 with a $68 million surplus, has a $500 million Rainy Day Fund, and has not spent the full amount of federal stimulus funds.^[2] The West Virginia Legislature has been called into its 4th special session in 2009 on November 17th, but is focused on dealing with municipal pensions and the future of the state gas tax rather than specifically dealing with the state deficit.^[3][4]

State revenues for the fiscal year since July 1, 2009 have been $16 million less than estimated. The month of October 2009 saw a slight $1.3 million collection increase, but the trend is expected to be continued revenue declines for the two key sources of income and sales taxes through June 30, 2010.^[5] Gov. Manchin has asked the Department of Education to cut 4% for its FY 2011 budget planning and all other state agencies to trim 5%.

The total West Virginia state FY 2010 budget is $11.6 billion and divided into:^[6]

The Governor’s introduced version of the FY 2010 budget bill as presented in February 2009 contained a total General Revenue appropriation of $3,971,794,588 with all accounts being fully funded. Mid-session, revised revenue estimates led to a reduction of total General Revenue available for appropriation by $197,493,639, leaving the total General Revenue available for appropriation at $3,788,000,000. Expenditure reductions were across the board and ranged from 2% to 10%.^[7]

[edit] Budget Background

West Virginia's fiscal year begins July 1 and ends June 30 of the following year. Agency budget requests are submitted by September, after which the Governor compiles his recommendation for the new fiscal year. Officials revenue estimates are completed by November prior to the Governor's final budget recommendations. Governor submits the budget the second Wednesday in January to the Legislature who proceed to hold a series of hearings from January through March.; in a year following a gubernatorial election, the date is extended to the second Wednesday in February.^[8][9]

[edit] Budget figures

The following table provides a history of West Virginia's expenditures and gross domestic product (GDP).

• NOTE: The figures for FY 2009 won't be finalized until the end of the fiscal year.
• See West Virginia state budget (2008-2009) for more information.

[edit] Accounting Principles

The West Virginia State Auditor's Office is responsible for examining state and local governments and school boards as well as paying all the state's bills. Glen B. Gainer III has been elected State Auditor every four years since 1992. County audit reports are published online, but the site is not user friendly to the public being geared towards state agency use.^[11]

The Institute for Truth in Accounting (IFTA) rates West Virginia “Tardy” in filing the state’s Comprehensive Annual Financial Report (CAFR) – The annual report of state and local governmental entities. IFTA rated 22 states timely, 22 states tardy, and 6 states as worst. IFTA does not consider West Virginia's CAFRs, and those of the other states, to be accurate representations of the state’s financial condition because the Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) basis does not include significant liabilities for the pension plans and for other post employment benefits, such as health care.^[12] West Virginia's CAFRs are publications of the West Virginia Department of Administration, Finance Division, Financial Accounting and Reporting Section. Ross Taylor is State Comptroller and Director of the Finance Division.

[edit] Accounting transparency checklist

Comprehensive Balanced budget Timeliness Usability

[edit] The good

• The website has Comprehensive Annual Financial Reports (CAFR) dating back to 1995.^[14]
• An independent auditor’s report is published on page 2 of the document.^[15]
• It provides supplements to the budget workup, starting on page 166.
• The budget is posted using organized and consistent methods of financial reporting.
• West Virginia law requires a balanced budget and a deficit is forbidden.^[16]
• It includes all costs incurred by the government, including long-term liabilities, starting on page 121 of the document.^[15]
• The CAFR compares estimated and actual budgetary numbers, such as on page 166 of the document.^[15]

[edit] The bad

• The West Virginia office was somewhat tardy in submitting the budget.
• The CAFR is posted in a non-searchable PDF format, so it’s not searchable online.

[edit] Budget transparency

West Virginia currently has limited transparency. The West Virginia legislature website posts information about state grant awards here, but unfortunately "The Budget & Spending Transparency Act," which would have created greater spending transparency, did not pass during the 2009 legislative session. However, in state legislator Kelli Sobonya's own words, "I will reintroduce this bill [The Budget & Spending Transparency Act] again next session for consideration."^[17]

[edit] Website evaluation

Budget Usability Elected Officials Administrative Officials Ethics Audits Contracts Lobbying Public records Taxes

Wv.gov is the website for the state of West Virginia.

• Main article: Evaluation of state websites

[edit] The good

• Site has a search function and is fairly easy to navigate.
• State employees are listed with contact information in a searchable database.^[18]
• Audit reports are published.^[19]
• Budget is published.^[20]
• Tax information is available.^[21]
• Ethics board information posted.^[22]
• Statewide current contracts are available.^[23]
• Provides lists of registered lobbyists and their employers.^[24]

[edit] The bad

• Does not provide information on making open records requests under the West Virginia Freedom of Information Act
• No information on state agency lobbying contracts.

