H. B. 2503
(By Delegates Buchanan, Claypole and Cann)
[Introduced January 14, 1998; referred to the
Committee on the Judiciary.]
A BILL to amend and reenact section twenty-seven, article three,
chapter eleven of the code of West Virginia, one thousand
nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, relating to expanding
the relief available for an erroneous assessment.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That section twenty-seven, article three, chapter eleven of
the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one,
as amended, be amended and reenacted to read as follows:
ARTICLE 3. ASSESSMENTS GENERALLY.
§11-3-27. Relief in county commission from erroneous
assessments.
Any taxpayer, or the prosecuting attorney or tax
commissioner, upon behalf of the state, county and districts,
claiming to be aggrieved by any entry in the property books of the county, including entries with respect to classification and
taxability of property, resulting from a clerical error, or a
mistake occasioned by an unintentional or inadvertent act as
distinguished from a mistake growing out of negligence or the
exercise of poor judgment, may, within one year from the time the
property books are delivered to the sheriff or within one year
from the time
such the clerical error or mistake is discovered or
reasonably could have been discovered, apply for relief to the
county commission of the county in which
such the books are made
out:
Provided, That upon the discovery of any such clerical
error or mistake by the sheriff or the assessor, or either
officer having knowledge thereof, the sheriff or assessor shall
cause notice to be sent to any taxpayer affected by the clerical
error or mistake by first-class United States mail advising the
taxpayer of the right to make application from relief from the
erroneous assessment. Before the application is heard, the
taxpayer shall give notice to the prosecuting attorney of the
county, or the state shall give notice to the taxpayer, as the
case may be. The application, whether by the taxpayer or the
state, shall have precedence over all other business before the
court; but any order or judgment shall show that either the
prosecuting attorney or the tax commissioner was present
defending the interests of the state, county and districts:
Provided, however, That the provisions of this section
shall may
not be construed as giving county commissions jurisdiction to
consider any question involving the classification or taxability
of property which has been the subject matter of an appeal under
the provisions of section twenty-four-a of this article; and any
other such clerical error or mistake involving the classification
or taxability of property, may be corrected by the county
commission under the provisions of this section only when
approved, in writing, by the county assessor.
In the event it is ascertained that the applicant is
entitled to relief, any excess taxes already paid shall be
refunded and, if charged but not paid, the applicant shall be
released from the payment of
such the excess:
Provided, That in
the event a mistake or error is discovered more than one year
after the property books for the year or years in question are
delivered to the sheriff, any relief granted to the applicant
shall be in the form of a credit against taxes owing for the
following year or years until the debt is paid:
Provided,
however, That in the event a mistake or error is discovered more
than one year after the property books for the year or years in
question are delivered to the sheriff and the applicant does not
have property upon which to credit the sums of the mistake or
error of relief, the sums shall be paid directly to the applicant. Whenever any correction is made by the county
commission, the clerk shall certify copies of the order to the
auditor, to the sheriff and to the assessor, and in the case of
real estate, the assessor shall thereupon make a correction in
accordance with the order in his
or her landbook for the next
year. Any such order delivered to the sheriff or other
collecting officer shall restrain him
or her from collecting so
much as is erroneously charged against the taxpayer, and, if
already collected, shall compel him
or her to refund the money if
such officer has not already paid it into the treasury. In
either case, when indorsed by the person exonerated, it shall be
sufficient voucher to entitle the officer to a credit for so much
in his
or her settlement which he
or she is required to make. If
the applicant be the state, the order certified to the sheriff
shall show the correct amount of taxes due the state, county and
districts and shall be sufficient to authorize collection in the
same manner as for other state, county and district taxes.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to provide additional
relief for a taxpayer from an erroneous assessment.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken
from the present law, and underscoring indicates new language
that would be added.