Following the full repeal of West Virginia’s prevailing wage law in 2016, a study conducted by the University of Kentucky Center for Business and Economic Research (CBER) found that total costs for public school construction in the Mountain State declined by more than 7 percent. Additionally, the CBER found no evidence that prevailing wage repeal had any negative impacts on the safety or quality of construction.
As noted in the study, public school construction costs in West Virginia were slowly rising between 2008 and 2016, and then began to reverse when the repeal took effect. Meanwhile, surrounding states’ public school construction costs continued to rise.
According to the West Virginia Chapter of Associated Builders and Contractors, these findings indicate taxpayers have saved, and will continue to save, roughly $1 million on each new elementary school built in the state.
