Senate Bill No. 508
(By Senators Ross, Anderson, Sharpe, Helmick, Plymale, Dittmar,
Bowman, Boley, Buckalew, Kimble, Scott, Minear, Oliverio and
Blatnik)
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[Introduced February 19, 1996; referred to the Committee
on Finance.]
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A BILL to amend and reenact section one, article one-c, chapter
eleven of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine
hundred thirty-one, as amended; and to further amend said
article by adding thereto a new section, designated section
fourteen, all providing that for tax years one thousand nine
hundred ninety-seven and one thousand nine hundred
ninety-eight, all property shall be annually assessed at the
lesser of its value as determined under articles one-c,
three, four and five, chapter eleven of said code or the
value of such property as shown on the property books of the
county in which the property is located for tax year one
thousand nine hundred ninety-four.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That section one, article one-c, chapter eleven of the code
of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as
amended, be amended and reenacted; and that said article be
further amended by adding thereto a new section, designated
section fourteen, all to read as follows:
ARTICLE 1C. FAIR AND EQUITABLE PROPERTY VALUATION.
§11-1C-1. Legislative findings.
(a) The Legislature hereby finds and declares that all
property in this state should be fairly and equitably valued
wherever it is situated so that all citizens will be treated
fairly and no individual species or class of property will be
overvalued or undervalued in relation to all other similar
property within each county and throughout the state.
(b) The Legislature by this article seeks to create a method
to establish and maintain fair and equitable values for all
property. The Legislature does not intend by this article to
implement the reappraisal as conducted under articles one-a and
one-b of this chapter nor does it intend to affect tax revenue in
any manner.
(c) The Legislature finds that requiring the valuation of property to occur in three-year cycles with an annual adjustment
of assessments as to those properties for which a change in value
is discovered shall not violate the equal and uniform provision
of section one, article ten of the West Virginia constitution,
the Legislature further finding that such three-year cycle and
annual adjustment are an integral and indispensable part of a
systematic review of all properties in order to achieve equality
of assessed valuation within and among the counties of this
state. Notwithstanding such finding, the Legislature intends to
permit the assessors and the board of public works to place
proportionately uniform percentage changes in values on the books
during the two tax years preceding the tax year beginning on the
first day of July, one thousand nine hundred ninety-three, in
accordance with the provisions of section seven of this article.
(d) The Legislature deems that the goal of this article is
that by the end of the three-year cycle contemplated by this
article, and thereafter from year to year, all property shall be
annually assessed at sixty percent of its then current fair
market value except for the values derived for farms and managed
timberland properties, which are to be valued as prescribed by
this article one-c and article four of this chapter and except that the Legislature intends to provide for a period of stability
in property taxation to permit taxpayers to adapt to the
significant changes in values brought about by the end of the
first three-year valuation cycle by setting the assessed value of
real and personal property for tax years one thousand nine
hundred ninety-seven and one thousand nine hundred ninety-eight,
at the lesser of the value as prescribed under articles one-c,
three, four and five of this chapter and the value on the
property books of the county in which the property is located for
tax year one thousand nine hundred ninety-four.
§11-1C-14. Stabilization of values.
Notwithstanding anything in this chapter to the contrary,
the value of real and personal property for tax years one
thousand nine hundred ninety-seven and one thousand nine hundred
ninety-eight, shall be set at the lesser of the value as
prescribed under articles one-c, three, four and five of this
chapter and the value on the property books of the county in
which the property is located for tax year one thousand nine
hundred ninety-four.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to provide taxpayers with a period of stability in property taxation to adapt to the
significant changes in values brought about by the end of the
first three-year valuation cycle by setting the assessed value of
real and personal property for tax years one thousand nine
hundred ninety-seven and one thousand nine hundred ninety-eight,
at the lesser of the value as prescribed under articles one-c,
three, four and five of this chapter and the value on the
property books of the county in which the property is located for
tax year one thousand nine hundred ninety-four.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken
from the present law, and underscoring indicates new language
that would be added.
§11-1C-14 is new; therefore, strike-throughs and
underscoring are omitted.