WV fireworks tax brings in millions for veterans, but new Beckley VA stalled without federal money

The hotter the weather, the more fireworks Noah McNamee says he sells in the parking lot of a grocery store in Kanawha County. He expects hundreds of customers to buy high-flying fireworks ahead of the historic weekend as residents celebrate the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence.

“For the 250 (celebration), you need to go all out and absolutely just buy what you can,” said McNamee, who works for Big Poppy’s Fireworks, an Arkansas company with a sales tent in Charleston, West Virginia. “You’re not gonna get another 250.”

The big tent is filled with sparklers for kids and colorful boxes of powerful fireworks, with boxes labeled “Maximum Insanity” and “Barely Legal.”

McNamee said the “Tank Busters” box is the most popular seller of the high-powered fireworks, which state lawmakers legalized a decade ago. The camo-print box of 42 breaks and 24 60g cansisters blast into 24 colorful effects high in the sky. It runs for $284.99 plus state and local taxes and a 12% fireworks safety tax that lawmakers added onto the bill legalizing powerful fireworks.

“When it goes up, it explodes three times in the air per one canister,” McNamee said. “That’s my best seller. I’ve already sold out of this five times.”

Seventy-five percent of the fireworks safety tax revenue goes to fund the state’s volunteer fire departments and veterans’ facilities, including specifically for the construction of a veterans nursing home in Beckley that was supposed to be completed in 2025. 

Today, the lot is still empty due to funding hold ups on the federal level.

“Conversations eventually moved to potential revenue going to support the construction of the VA nursing home in Beckley,” recalled former state Senator Daniel Hall, R-Wyoming, who advocated for the fireworks bill. “Hopefully, one day we can make that a reality for the veterans in Southern West Virginia.”

In 2016, Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin signed off on the sale of high-flying fireworks to adults. West Virginia residents previously had to travel to neighboring states to purchase the professional-grade fireworks. Only sparklers and novelty-grade fireworks had been available in the state. 

“We were losing out on sales and revenue here,” Hall said. 

The fireworks tax brought in $1,596,818 in 2025, according to the state Tax Division. Over the years, the tax only brought in half of the amount state officials predicted would be generated.

The state Department of Veteran Assistance currently has $7 million in funds from the fireworks tax for the state’s veterans’ homes, including the future facility in Beckley. 

“We’re hopeful that at some point the federal government will come through with the funding, so we can start building the facility,” said state Department of Veterans Assistance Secretary Ryan Kennedy.

“Veterans, unfortunately, oftentimes have health problems that are related to their service,” he continued.

Beckley VA hospital stalled, price tag increasing

West Virginia’s only VA hospital is in Clarksburg. 

State senators passed a bill in 2014 mandating the construction of a new veterans’ facility in Beckley. “ … An aging veterans’ population which suffers from wartime disabilities and illnesses are, or will be, in need of skilled nursing care,” the measure said. 

Seven years later, then-Gov. Jim Justice earmarked millions of dollars in the budget bill that would serve as a match for federal grant dollars to build the facility. 

Justice and state officials broke ground on the Charles Calvin Rogers Veterans Nursing Facility in Beckley in 2023. An architect was hired to design a state-of-the-art facility to serve 90 to 120 veterans, including those in need of specialized care for dementia and Alzheimer’s disease. 

“The Beckley fund, it has about $23.5 million in it right now, which is our state match we’ll need whenever the federal money shows up,” Kennedy said.

The project was initially expected to cost $44 million. 

Kennedy said that due to inflation increasing costs, he anticipated money from the fireworks fund will be necessary to pay for the project when it happens.

Money from the fireworks has been used for maintenance and improvements at the Clarksburg VA and the West Virginia Veterans Home in Barboursville. 

“It’s all been a godsend for us to be able to do these kinds of upgrades for veterans and really deliver the kind of service they deserve,” Kennedy said. 

State tax officials in 2016 had estimated that the fireworks tax would bring $2.8 million a year while lawmakers worked to legalize high-powered fireworks sales. Yearly revenue from the tax hasn’t matched that, state records show.

The fireworks tax generated around $7.8 million in revenue from 2021-2025 — around half of projected revenue. 

The state Treasurer’s Office handles the distribution of fireworks tax revenue to VFDs.

“Over the last four quarters, the Treasurer’s Office has distributed a little over $36 million to qualifying VFDs,” said Carrie Smith, communications director for the Treasurer’s Office. 

About $6 million of that annually comes from excess lottery funds, she said. 

“The overwhelming majority of the other $30 million comes from insurance premium surcharges. A very little bit comes from firework tax revenue,” Smith said