July 25, 2005
County Assessor
State of West Virginia
This letter is in reference to Legislation (WV Code §7-7-6e) that passed on April 9, 2005 in relation to collection of head tax on sheep and goats and the duties of county assessors and the Commissioner of Agriculture.
Due to the loss of funding for WV Integrated Wildlife Damage Management program (WVIWDM), the program became limited to 10 counties where coyote predation was most prevalent: Grant, Greenbrier, Hardy, Hampshire, Mercer, Mineral, Monroe, Pendleton, Pocahontas, and Randolph.
Funds raised by the new assessment will be used to expand the program beyond the 10 counties, and to show both state and federal lawmakers that the state's sheep and goat producers are willing to put up their own money in hopes it can be matched at the state and federal levels. The goal is to reinstate a statewide WVIWDM program.
Producers should be aware that at this time, even if they pay the voluntary assessment, unless they live in one of the 10 counties where the WVIWDM program currently exists there is no guarantee they will receive assistance from the WVIWDM program immediately.
As stipulated in the law, the assessors collecting the assessment on breeding age sheep and goats shall be allowed a commission of 10 percent upon all such taxes collected and shall send the Commissioner of Agriculture 90 percent of such taxes collected. The enclosed two-part, self-explanatory Integrated Predation Management Fund submission form is to be submitted on a monthly basis to the WV Department of Agriculture. Please feel free to make copies of the form or obtain additional copies from the WVDA website at www.wvagriculture.org.
If you have questions regarding the process of collecting or submitting the fees, please contact my office at 558-3200 and speak with Brenda Mobley, Executive Assistant.
Sincerely,
![](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/eot2008/20090116101502im_/http://www.wvagriculture.org/images/Executive/GRD%20signature.jpg)
Gus R. Douglass
Commissioner
GRD:bjm
Enclosure
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