Beckley City Council votes to table tax reduction for new Sheriff’s Office

BECKLEY, WV (WOAY) – The Beckley City Council held a second reading and public hearing on an ordinance to reduce the city’s business and occupation (B&O) tax for the new Raleigh County Sheriff’s Office.

The city council had initially planned to wave the tax for the contractors of the new Sheriff’s Office, but in the second reading at the October 13th meeting council voted to amend the ordnance. The amendment reduced the tax rate from two percent to one percent instead of waving the tax. However, during the second reading tonight, City Attorney William File expressed concerns about not having a uniform tax rate for all businesses.

“Here we would be giving one business a break that we do not give to other businesses,” said Beckley City Attorney William File. “If we would pass this tonight, this would be setting a precedent that would probably lead to others to come before council and if adopted tonight would be difficult to refuse others if they had a genuine request to lower their tax rate.”

The city council voted to table the tax reduction to allow more time to evaluate the ordinance.

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