ENGROSSED
Senate Bill No. 134
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(Originating in the Committee on Finance;
reported February 26, 1993.)
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A BILL to amend and reenact section thirty-three, article three,
chapter thirty-three of the code of West Virginia, one
thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, relating to
eliminating by one-half percent the surcharge on fire and
casualty insurance policies which benefit the teachers
retirement system; and specifying an effective date.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That section thirty-three, article three, chapter
thirty-three of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine
hundred thirty-one, as amended, be amended and reenacted to read
as follows:
ARTICLE 3. LICENSING, FEES, AND TAXATION OF INSURERS.
§33-3-33. Surcharge on fire and casualty insurance policies to
benefit volunteer and part volunteer fire departments;
special fund created; allocation of proceeds; effective
date.
(a) For the purpose of providing additional revenue for
volunteer and part volunteer fire departments, there is herebyauthorized and imposed on and after the first day of July, one
thousand nine hundred ninety-three, on the policyholder of any
fire and casualty insurance policy, a policy surcharge equal to
one-half percent of gross direct premium paid by the policyholder
for each such policy. For purposes of this section, casualty
insurance shall not include insurance on the life of a debtor
pursuant to or in connection with a specific loan or other credit
transaction or insurance on a debtor to provide indemnity for
payments becoming due on a specific loan or other credit
transaction while the debtor is disabled as defined in the
policy. The policy surcharge shall not be subject to premium
taxes, agent commissions or any other assessment against
premiums.
The policy surcharge shall be collected and remitted by the
insurer to the commissioner on forms prescribed by the
commissioner on a quarterly basis and are due on the twenty-fifth
day of the month succeeding the end of the quarter in which they
are collected except for the fourth quarter for which the
surcharge shall be due and payable on or before the first day of
March of the succeeding year. All forms required by the
commissioner shall be submitted under the oath of the president
and secretary of the insurer.
Any insurer failing or refusing to collect and remit to the
commissioner any policy surcharge and whose surcharge payments
are not postmarked by the due dates for quarterly filing is
liable for a civil penalty of up to one hundred dollars for each
day of delinquency, to be assessed by the commissioner. Thecommissioner may suspend the insurer until all surcharge payments
and penalties, should any penalty be imposed, are remitted in
full to the commissioner.
All money from the policy surcharge shall be collected by
the commissioner and the commissioner shall disburse the money
into a special account in the state treasury, designated the fire
protection fund. The net proceeds of this portion of the tax
after appropriation by the Legislature shall be distributed in
accordance with the provisions of subsection (c) of this section.
(b) Before the first day of September, one thousand nine
hundred ninety-three, and before the first day of September of
each calendar year thereafter, the state treasurer shall allocate
and authorize for distribution the revenues in the fire
protection fund that were collected during the preceding calendar
year, and the interest earned thereon.
(c) Each volunteer fire company or department shall receive
on an equal share basis the revenues allocated for volunteer and
part volunteer fire companies and departments under subsection
(a) of this section.
(d) The allocation, distribution and use of revenues
provided in the fire protection fund are subject to the
provisions of sections eight-a and eight-b, article fifteen,
chapter eight of this code.