South Charleston seeks income tax increase for road repairs

Voters in South Charleston will be faced with a decision next week over whether to approve a new, 0.25 percent income tax in exchange for road repairs in the village.

It will be the first time the village has asked voters to approve an income tax increase, which would be used to cover the cost of road repairs throughout the village, said Jessica Hiser, village clerk and fiscal officer. The issue is on the Tuesday, Nov. 7, ballot.

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The additional revenue would be used for road maintenance and improvements, she said, and wouldn’t be used to hire additional staff members or increase wages for village employees.

“We’re at the decision point,” Hiser said of village roads. “The current street fund can only sustain us to maintain the streets as they are. We can’t afford major street renovations or repairs. We decided it was time to do something proactive with a levy.”

According to information from the village, a family earning $50,000 per year pays about $500 annually at the current 1 percent income tax rate. If the proposed increase to a 1.25 percent income tax rate were approved, the cost would increase to a total of about $625 per year.

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If approved, the income tax increase would raise slightly less than $150,000 per year for the Clark County village, and about $1.2 million total over the next eight years. The village also posted a worksheet on its website at www.villageofsouthcharleston.net breaking down the condition of each of the village’s streets.

However Hiser said no decisions have been made on which projects would begin first if the income tax increase is approved. It would likely take about a year of collecting the additional income tax before the first projects would get underway, she said.

The village’s current street budget is about $64,000 a year, she said.

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