10/19/2026
With early voting starting downtown at the courthouse on Wednesday, we wanted to make it clear. We are FOR THE LEVY.
Here’s the deal folks. HB2014 is, until the Legislature or a Court says otherwise, the law of the land. Under that law, the “regular levy property taxes from data centers are collected and redistributed in a new system. Under the new setup, the normal property taxes are broken down as follows:
30% - Mason County Commission, estimated at $40 Million
50% - State of WV Personal Income Tax Reduction Fund, estimated at $67 Million
10% - Spread across all counties, based on population, estimated at $13 Million
5% - State of WV Economic Enhancement Grant Fund, estimated at $7 Million
5% - State of WV Electric Grid Security Fund, estimated at $7 Million
You’ll notice that the schools weren’t included anywhere in this breakdown. The schools’ “regular levy” receives nothing from the data
centers under the state’s new system.
Fortunately, the “excess levy”, additional taxes on top of the normal property taxes that have to be renewed every few years, were not touched
by this new law, and those apply just as equally to the data centers as they do the rest of us. On the Mason County Schools Excess Levy that is
up for renewal this election, that would mean as much as $90 Million more for our local schools off of NScale’s Phase I and the Tamarack Project. This also applies to the Fire & EMS Excess Levy, which would generate an additional $7 Million per year.
Now, a lot of folks have had a lot of questions, and I hope we can answer some of them in plain language.
The current levy raises about $9.9 Million, 18% of the school system’s budget. Why can’t the County just make up for that out of their $40
Million? - After decades of neglect and lack of funds, this county needs a ton of work. That $40 Million could be used to pave a lot of
roads, fix of lot of parks, and install plenty of new water, sewer, and stormwater systems. If they did decide to send $9.9 Million of that to
the schools (which they don’t have to do), that would take money away from those other projects, and it would just keep the schools at the current level. It wouldn’t help them improve anything.
If the current levy doesn’t expire until 2029, why are we voting on this now? - School Boards always run the levy renewal an election early, so
that if it fails, they have time to come up with other options or adjust it before trying again. The 2028 election will be the final chance, so
the first chance is this year.
Regardless of data centers, my taxes are already high, so why would I vote for an excess levy? - All of those millions of dollars are, at this
moment, completely hypothetical. Those are estimates put together, based on the amount planned for investment in both projects, by professional analysts. Those analysts are good at their jobs, but they’re working on a ton of assumptions. We won’t know for sure how accurate these numbers are until the data center buildings are finished and occupied and then assessed by the tax office, and most of that won’t happen until after the 2028 election (the next chance for a levy vote). For now, the
schools need this money to operate. Without it, more teachers will be laid off, more maintenance will be deferred, and school sports and
extracurriculars will get a lot more expensive.
What would the BOE even do with that much money? - The sky is the limit. For decades, our county has been jealous of Putnam and Cabell for their schools. With this money, they could double the size of the Career Center and offer more vocational trades training for these new jobs coming in. They could fully renovate the schools, which we all know need it. They could raise teacher pay, so that our best teachers don’t leave for better pay in Gallia and Putnam Counties and stay here instead. They could invest in the best technology for classrooms, rather than the only things they can afford now. Improved athletic complexes could be built
at every school, instead of begging for corporate sponsorships. New wings would need built onto the schools if we get more housing built and more families move here.
Could the levy be adjusted later? - This is probably the most important question, and the answer is yes. In 2030 or 2031, after the BOE has a chance to see how much of this projected revenue is real, they could easily vote to change the levy and drop the tax on residences, and keep it only on commercial property. This would definitely ease the burden on local families, while still maintaining the revenue from data centers and other projects.
And if you want to see a big old $0 under the regular school funding for yourself, don’t take our word for it. Check out the table at the bottom of this WV Treasury report.
https://wvtreasury.gov/Portals/wvtreasury/Content/Research/WVSTODataCenterAnalysisMason.pdf?ver=_O2xLkjA8KV7HfVYFVIgNQ%3d%3d
