Senate approves strike-and-insert to allow Huntington and select counties to levy excise taxes for economic development districts

The committee on economic development offered and the Senate adopted strike‑and‑insert amendments authorizing municipal and county economic opportunity development districts and imposing application, approval and reporting requirements.

For House Bill 34 92, the strike‑and‑insert authorizes the City of Huntington to levy an excise tax for a 46‑acre Economic Opportunity Development District but requires the city to submit an application to and receive approval from the Department of Economic Development before levying the tax. The amendment also requires municipalities imposing the tax to file annual reports with details including amounts collected, businesses operating in the district, indebtedness attributed to sales tax increment and projected debt retirement dates.

A related bill (a committee substitute for House Bill 26 95 in the transcript) authorizes Raleigh County Commission and Mason County Commission to levy special excise taxes for county economic opportunity districts (Raleigh County district ~1,600 acres; Mason County ~150 acres) with required public hearings, Department of Economic Development approval, reporting requirements and limits on acreage‑based modifications that would not increase district average acreage by more than 10%.

The Huntington measure passed on a machine vote of 22 yays, 12 nays; the title amendment was adopted and the clerk communicated the action to the House. The Raleigh/Mason county measure passed by a machine vote of 19 yays, 15 nays; title amendments and committee changes were recorded and the clerk communicated action to the House.

Senators debated and adopted a technical amendment to the Raleigh/Mason bill that adjusted numeric insertions on page 3 (striking ‘‘2,053’’ and inserting ‘‘2,057’’ and related date adjustments), and further title amendments were adopted.