ENGROSSED
COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE
FOR
Senate Bill No. 258
(By Senators Whitlow, Helmick, Ross and Sharpe)
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[Originating in the Committee on Transportation;
reported February 9, 1995.]
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A BILL to amend and reenact sections one, two, four, five and
six, article three-a, chapter seventeen of the code of West
Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended,
relating to the creation of an industrial access road fund and
providing funding therefor; specifying purposes for which moneys
from the fund may be used; requiring that counties and
municipalities guarantee proposed projects; specifying the
criteria upon which the highways commissioner is to base his or
her decision to allocate funds; approval of division of highways
of proposed industrial access highway; request for funds by
resolution of governing body of county or municipality;
consultation by the division of highways; restrictions on use of
the fund; limits on amount of funds to be allocated;
disbursements from the fund; and annual audit of the fund.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That sections one, two, four, five and six, article three-a,
chapter seventeen of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine
hundred thirty-one, as amended, be amended and reenacted to read as follows:
ARTICLE 3A. INDUSTRIAL ACCESS ROAD FUND.
§17-3A-1.
Industrial access road fund created; construction
guarantees by municipalities and counties.
(a) Any other provision of this code notwithstanding, there
is hereby created in the state treasury the "industrial access
road fund", hereinafter referred to as "the fund". There shall
be deposited into the fund three fourths of one percent of all
state tax collections which are otherwise specifically dedicated
by the provisions of this code to the state road fund or such
percentage of those tax collections that will produce three
million dollars for each fiscal year. At the end of each fiscal
year, all unused moneys in the fund shall revert to the state
road fund.
(b) The moneys in the fund shall be expended by the
division of highways for constructing and maintaining industrial
access roads within counties and municipalities to industrial
sites on which manufacturing, distribution, processing or other
economic development activities, including publicly owned
airports, are already constructed or are under firm contract to
be constructed. In the event there is no industrial site already
constructed or for which the construction is under firm contract,
a county or municipality may guarantee to the division of
highways by bond or other acceptable device that an industrial
site will be constructed and if no industrial site acceptable to
the division of highways is constructed within the time limits
of the bond, such bond shall be forfeited.
§17-3A-2. Division of highways to determine construction of
industrial access roads.
In determining whether or not to construct or improve any
industrial access road and in determining the nature of the road
to be constructed, the division of highways shall base its
decision on the costs of the industrial access road in relation
to the volume and nature of the traffic to be generated as a
result of developing the industrial site within the total
industrial area. In making a decision on any industrial site,
the total volume of traffic to be generated shall be considered
in regard to the overall cost of the project. The division of
highways shall consult and work closely with the West Virginia
development office in determining the use of industrial access
road funds.
Prior to a formal request for the use of moneys from the
fund to provide access to new or expanding industrial sites, the
location of the industrial access road shall be submitted for
approval of the division of highways. The division of highways
shall consider the cost of the industrial access road as it
relates to the project's location and as it relates to the
possibility of future extensions of the road to serve other
possible industrial sites as well as the future development of
the surrounding area.
Prior to the allocation of moneys from the fund for the
construction or maintenance of an industrial access road to an
industry proposing to locate or expand in a county or
municipality, the governing body of the county or municipality shall, by resolution, request moneys from the fund and shall be
responsible for the preliminary negotiations with the industries
and other interested parties. The division of highways shall be
available for consultation with the governing bodies of the
counties or municipalities and other interested parties and may
prepare surveys, plans, engineering studies and cost estimates
for the proposed industrial access road.
§17-3A-4.
Restrictions on use of fund.
(a) The fund may not be used for the adjustment of utilities
or for the construction of industrial access roads to schools,
hospitals, libraries, armories, shopping centers, apartment
buildings, government installations or similar facilities,
whether public or private. The fund may not be used to construct
industrial access roads on private property.
(b) Moneys from the fund may not be allocated until the
governing body of the county or municipality certifies to the
division of highways that the industrial site is constructed and
operating or is under firm contract to be constructed or
operated, or upon the presentation of acceptable surety in
accordance with section one of this article.
(c) Not more than three hundred thousand dollars of
unmatched moneys from the fund may be allocated for use in any
one county in any fiscal year. The maximum amount of unmatched
moneys which may be allocated from the fund is ten percent of the
fair market value including, but not limited to, both debt and
equity investment of the designated industrial establishment.
The amount of unmatched funds allocated may be supplemented with additional matched moneys from the fund, in which case the
matched moneys allocated from the fund may not exceed one hundred
fifty thousand dollars, to be matched equally from sources other
than the fund. The amount of matched moneys which may be
allocated from the fund over and above the unmatched funds may
not exceed five percent of the fair market value including, but
not limited to, both debt and equity investment of the designated
industrial site.
(d) Funds may only be allocated to those items of
construction and engineering which are essential to providing an
adequate facility to serve the anticipated traffic. Funds may
not be allocated for items such as storm sewers, curbs, gutters
and extra pavement width unless necessary to extend or connect an
existing access road.
§17-3A-5. Disbursements from fund.
Any claim of a contractor or others, not otherwise provided
for, for labor done or for materials, services or supplies
furnished to the division of highways pursuant to the provisions
of this article shall be audited by the commissioner of the
division of highways. If the commissioner determines that the
claim is valid and correct, the commissioner shall issue a
requisition of the division upon the state auditor therefor,
showing the nature of the claim and specifying whether the claim
is for labor done or materials, services or supplies furnished
for the construction or maintenance of state roads, or for other
purposes, and the auditor shall issue his or her warrant upon the
state treasurer therefor. The treasurer shall issue the warrant to the person, firm or corporation entitled thereto out of the
funds in the treasury provided for that purpose. The cost of
acquiring a right-of-way shall be paid out of the fund.
§17-3A-6. Annual audit to be made of receipts and expenditures
of fund.
The Legislature, acting through the joint committee on
government and finance, shall cause an annual audit to be made by
a resident independent certified public accountant of all books,
accounts and records relating to all receipts and expenditures of
the fund. The commissioner shall make available to the
independent auditor or auditors performing the audit all of the
division's books, accounts and records pertaining to all moneys
received and expended. The auditor or auditors performing the
audit shall make available annually the audit report with copies
thereof to the members of the Legislature, the governor, the
commissioner of the division of highways, the secretary of state,
the state treasurer, the attorney general and the state auditor.
The audit report shall be available to the public in the office
of the secretary of state.
The Legislature, acting through the joint committee on
government and finance, shall obtain the services of a resident
independent certified public accountant for this purpose, the
cost of which shall be payable out of funds appropriated by the
Legislature. Any audits of the funds which have been made by any
official auditing agency of the United States government shall be
accepted in lieu of the state audit.