Occasional Batch O'Stats: Coal & W.Va. Revenues

Taxes paid by the coal industry equal around 16 percent of West Virginia's general revenues, or at least 9 percent of all state-derived revenues, according figures from state officials and the state's Coal Association.

The association requested an analysis of taxes paid from the state Department of Revenue. The resulting breakdown, issued in March, totals $715 million.

Around $84 million of that was paid in property taxes, which is primarily county revenue. The remaining $631.5 million reflects mostly general revenue taxes: the severance tax on coal, followed by corporate and personal net income taxes.

The state estimated $3.9 billion in general revenues for the 2009 budget year. The non-federal portions of the overall state budget for that year, meanwhile, was $10.4 billion.

The analysis did not estimate fuel taxes, which provide revenue to the State Road Fund (part of the overall state budget, but separate from its general revenue portion).