Senate Bill No. 119
(By Senator Buckalew)
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[Introduced February 25, 1997; referred to the Committee
on Government Organization.]
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A BILL to amend and reenact section twenty-one, article one-a,
chapter eleven of the code of West Virginia, one thousand
nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, relating to county
assessors to purchase and maintain computer systems for tax
data independently from the state.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That section twenty-one, article one-a, 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 1A. APPRAISAL OF PROPERTY FOR PERIODIC STATEWIDE
REAPPRAISALS.
§11-1A-21. Electronic data processing system network for
property tax administration.
(a) The tax commissioner shall devise and cause to be established a statewide electronic data processing system network, to facilitate administration of the ad valorem property
tax on real and personal property, through the timely sharing of
property tax information among county assessors and the tax
commissioner.
(b) Each county shall may lease, at its expense, the data
processing equipment required by the commissioner to be located
in each county. In the alternative, any county may, at its
expense, purchase its own equipment and programming. The
commissioner shall provide to the counties the necessary
programming and licenses to operate independently of the
statewide electronic data processing system network: Provided,
That if the counties choose to operate independently of the
statewide network, they shall copy the information entered into
their system to the host computer of the statewide data
processing system network not less than once but not more than
three times during a weekly cycle. Additionally, each county
shall provide, at its expense, the necessary staffing and
operating personnel and all other necessary facilities, including
telephone and other communications equipment, to allow on-line
interaction with the host computer or such other computer as the
commissioner may designate. Each county shall be charged by the
commissioner for its proportionate share of the cost for use of
the host computer and other related services. Such The data
processing and communications equipment must be installed and tested and county personnel trained to use the equipment on or
before the first day of July, one thousand nine hundred
eighty-five.
(c) To ensure equipment compatibility and the efficient
operation and maintenance of the statewide electronic data
processing system network, the commissioner shall select and may,
from time to time, change equipment suppliers at the state and
county level. All equipment purchased by the state and leased by
the counties for the system shall be acquired under the
purchasing procedures specified in article three, chapter five-a
of this code. Equipment purchased by the counties for systems
operated independently of the statewide systems shall be
compatible with the statewide system.
(d) The commissioner may promulgate reasonable rules
governing the operation of the statewide electronic data
processing system network. Such The rules shall, at a minimum,
specify that each assessor shall enter all changes in the
description, status, classification and value not later than the
calendar month following the month during which the changes took
place. The rules shall provide for thorough and adequate
safeguards to prevent unauthorized access to the system network
and the data base. The commissioner shall make available to
every taxpayer, upon his request, through the system, the
description and appraised value of each parcel valued and the method used in determining the appraised value. The system
shall be capable of providing for the assessment of each parcel
and item of property at sixty percent of its appraised value and
for the phasing-in of the first statewide reappraisal, as to each
parcel and item of property and the phasing-in of any subsequent
reappraisal as may be authorized by the Legislature.
(e) County assessors shall convert or cause to be converted,
at county expense, any current assessment information not in the
data files of the tax commissioner for purposes of the first
statewide reappraisal and the preparing of a system of
assessments utilizing the results of the reappraisal, to be
phased-in as required in section twenty-two of this article.
Such The conversion shall be completed on or before the first day
of July, one thousand nine hundred eighty-five.
(f) The commissioner may offer to county sheriffs, as an
optional service, a uniform computerized property tax billing and
accounting system using the assessed values and taxpayer
information generated through the statewide system. Each sheriff
using such optional services shall be charged the proportionate
cost for use of the host computer and related services and
materials, which charge shall be paid by the county commission.
(g) The commissioner is hereby specifically authorized and
empowered to enter into such contracts as may be necessary and
for which funds may be available to establish the electronic data processing system provided for in this section.
(h) The cost of any service or act performed by the
commissioner under the provisions of this section shall be paid
by the county commission of the county for which the service or
act was provided. The cost of any service or act shall be the
actual cost and expense incurred by the commission to provide the
service or act. The commissioner shall render to the county
commission a statement of the costs as soon after the same were
incurred as practicable. It shall be the duty of the county
commission to allow the same and to cause it to be paid promptly
in the manner that other claims and accounts are allowed and paid
and the amount owed to the tax commissioner shall constitute a
debt due the state which may be satisfied from any money owed the
county commission by the state for any reason.
(i) Payments received for the cost of services or acts
performed by the commissioner under this system shall be
deposited in a revolving fund which shall be known as the "county
tax fund," hereby created in the state treasurer's office.
(j) As used in this section, the following terms mean:
(1) "System" means the statewide electronic data processing
system network for administration of the ad valorem property tax
on real and personal property provided for in this section.
(2) "Electronic data processing" means the use of the
computer for operations which include the storing, retrieving, sorting, merging, calculating and reporting data for use in
preparing assessment rolls, tax list, tax bills and other reports
for use in property tax administration.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to allow county assessors
to purchase and maintain computer systems independent of the
statewide system with weekly copying of information to the
state's system.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken
from the present law, and underscoring indicates new language
that would be added.