WHEELING, W.Va. – Delegate Erikka Storch, R-Ohio, and Sen. Ryan Ferns, R-Ohio, will host a town hall-style public hearing Thursday, Nov. 19, in Wheeling to hear citizens’ ideas and comments on potential state tax reform proposals.
The forum will be held from 6 to 8 p.m. in the West Virginia Northern Community College Auditorium, located at 1704 Market Street.
“We want to hear citizens’ ideas on the best ways improve the tax climate here in West Virginia,” said Ferns, a member of the Legislature’s Joint Select Committee on Tax Reform. “Northern Panhandle residents have a unique perspective on our economy and tax climate, given our geography and close proximity to neighboring states.”
The full committee held a separate public comment hearing Oct. 20 in the House of Delegates chamber in Charleston, but Ferns and Storch said they wanted to give people who didn’t have time to make the drive to Charleston a chance to have their views heard.
“A lot of people in the Wheeling area weren’t able to travel to Charleston for the October public hearing on tax reform, so this meeting will to give them a chance to weigh in,” said Storch, a member of the House Finance Committee. “Legislative leadership is committed to improving our state’s tax climate in order to help spur economic growth, and I want to make sure Northern Panhandle citizens are able to weigh in on this process.”
All comments made at the hearing will be documented and recorded so they can be submitted to the full tax reform committee for their consideration.