City of Logan credits Home Rule tax for consistent funding to police and fire pensions
- Robert Fields
- 7 hours ago
- 3 min read
Robert Fields | WVOW News
LOGAN, WV Over the past seven years, the City of Logan has been playing a massive game of “catch up” when it comes to pensions for its first responders. This week, city officials are recognizing just how much those efforts have paid off so far.
By the time Serafino Nolletti took office as Mayor nearly eight years ago, the City of Logan had fallen over $4 million behind on contributions to its police and fire pension funds. As of Tuesday, however, the city has paid off right around 90 percent of that debt. Special Counsel for the City of Logan Paul Ellis said the struggle to keep those accounts funded has long been something that smaller communities have struggled with.
“We’re talking about pension funds for police and firefighters – first responders who, you know, are out there putting their life on the line every day – and they retire and you gotta have those things funded and take care of them, and there’s a lot of folks that have had a lot of difficulty, a lot of communities who have struggled, including the City of Logan,” he said in an interview with WVOW News.
“But one of the opportunities that came about – and it was the only opportunity that I’m aware of that has come about – was through Home Rule, the ability of these cities, towns, villages, to pass to become a Home Rule city and to adopt a sales tax. Initially, the idea behind that – and still the idea behind that – is that one of the main reasons to do that would be to use a percentage of that money – and maybe all of it, depending on your situation – to be able to fund police and fire pensions and catch up.”
Ellis said the city is projected to have those accounts fully funded within the next two years.
City Clerk Amber Miller-Belcher also spoke on how instrumental the Home Rule tax has been in helping the city get on track.
“We have funded way more than we would have ordinarily been able to,” she said. “We’ve contributed $20,000 a month to fire and police every single month since Home Rule has been in existence.”
Home Rule adds a one-percent sales tax on anything purchased within the zip code or even delivered to that zip code, Walmart being a major source of sales in the Logan area. Within less than eight years, the city has reduced that debt from just over $4 million to right around $400,000. Miller-Belcher said the city could not have caught up as quickly as it has without that tax.
“That just goes to show you what a huge impact Home Rule has on small towns and cities and how necessary it is, not just for basic operations, but to fund things that are so important to both the longevity and the health of a municipality,” Belcher said.
“You have to have great employees. So, if you want to have great employees and you want to have great fire and you want to have great police protection, then you have to protect what means the most to them, right? Home Rule did that.”
Photo's | Robert Fields, Amber Miller-Belcher