Business, Government Legal News from throughout WVWV Senate passes tax exemption for Boy Scout contractors

The Summit Bechtel Reserve is expected to be a boon for Southern West Virginia, but in a move that some say the state does too often, lawmakers are giving something in the hopes of getting something bigger.

Senate Bill 555 passed the Senate Feb. 22. It goes to the House of Delegates for debate.

The bill extends sales and use tax exemptions for a contractor when the purchaser is a nonprofit youth organization.

The measure was passed out of the Senate Finance Committee, and Committee Chairman Roman Prezioso, D-Marion, spoke about the bill on the Senate floor before the vote.

"It would allow contractors for certain nonprofit, youth organizations … to claim that organization's exemption," Prezioso said. "The Boy Scouts of America is the only organization this would apply to."

The measure would apply to services, building materials and tangible personal property except the purchase of gasoline and special fuel.

The measure specifically guidelines for the nonprofit youth organization that include an organization that "has been chartered by the U.S. Congress to help train young people to do things for themselves and others" and has "established an area of at least 6,000 contiguous acres within West Virginia."

The exemption will automatically expire June 30, 2022.