3 days ago
Terra Alta's budget will be $0 in 2026 without legislative help, town officials say
TERRA ALTA, (WBOY) — Amid turnover and administrative chaos in Terra Alta over the past few weeks, town officials say that their fate now lies in the hands of lawmakers.
According to Town Clerk Kambra Sisler, the State Auditor's office informed the town on Monday that the state has not approved and will not process the town's budget, which was submitted nearly two months late by then-Town Recorder Mikaela Bernard.
Since the budget's late submission, Terra Alta has had significant shakeups to its city government, with Bernard and Mayor Dan Hauger submitting their resignations within days of each other. Other people have been appointed to these positions since then, but Sisler said that the next step toward a future fix will have to be done legislatively.
Sisler said that the legislature will need to introduce and pass a new law that gives special permission to towns to break State Code 11-8-6e, which says that year-by-year budgets for municipalities can not exceed 101% of the previous year's budget.
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If a law of that nature is not passed, Terra Alta's budget will be stuck at $0 in perpetuity. Sisler said that Fiscal Year 2025-2026 for Terra Alta begins on July 1 and that, as it stands, the town will stop receiving money on Aug. 6.
Terra Alta is also not the only municipality in West Virginia to face similar issues. In a release put out Tuesday by the State Auditor's Office, officials said that Smithfield in Wetzel County was supposed to formally adopt its levy rates in a vote, but never confirmed that it did so, and that Reedy in Roane County hasn't submitted any budget documentation at all as of Tuesday.
'The West Virginia State Auditor's Office remains committed to assisting local governments in understanding and fulfilling their statutory obligations to ensure compliance and fiscal integrity,' Auditor Mark Hunt said. 'While our office provides technical assistance, responsibility for compliance lies with local officials.'
Terra Alta is scheduled to have another emergency meeting on Thursday, June 5, where it plans to discuss the budget, budget revision and 'employees,' according to the agenda. The town currently employs seven total employees, those being two police officers, two clerks—one for water and one for the town—and three maintenance employees, who work on things like snow removal and lawn care.
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