Senate Bill No. 129
(By Senators Love, Sharpe, Prezioso, Boley, Minear and
Schoonover)
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[Introduced February 26, 1997; referred to the Committee
on Small Business; and then to the Committee on Finance .]
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A BILL to amend chapter five-b of the code of West Virginia, one
thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, by adding
thereto a new article, designated article three, relating to
the creation of the West Virginia "Job Creation Zones Act of
1997"; providing for certain tax exemptions for qualified
new businesses in the ten West Virginia counties with the
highest rate of unemployment; and providing other conditions
and procedures.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That chapter five-b of the code of West Virginia, one
thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, be amended by
adding thereto a new article, designated article three, to read as follows:
ARTICLE 3. WEST VIRGINIA JOB CREATION ZONES ACT OF 1997.
§5B-3-1. Legislative purpose.
The Legislature hereby finds and declares that the health,
safety and welfare of the people of West Virginia are enhanced by
the continual encouragement, development, growth and expansion of
private enterprise within this state, and that there are certain
economically depressed areas in the state that need particular
attention to create new jobs, stimulate economic activity and
attract private sector investment rather than government subsidy
to improve the quality of life of their citizens. It is the
purpose of the Legislature to encourage new economic activity in
these depressed areas of the state by means of tax relief and the
removal of unnecessary governmental barriers to the production
and earning of wages and profits and the creation of economic
growth.
§5B-3-2. Definitions.
As used in this article:
"Qualified new business" means any person, corporation or
other entity who, during the time of designation of a job
creation zone, is engaged in the active conduct of a trade or
business in a job creation zone in one of the ten counties in
West Virginia with the highest unemployment rate for the last year:
(a) That is not a business involved in mineral extraction,
mining, timber harvesting, pulp processing, farming or mining or
harvesting natural resources;
(b) The county commission where the qualified new business
will be located certifies that the qualified new business will
not directly compete with sales of products made or services
provided by an existing business in the county or an adjacent
county, and, that it is not a reconfiguration or restructuring of
an existing or previously existing business or business
organization or other entity; and
(c) The county commission where the qualified new business
will be located certifies that the qualified new business will
not adversely impact or harm the environment, and that the
qualified new business would not be likely to locate in West
Virginia if it was not given the benefit of the exemption
provided herein.
§5B-3-3. Job creation zone tax exemptions.
Notwithstanding any other provision of this code to the
contrary, the following exemptions apply to job creation zones:
(a) A qualified new business shall be exempt from the taxes imposed on it by articles twelve-a, thirteen, thirteen-b,
twenty-one and twenty-four, chapter eleven of this code;
(b) Any venture capital company authorized under the
provisions of article one, chapter five-e of this code, lending
institution, individual or other entity who loans money to a
qualified new business is exempt from the taxes imposed on it for
any interest earned or received from the qualified new business;
and
(c) Any venture capital company authorized under the
provisions of article one, chapter five-e of this code, lending
institution, individual or other entity is exempt from the taxes
imposed on it for any gain earned or received from the sale of
stock purchased in a qualified new business.
§5B-3-4. Job creation zone conditions for tax exemptions.
The following additional conditions apply to job creation
zone qualified new businesses:
(a) The exemptions provided in this article apply for a
period of ten years from the commencement of the qualified new
business;
(b) The exemptions are in effect for any qualified new
business commencing within five years after the effective date of this article;
(c) Any changes or amendments to this article may not be
retroactively imposed to restrict past or future exemptions
conferred by this article upon qualified new businesses that rely
upon the provisions of this article;
(d) The exemptions provided by this article apply to the
counties that are among the ten counties with the highest
unemployment rate for the previous year as of the first day of
January of each year: Provided, That counties that qualify may
change during the five-year period if their unemployment rate
changes; and
(e) To qualify for the tax exemptions the new business must
give first preference to hiring qualified able- bodied welfare
recipients, relating to the West Virginia wWelfare reform program,
and the welfare works program.
NOTE: This bill creates the "West Virginia Job Creation
Zones Act of 1997" that exempts qualified new businesses from
taxation; and exempts interest earned by entities that make loans
to these qualified new businesses or gains from the sale of stock in a qualified new business. The qualified new business must be
in one of the ten counties in the state with the highest
unemployment rate for the last year and must give first
preference to hiring able- bodied welfare recipients.
This article is new; therefore, strike-throughs and
underscoring have been omitted.