On May 18, 2015, the City of Lewisburg filed a procedural legal action seeking a declaratory judgment from the Circuit Court of Greenbrier County to assist in correcting an error affecting the processing of the excess levy approved on Jan. 25, 2014. On May 6, the State Auditor of West Virginia informed the City of Lewisburg that it could not approve the City of Lewisburg’s excess levy rate submitted for the 2015-2016 budget because the City has no excess levy approved for fiscal year 2015. Upon further review, it was discovered that an error occurred during balloting, so that instead of approving the excess levy renewal beginning in 2015, as the City intended and as the City believes voters intended, voters approved an excess levy that does not begin until 2016. As the current excess levy is set to expire on June 30, the City of Lewisburg had to act quickly to seek judicial relief to correct this error so that the excess levy approved on Jan. 25, 2014 can go into effect on July 1, 2015.
The City of Lewisburg is very appreciative of the hard work and cooperation received from the State Auditor of West Virginia, the West Virginia Tax Department, and the Greenbrier County Assessor in seeking to rectify this error. We anticipate correcting this problem in a timely fashion and without disruption. Any further questions regarding this matter should be directed toward our legal counsel at Dinsmore & Shohl, LLP.
