Kanawha County tax collections were down $590,371.35 in the month of March, bringing the total deficit for the county back to around $1 million for the year.
Allen Bleigh, the chief tax deputy for the Kanawha County Sheriff's Office, County Commission President Kent Carper and Kim Fleck, the Kanawha County director of finance, all anticipated a decrease in March.
"I didn't have a number, per se," Bleigh said. "I had hoped that it might not be as down as it was."
The county had seen the decrease in tax collections fluctuate between $500,000 and $1 million throughout the year. But Bleigh said that collections in April, May and June are fairly consistent.
He predicts that the current deficit will remain around the same through the end of the fiscal year, which finishes at the end of June.
The decrease in collections was more than the county would have liked, but it's consistent with expectations on tax revenue for the year.
"When you look at the fluctuations month to month, what I think it comes down to is timing," Bleigh said.
The decrease has largely been attributed to coal companies going bankrupt in the county which has lead to a decrease in property tax revenue, the largest source of income for the county.
When those large volume taxpayers are in bankruptcy, they don't have to pay their taxes immediately.
Bleigh said that the library levy, which went into effect this fiscal year, has also hurt the county because it dilutes the pool of tax money.
"The library levy dilutes the matrix by like half a percent," Bleigh said. "But that has an impact on collection."
The March shortfall comes after an increase in collections in February, which Bleigh attributed to the extra day in the month.
"The last day of the month is a huge collecting day," Bleigh said.
Bleigh said that the last day of a month typically brings in five to six times more money than an average day.
Carper said that the decrease in collections should not affect the budget cuts that have already been made by the county commission.
The commission cut more than $578,00 off their budget, and Carper believes that the cuts will be enough to withstand the decreased tax collections with increased revenue from other sources, like saving on insurance.
"You just have to let the dust settle," Carper said. "You just have to finish out the fiscal year."
At the County Commission meeting where the commissioners proposed cuts to the outside agencies that the county supports, Carper warned the organizations that the money wasn't finalized yet because he didn't know what was going to happen at the Legislature.
That prediction came to pass when Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin vetoed a bill that would enable Carper to support a couple of sheriff's deputies with coal severance money.
The cost of that veto to the county is around $100,000, but Carper thinks he can move the salaries to the general fund and move some equipment costs to coal severance to make the prices work.
Reach Daniel Desrochers at dan.desrochers@wvgazettemail.com, 304-348-4886 or follow @drdesrochers on Twitter.