Webster County's financial future may be dependent on a case from Monroe County, West Virginia that will be argued at the West Virginia Supreme Court on October 11.
Webster County is effectively bankrupt. It has an approximate $3 million annual budget and owes over $1.5 million to the Regional Jail Authority. Coal severance revenues which once accounted for 20 percent of tax collections (i.e., about $600,000.00 per year) is now non-existent as there are no operating coal mines in the County.
Short of drastic budget cutbacks and employee layoffs, the County has no realistic way to pay the jail bill, let alone its day to day operating expenses. County officials are seriously considering the filing of a bankruptcy unless they can enter into a reasonable repayment plan with the Jail Authority.
One possible bright spot in Webster County's financial future is now on hold and may be decided by the West Virginia Supreme Court based on a lawsuit brought by two landowners in Monroe County.
That Monroe County case involves the Mountain Valley Pipeline ("MVP"), which is slated to dissect Webster County from north to south. MVP has promised the County as much as $1.6 million in tax revenue during its first year of operation (originally slated to begin in 2018). This type of annual tax revenue would obviously solve the County's budget crisis for the next several decades.
However, the pipeline project encountered a major obstacle in Monroe County.
The Monroe County landowners sued MVP to stop them from surveying for the pipeline on their property. The landowners argued to a Circuit Judge that MVP had no right to trespass on their property because the pipeline project is not for a public purpose. Since the project is for the private profit of MVP, the landowners argued that MVP has no right of eminent domain to force the landowners to consent to both the survey as well as the eventual construction of the pipeline crossing their property.
A Monroe County Circuit Judge sided with the landowners.
The Circuit Judge correctly ruled under West Virginia law that MVP could not survey the pipeline on the landowner's property without their consent unless the pipeline project was for a public use. Based on the testimony of MVP's own experts, the Judge found that not a single West Virginia resident will ever have access to the gas from the pipeline. The Judge ruled that the pipeline project is for the sole private profit of MVP and they could not therefore force consent from the landowners.
MVP has now appealed that decision and it will be argued before West Virginia's high court on October 11.
If the high court upholds the Circuit Judge's injunction, MVP will have to find a new route around those Monroe County landowners. Such a ruling would also mean that any other landowners along the pipeline's proposed route could refuse MVP from surveying and/or constructing the pipeline on their property.
If the Circuit Judge's decision is upheld and MVP encounters too many hostile landowners along the proposed route, the whole project could be scrapped and all the potential tax revenue will be gone. As a result, this decision could have major financial implications for Webster County's future.
Read the Monroe Circuit Judge's Decision here: Injunction Issued Against Pipeline
Webster County is effectively bankrupt. It has an approximate $3 million annual budget and owes over $1.5 million to the Regional Jail Authority. Coal severance revenues which once accounted for 20 percent of tax collections (i.e., about $600,000.00 per year) is now non-existent as there are no operating coal mines in the County.
Short of drastic budget cutbacks and employee layoffs, the County has no realistic way to pay the jail bill, let alone its day to day operating expenses. County officials are seriously considering the filing of a bankruptcy unless they can enter into a reasonable repayment plan with the Jail Authority.
One possible bright spot in Webster County's financial future is now on hold and may be decided by the West Virginia Supreme Court based on a lawsuit brought by two landowners in Monroe County.
That Monroe County case involves the Mountain Valley Pipeline ("MVP"), which is slated to dissect Webster County from north to south. MVP has promised the County as much as $1.6 million in tax revenue during its first year of operation (originally slated to begin in 2018). This type of annual tax revenue would obviously solve the County's budget crisis for the next several decades.However, the pipeline project encountered a major obstacle in Monroe County.
The Monroe County landowners sued MVP to stop them from surveying for the pipeline on their property. The landowners argued to a Circuit Judge that MVP had no right to trespass on their property because the pipeline project is not for a public purpose. Since the project is for the private profit of MVP, the landowners argued that MVP has no right of eminent domain to force the landowners to consent to both the survey as well as the eventual construction of the pipeline crossing their property.
A Monroe County Circuit Judge sided with the landowners.
The Circuit Judge correctly ruled under West Virginia law that MVP could not survey the pipeline on the landowner's property without their consent unless the pipeline project was for a public use. Based on the testimony of MVP's own experts, the Judge found that not a single West Virginia resident will ever have access to the gas from the pipeline. The Judge ruled that the pipeline project is for the sole private profit of MVP and they could not therefore force consent from the landowners.
MVP has now appealed that decision and it will be argued before West Virginia's high court on October 11.
If the high court upholds the Circuit Judge's injunction, MVP will have to find a new route around those Monroe County landowners. Such a ruling would also mean that any other landowners along the pipeline's proposed route could refuse MVP from surveying and/or constructing the pipeline on their property.
If the Circuit Judge's decision is upheld and MVP encounters too many hostile landowners along the proposed route, the whole project could be scrapped and all the potential tax revenue will be gone. As a result, this decision could have major financial implications for Webster County's future.
Read the Monroe Circuit Judge's Decision here: Injunction Issued Against Pipeline
Read the argument of the MVP here: Full Argument of Pipeline
Read the argument of the landowners here: Full Argument of Landowners
Click here for the MVP website regarding claimed economic benefits for Webster County: MVP Website
Click here for the MVP website regarding claimed economic benefits for Webster County: MVP Website
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