Dec. 10, 2010
Expert Advises Home Rule Occupation Tax Permitted; State Home Rule Board Meeting Date Undetermined
By Tony Rutherford
Huntingtonnews.net Reporter
Huntington, WV (HNN) – Mayor Kim Wolfe ended the Finance Committee meeting with a long anticipated statement --- Huntington’s constitutional law expert, Robert Bastress, has certified that the occupation tax ordinance falls in his opinion within the power boundaries granted by the legislature’s pilot program.
That sets the stage for Huntington to ask the Home Rule Board to vote on allowing the implementation of the occupation tax. In the fall, the board sidestepped a vote until the city could provide an authoritative assessment that the provision passed constitutional muster.
More hurdles await, however.
The change of faces in the governor’s office means that the members of the board could be altered. A meeting had been scheduled for December 16, but has been postponed pending Gov. Tomblin’s decision.
Should the occupation tax clear the Home Rule Board, it still faces a threatened constitutional challenge from Cabell County and possibly other litigants.
Actually, the Cabell County Commission decision to sue will be minus its chief cheerleader, Scott Bias, Jan 1, 2011. Defeated by Anne Yon, the new Republican commissioner opposes the tax but in campaign interviews questioned whether tax money should pay for the legal challenge.
Incidentally, Constitutional law professor Bastress at the WVU College of Law has another active debate on-going , too: Whether or not the legislature should be given a chance to change the gubernatorial succession statute or whether the WV Supreme Court must step in and order a special election.
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Expert Advises Home Rule Occupation Tax Permitted; State Home Rule Board Meeting Date Undetermined
By Tony Rutherford
Huntingtonnews.net Reporter
Huntington, WV (HNN) – Mayor Kim Wolfe ended the Finance Committee meeting with a long anticipated statement --- Huntington’s constitutional law expert, Robert Bastress, has certified that the occupation tax ordinance falls in his opinion within the power boundaries granted by the legislature’s pilot program.
That sets the stage for Huntington to ask the Home Rule Board to vote on allowing the implementation of the occupation tax. In the fall, the board sidestepped a vote until the city could provide an authoritative assessment that the provision passed constitutional muster.
More hurdles await, however.
The change of faces in the governor’s office means that the members of the board could be altered. A meeting had been scheduled for December 16, but has been postponed pending Gov. Tomblin’s decision.
Should the occupation tax clear the Home Rule Board, it still faces a threatened constitutional challenge from Cabell County and possibly other litigants.
Actually, the Cabell County Commission decision to sue will be minus its chief cheerleader, Scott Bias, Jan 1, 2011. Defeated by Anne Yon, the new Republican commissioner opposes the tax but in campaign interviews questioned whether tax money should pay for the legal challenge.
Incidentally, Constitutional law professor Bastress at the WVU College of Law has another active debate on-going , too: Whether or not the legislature should be given a chance to change the gubernatorial succession statute or whether the WV Supreme Court must step in and order a special election.
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