This Just In...
CITY HALL IS CLOSED TUESDAY, Election Day, to all except those downtown residents who use the city building as a polling place. City Hall reopens Wednesday as usual. A SPECIAL MEETING of city council will be at 4:30 p.m. Thursday to discuss a resolution authorizing the mayor to apply for a division of justice assistance grant (JAG) to hire a community educator at the Contact Rape Crisis Center. EMAIL TO YOU, remember you can sign up for our free electronic NewsAlert and we will notify you by e-mail about upcoming city council meetings and other important events and/or additions to the Web site. For more information, click here.
Questions? Comments?
Citizen Support Center: We've added an online dashboard to help field your questions, service requests & feedback through easy tabs and folders. To explore the new service, click here.
Budget & Highlights
The city’s approved 2012-13 budget is now online, a detailed version will be available at a later date.
Tax Changes in 2012
Manufacturers, retailers and service businesses in the city will see business and occupation (B&O) taxes reduced or eliminated effective Jan. 1. This is a part of the tax reform package approved by City Council in August 2010; the reductions are projected to reduce taxes on businesses by nearly $4 million annually. Manufacturing B&O taxes will be eliminated; retail B&O taxes will be halved to 0.25% of sales; and service B&O will be halved to 0.50% of sales. These reductions will be offset by the implementation of a 1% municipal sales and service and use tax (municipal sales tax) to begin Jan. 1.
Mayor Kim Wolfe notes, “The reduction of business taxes is a positive step toward creating jobs in the city. The elimination of manufacturing taxes helps our existing manufacturers and aids in the recruitment of other high wage paying employers.”
An injunction in Kanawha Circuit Court remains in effect for the 1% municipal occupation tax that was to begin last July 1. The injunction has delayed the start of the occupation tax and keeps in place the $3.00-per-week city service fee paid by all those who work in the City. The injunction does not apply to the municipal sales tax.
The municipal sales tax is collected by businesses directly from consumers and remitted to the State Tax Department along with the state sales tax. Huntington will be the second municipality in the state to implement a municipal sales tax; Williamstown began its sales tax on Oct. 1. Inquiries about the specifics of the municipal sales tax should be directed to the State Tax Department at 1-800-982-8297.
Meanwhile...
Nearly 2,000 delinquent refuse fee accounts are in excess of $500. Click here to see the names in alphabetical order, with addresses on those delinquent accounts, or here to see a list sorted by those who owe the most. To view the delinquencies by geographic neighborhoods, click here. If you owe back fees, please contact Rossman and Co. at 1-800-250-8935 to arrange a payment plan.
The City of Huntington Department of Development and Planning has released the FY 2011 Annual Action Plan. Please follow the link to review the FY 2011 CDBG, HOME and ESG Budget. Click Here.
Mayor Kim Wolfe hosts an open house every other Tuesday. Click here.
FYI...
The City of Huntington is sponsoring the sale of discounted rain barrels as part of the Stormwater Rainwater Diversion Program. For more information and to order your rainbarrels, click here.
Municipal Fee Information:
City property owners will be receiving their quarterly Municipal Service Fee bills the week of April 2nd. The Municipal Service Fee is used to fund a portion of the costs for fire and flood protection. The current charges will reflect the regular quarterly bill plus the final $50 surcharge. To avoid late charges, all balances due must be paid by Friday, May 4th.
Property owners who have prepaid through June 30, 2012 are also subject to the two $50 quarterly surcharges. Customers with annual bills in excess of $200 who have prepaid did not receive a bill in January and will receive a bill in April for the full $100 surcharges. Customers with annual bills less than $200 who have prepaid received a small bill in January and a bill for the difference up to $99.99 in April.
The Cabell County Solid Waste Authority, in conjunction with the city of Huntington and Cabell County Commission, started a residential recycling drop-off program on Nov. 1, 2012. Click here for info about the program. Click here for acceptable materials that can be recycle.
Our new monthly newsletter is now available for online viewing. The December 2011 issue covers antique archaeology with Mike and Henriella Perry, daning with max decation, Christmas events and more! Click here to read the latest issue.
Huntington Municipal Development Authority has released the 2011 TIF 2 Annual Report for the Kinetic Park District.
Plan2025: The Future of Huntington staff members are working with the Neighborhood Institute to develop a final timeline to visit the various neighborhoods to begin the planning process. Click for more information.
Huntington Police Department is now hiring new recruits. You can see details on qualifications as well as a detailed video about the department -- Click for details.
The city has released the latest TIF District Annual Reports for the Downtown District.
City Service Fee Data Released, including a breakdown of the revenues and expenses for the current fiscal year. Click here.
2011-2012 Budget. The city has released the detailed budget for fiscal year 2011-2012. Click here to see it.
