Senate Bill No. 491
(By Senators Minard, Unger, Deem, Yoder and Barnes)
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[Introduced January 30, 2008; referred to the Committee on
Finance.]
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A BILL to amend the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, by
adding thereto a new section, designated §11-1C-9a, relating
to establishing a three-year moratorium on any increase in
taxes on Class II, III and IV real property.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, be amended
by adding thereto a new section, designated §11-1C-9a, to read as
follows:
ARTICLE 1C. FAIR AND EQUITABLE PROPERTY VALUATION.
§11-1C-9a. Three year moratorium on tax increases.
(a)
It is hereby determined and declared as a matter of
legislative finding: (1) That the development and stability of the
housing market is essential to the further social and economic
growth of this state; (2) that the present and future uncertainty
of property values due to the national housing crisis, widespread
foreclosures, instability in the real estate market and slumping
prices and sales of homes impact the happiness, safety,
and general welfare of the citizens of each of the counties of this state; and
(3) that the measure herein authorized is, as a matter of public
policy, for the public purposes of the counties and the State of
West Virginia.
(b) Actual assessed values for Class II, III and IV real
property located in the state for the tax years two thousand eight,
two thousand nine and two thousand ten, excluding public utilities,
new transfers or properties
upon which no prior value was
established or properties upon which new construction occurred
during the then previous year, shall be the same assessed value as
was established during the two thousand seven tax year.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to establish a three year
moratorium on tax increases on Class II, III, and IV real property.
This section is new; therefore, strike-throughs and
underscoring have been omitted.