West Virginia

Decision instrument

The constitution stops the state from borrowing, except for a short list. The road bonds exist because the voters amended that rule in 2017.

What public act authorizes the borrowing, and where is the purpose and the first-year cost written down? Constitution, Article X, Section 4. The exceptions are a casual deficit, paying off an existing state liability, and insurrection, invasion, or war. A liability other than ordinary expenses has to be spread over at least 20 years. The Roads to Prosperity Amendment of 2017 lets the Legislature authorize state bonds up to $1.6 billion in total, for highways and bridges, including work in each of the 55 counties. The amendment says the bonds are paid from the State Road Fund. A state tax is collected only in a year when that fund is short, and the tax has to be enough to pay the bonds within 25 years. The financial report says that, after a constitutional amendment, the Legislature still has to pass a law authorizing the issue. The report does not print the 2017 vote totals.

Debt statement

No Annual Debt Statement of the New Jersey kind.

What yearly filing states gross debt, deductions, and how close the issuer is to its limit? State debt is in the annual report for the year ended June 30, 2025, Note 10. County dollar rows are not attached.

Debt limit

A county or a city stops at 5% of taxable property, and the voters have to approve the debt by three-fifths. A school bond needs a majority.

What cap binds a county or a city, and is the state's own ceiling a different rule? Constitution, Article X, Sections 8 and 10. The 5% uses the last assessment. The same vote has to provide a direct annual tax sufficient to pay the interest and the principal within 34 years. Section 10 lets a county board of education issue school bonds with a majority of the votes cast, and the levy for that debt, still inside the 5%, is laid on top of the ordinary school rates. Code § 13-1-4 carries the same split: three-fifths, except a majority for a county school bond.

Conflict rule

A public official may not vote on a matter when the official, a family member, or a business they are tied to has a financial interest. Holding 5% of a class of stock is one such tie.

Which ethics statute covers local officers, what counts as an interest, and who is left out? Code § 6B-2-5. A business tie also includes being a director, an officer, an owner, an employee, or a paid agent. A different line applies to licenses and rates. The official may not take part if the official or an immediate family member owns or controls more than 10% of the person whose license or rates are being set, or sold that person more than $1,000 of goods or services in the preceding year. A small contract interest is not treated as prohibited: no more than $1,000 of profit from public contracts in a calendar year, or a creditor interest of less than $5,000. Members of the Legislature are under a separate subsection.

Geography

Fifty-five counties.

What is the county-equivalent, and which cities, schools, and authorities must not be pasted onto that row? Census county codes. The 2017 amendment requires road work in each of them. County seats are not in the financial report, so they are not filled in. Cities and school districts also borrow. Dollar rows stay blank.

Primary money record

General obligation bonds, including premium: $1.685 billion, as of June 30, 2025.

Which audited report is the state's own number, and as of what date? Note 10, in thousands. The rollforward prints $1,685,225. Transportation bonds are principal of $1,406,248 and premium of $234,559, together $1,640,807. Infrastructure bonds are principal of $42,428 and premium of $1,990, together $44,418. The series detail, which includes premium, prints Roads to Prosperity issues of $738,339, $658,895, and $243,574. Those three add to $1,640,808, one thousand dollars off the rollforward. The detail’s grand total is $1,685,226, also one thousand dollars off. The rollforward is the total used here.

Who pays the coupon

In the year ending June 30, 2026, the current-interest bonds need $58.885 million of principal and $69.672 million of interest.

Which fund, tax, or rate is actually pledged — not which new store might show up later? Note 10. Together that is $128.557 million. Capital-appreciation bonds need another $9.730 million that year, of which $9.084 million is principal already accreted and $0.646 million is still to accrete. The road bonds are payable from the State Road Fund. The amendment calls for a state tax only if that fund is short. The infrastructure bonds are payable from dedicated severance-tax revenue. The amount the report shows as due within one year, $84.730 million, includes $16.761 million of premium amortization. That amortization is not an extra cash payment.

Other obligors

Governmental revenue bonds, including premium: $374.058 million. Do not add them to the $1.685 billion.

Which authorities and districts borrow beside the state and must not be added to its total? Note 10, in thousands. Those revenue bonds include transportation $181,434, natural-resources economic development $72,443, and the education, arts, sciences, and tourism fund $120,181. Business-type infrastructure revenue bonds are another $121,607, including premium. The Tobacco Settlement Finance Authority has $686,469 of direct borrowings. A statistical schedule prints governmental revenue bonds of $1,060,527. That figure includes the tobacco borrowing. It is not a second set of bonds, and it is not added to the general-obligation total.

Book-entry wall

Cede & Co., at the Depository Trust Company.

Who is the registered owner on ordinary public paper? Series-level confirmation still waits on that official statement. Beneficial owners stay unnamed.