[edit] Legislation

• In 2005, the Legislature passed legislation that requires recipients of state grants to submit to the granting agency a report performed and prepared by a certified public accountant or a sworn statement of expenditures made under the grant. The purpose is to provide accountability that grant funds were used for intended purposes.
• The Legislature first passed Senate Bill 348 during the 2005 Regular Session. Later, during the 2005 Fourth Extraordinary Session, the Legislature passed Senate Bill 4006, which superseded the earlier-passed Senate Bill 348. It is now the responsibility of any agency that awards grants to ensure that the above described accountability measures are being taken, and the grant award information is reported in a manner designated by the Legislative Auditor. The site was created with existing resources.
• The transparency law stipulated that recipients of grants after October 1, 2005 must report on the amount of funds received and their purpose within 30 days of the grant’s authorization or disbursement. If a grant recipient does not comply with the reporting requirements, it is barred from future awards. Unless the agencies report pertinent data about awards to the Legislative Auditor, the eligibility of grant recipients cannot be determined properly.^[25]
• A June 2007 report from the Legislative Auditor's office found that "most state agencies are not in compliance with reporting requirements set forth by the 2005 legislation." Almost two years had gone by since the transparency law was passed, and yet only 12 state agencies had reported any grant information.^[26]
• A January 2008 update from the Legislative Auditor's office said they "contacted 80 state agencies. Sixty-two agencies reported that they did not provide grants, 16 agencies stated that they were providing state grants and are using the WVFIMS Commitment module, and 2 agencies did not respond. Of the 16 agencies that stated they were awarding state grants, only 6 agencies were not in compliance with the WVFIMS/SAGA system."^[25]
• In January 2010, West Virginia State Delegate Kelli Sobonya said spending transparency will make an appearance on West Virginia’s legislative agenda. One legislation hopeful is is a consumer-friendly database that allows taxpayers to track government spending.^[27]

[edit] Government tools

The following table is helpful in evaluating the level of transparency provided by a state spending and transparency database:

Criteria for evaluating spending databases

State Database	Searchability	Grants	Contracts	Line Item Expenditures	Dept/Agency Budgets	Public Employee Salary	Exemption Level
State Agency Grant Awards							None

[edit] Limitations and Suggestions

[edit] Economic Stimulus Transparency

• The Economic Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 designated $787 billion to be spent throughout the U.S. Of that $787 billion stimulus package, it is estimated that 69%, or over $541 billion, will be administered by state governments.^[28]

• West Virginia will receive an estimated $947,150,016.^[29]

• The economic recovery website to show how legislators and government officials in West Virginia are spending Federal funds is available here.

[edit] Support for creation of the database

[edit] Independent transparency sites

None.

[edit] Public employee salary information

A searchable database of salaries of West Virginia state employees is available here. This information is made availble by Huntingdon's Herald Dispatch.

[edit] See Also

West Virginia taxpayer-funded lobbying

[edit] External links

[edit] Additional reading

• Governor Joe Manchin,"State of the state address 2009,"January 19, 2009

[edit] References

v • d • e State Budgets Cost of state transparency websites • State budget issues, 2009-2010 • Pubic employee salaries • States with spending online • Glossary of state budget terms Alabama • Alaska • Arizona • Arkansas • California • Colorado • Connecticut • Delaware • Florida • Georgia • Hawaii • Idaho • Illinois • Indiana • Iowa • Kansas • Kentucky • Louisiana • Maine • Maryland • Massachusetts • Michigan • Minnesota • Mississippi • Missouri • Montana • Nebraska • Nevada • New Hampshire • New Jersey • New Mexico • New York • North Carolina • North Dakota • Ohio • Oklahoma • Oregon • Pennsylvania • Rhode Island • South Carolina • South Dakota • Tennessee • Texas • Utah • Vermont • Virginia • Washington • West Virginia • Wisconsin • Wyoming •

	v • d • e State of West Virginia Charleston (capital)
Transparency	Freedom of Information Act | Transparency Checklist | Government corruption reports | Transparency Legislation | Open Records procedures | Transparency Advocates | Transparency blogs | State budget | Taxpayer-funded lobbying associations |
Divisions	State | List of Counties | List of Cities | List of Towns | List of School Districts | Evaluation of county websites | Evaluation of city websites | Evaluation of township websites | Evaluation of school district websites |
Government	West Virginia State Constitution | Executive | House of Representatives | Senate |
Judiciary	West Virginia Supreme Court | Circuit Court | Judicial nomination process | Judicial news | Judicial activist organizations |
Ballot Measures	Ballot measures | Procedures for qualifying an initiative | Amending the constitution | History of direct democracy | Sunshine on elections |