H. B. 4555
(By Delegates Flanigan, Osborne,
Yeager and Wright)
[Introduced February 25, 1998; referred to the
Committee on Finance.]
A BILL to amend article three, chapter eleven of the code of West
Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended,
by adding thereto a new section, designated section
thirty-two, relating to providing for the deferring of tax
implementation and collections for both personal and real
property for new businesses by county commissions.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That article three, chapter eleven of the code of West
Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, be
amended by adding thereto a new section, designated section
thirty-two, to read as follows:
ARTICLE 3. ASSESSMENTS GENERALLY.
§11-3-32. Deferred implementation of tax assessment and
collections, both real and personal property.
(a) The Legislature hereby finds and declares that publicly promoted private improvements in a development area which result
in the increase in the value of property located in the
development area or result in increased employment within the
development area will serve a public purpose for each taxing
district possessing the authority to impose ad valorem taxes from
the taxes in the development area. The deferring of
implementation of tax assessment and collections will serve each
taxing unit by encouraging the establishment of new business in
the state.
(b) Notwithstanding any provision of law to the contrary,
county commissions on a unanimous vote, may defer the
implementation of the assessment of real or personal property
taxes and their collection in their respective counties for any
business existing therein and meeting the following criteria:
(1) The business must be a new business, establishing itself
in the state for the first time;
(2) The business must have a capital investment outlay in
the state of at least one hundred thousand dollars in value,
including real and personal property;
(3) The business must establish an immediate work force in
the state at the commencement of its operation consisting of at
least ten employees including management; and
(4) The business must commit to maintaining its operation in
the state for a minimum of five years from the date of commencement of activities.
(c) In order to determine new business status for the
purposes of this section, the secretary of state and the state
tax department shall certify to the appropriate county commission
that the proposed business meets the criteria set forth in
subsection (b) of this section.
(d) For any new business seeking to defer tax assessment and
collection which meets the requisite criteria under subsection
(b) of this section, the following tax deferment shall be
applicable to the business on the unanimous vote of the county
commission in the county in which the business is located:
(1) For the first year of a certified tax assessment as
certified by the county assessor, there shall be no taxes
assessed or collected;
(2) For the second year after the initial tax certification
and assessment year, twenty-five percent of the total taxes
assessed shall be collected;
(3) For the third year after the initial tax certification
and assessment year, fifty percent of the total taxes assessed
shall be collected;
(4) For the fourth year after the initial tax certification
and assessment year, seventy-five percent of the total taxes
assessed shall be collected;
(5) For the fifth year after the initial tax certification and assessment year, one hundred percent of the total taxes
assessed shall be collected.
(e) All certifications made by the secretary of state and
the state tax department under this section shall be made to the
respective county commissions no later than thirty days after the
receipt of a written request from the county commission for
appropriate certification under subdivision (c) hereof.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to provide for the
deferring of tax implementation and collections for both personal
and real property for new businesses.
This section is new; therefore, strike-throughs and
underscoring have been omitted.