TERRA ALTA, W.Va. — The Town of Terra Alta is now in the hands of the state after their Fiscal Year 2025-26 budget was rejected at a state level.
Terra Alta Town Clerk Kambra Sisler announced that the town was formally informed by the State Auditor’s Office on Monday that the town budget will not be processed, which has led to the town becoming in line to have a $0 FY25-26 budget without legislative help. This takes place not long after the original budget was submitted almost two months late by now-resigned Town Recorder Mikaela Bernard and the resignation of Terra Alta Mayor Dan Hauger that followed shortly after that.
“I heard from Shellie Humphries from the state (auditor’s) office, who said that her legal department has decided not to accept or process our budget,” said Sisler. “So we will get no tax funding or levy funding.”
According to Sisler, special legislation would need to be passed on a state level in order for the Town of Terra Alta to be allowed to break state code to allow for a budget to pass. The legislation would allow for the town to break State Code 11-8-6e, which says that year-by-year budgets for municipalities can not exceed 101% of the previous year’s budget. With the state rejection of the Terra Alta FY25-26 budget resulting in what is currently a $0 budget, Sisler says it’s crucial for the immediate future of Terra Alta to have legislatures grant them the exception.
“For the budget we just submitted, we don’t have any options,” said Sisler. “In order to go forward with the budget that we will submit next year, for the following year we have got to seek legislative assistance.”
If special legislation is not passed to allow for Terra Alta, several implications could have long-term effects for the town as a whole. According to Sisler, the town would not be in position to pass any further budgets due to any increase, regardless of dollar amount, directly violating the state code; town officials would need to be given a pass on by state legislatures. Understanding the magnitude of the situation, Sisler hopes that state leaders will give the decision some consideration in the near future.
“Since ours was not accepted or processed, $0 is what we would be putting forth in our budget,” said Sisler. “0 times 0 is always 0, so unless we can get a legislative move, there’s no chance to get a budget back in the following years.”
In the meantime, the Town of Terra Alta is scheduled to have a special meeting on Thursday, June 5, where several budget discussions are expected to take place. As of this writing, the town currently employs seven people, with two being police officers, two clerks for the town and water utility respectively, and three maintenance employees. With the population of Terra Alta reported as just over 1,400 as of 2023, Sisler expects a lot of moves to be made in the coming months so services don’t get affected within the Preston County town.
“We have an emergency meeting scheduled for Thursday, June 5, at 7:00 p.m. to discuss what we’re going to do,” said Sisler. “At this time, no one really has an answer on how we’re going to move forward; we just have to have a meeting of the minds and figure out how to proceed.”