Wood County Economic Development holds Build W.Va. presentation

PARKERSBURG, W.Va. (WTAP) - Realtors, residential builders and community officials came together for a presentation on housing in Wood County. State delegate, Bob Fehrenbacher said businesses in the area are having difficulty getting people to work locally because of the lack of housing.

“We have businesses that say, ‘We’d like to bring somebody in to take a job here. But they can’t find a home to live in.’ And so, we recognize that the state of West Virginia can benefit – including our local community – by improving and increasing the houses that we have available,” Fehrenbacher said.

In a housing study led by the Wood County Economic Development office in 2022, the group found the county is in desperate need of more housing.

“We’ve conducted a housing study and have found that we need over 4,000 units,” Fehrenbacher said.

In July, with the help of the “Build W.Va. Act,” Wood County was made a “W.Va. Build District.” This aims to help areas in the state to attract much-needed housing development projects.

“So, it’s very impactful and it really is helping address some of the constraints that they see here in West Virginia in building houses and housing units,” W.Va. Dept. of Economic Development business development manager, Meghan Smith said.

Wood County Economic Development executive director, Lindsey Piersol said many businesses have contacted the group after the news of Wood County benefiting from this act.

“So, we’re hoping with this incentive and the three incentives you can get from this program depending on where you build that it will add to our inventory for housing,” Piersol said. “Which will then make these businesses want to come to Wood County because they know that they’re going to have somewhere for their employees to live.”

Incentives a part of this tax credit include:

1. Sales Tax Exemption - Purchases of building materials, tangible personal property, and services by a construction contractor or subcontractor directly used in the construction of a certified BUILD WV project are exempt from consumer sales and service tax.

2. Property Value Adjustment Credit (PVAC) - PVAC credit can be taken against personal or corporate income tax of the eligible taxpayer, beginning in the tax year in which construction of the project property is completed and ending in the 10th taxable year thereafter. This tax credit is refundable, up to $100,000 per project.

3. Potential for B&O Tax Exemption - To be determined by individual municipalities, authorized by an ordinance. The city of Parkersburg already has such an ordinance.

“Any projects that are within about 20 miles of Parkersburg we can take a look at and see if it would qualify for the program,” Smith said.

Projects must generate approved costs in excess of $3,000,000 or include at least six residential units or houses.

A project with a $5,000,000 investment could qualify for $813,000 in savings under this program-- this doesn’t even include potential B&O exemptions.

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