West Virginia House Bill HB4529

West Virginia 2026 Regular Session

• Introduced: 1/19/26
• Refer: 1/19/26
• Refer: 1/20/26

Caption

Relating to requiring local governments to provide matching funds for grants from the Reclamation of Abandoned and Dilapidated Properties Program

Summary

House Bill 4529 amends the West Virginia code section governing the Reclamation of Abandoned and Dilapidated Properties Program. The bill keeps the Department of Environmental Protection’s authority to administer the program and use the special revenue fund to help county commissions, municipalities, urban renewal authorities, land reuse agencies, and municipal land banks demolish, deconstruct, redevelop, or otherwise remediate abandoned and blighted properties. It also preserves the department’s ability to establish statewide contracts, propose rules, and direct fund disbursements. The main policy change is that local governments and related entities that receive program grants would generally have to provide a 20 percent local match, unless they can show they are fiscally unable to do so using data from the State Auditor’s Office. Beginning July 1, 2026, the bill also requires participating entities to place fines or other payments collected from property-maintenance or repair-related code enforcement into a separate account, and to use those funds only to satisfy the match requirement or to pay for demolition of condemned structures. The bill’s stated purpose is to ensure local enforcement revenues are dedicated to property reclamation and demolition efforts.

Impact

HB4529 would directly affect county commissions, municipalities, urban renewal authorities, land reuse agencies, and municipal land banks that participate in the Reclamation of Abandoned and Dilapidated Properties Program. It would create a new local funding obligation for grant recipients, while allowing an exception for entities that can demonstrate fiscal inability to meet the match. It would also redirect certain code-enforcement and property-related fines into restricted accounts for matching grants or demolition work, thereby changing how local governments may use those revenues. The bill does not eliminate other lawful methods of disposing of abandoned or dilapidated properties, but it would add a more structured funding and accounting requirement to the existing program.

Sentiment

Based on the bill text and available context, the measure appears generally supportive of property cleanup and redevelopment efforts, with an emphasis on ensuring local participation and financial commitment. There is no recorded committee debate or vote history in the provided materials, so no formal opposition or support is documented. The bill’s framing suggests a policy preference for tying state grant assistance to local matching funds and dedicated enforcement revenues.

Contention

The likely point of contention is the new 20 percent match requirement, especially for smaller or financially constrained local governments that may struggle to raise local funds even with the fiscal-inability exception. Another possible concern is the mandatory segregation and restricted use of fines and other property-related payments, which could limit local budget flexibility and redirect revenues that might otherwise support general code enforcement or other municipal needs. Supporters would likely argue that the bill improves accountability and ensures that local enforcement revenues are reinvested in blight removal and demolition.