H. B.2966
(By Delegates Armstead and Harrison)
[Introduced February 26, 1999; referred to the
Committee on Finance.]
A BILL to amend and reenact sections two, three, four, ten and
twelve, article six-b, chapter eleven of the code of West
Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended,
all relating to providing the homestead property tax
exemption for all homeowners, regardless of age or
disability; continuing criminal penalties; and providing an
effective date.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That sections two, three, four, ten and twelve, article
six-b, chapter eleven of the code of West Virginia, one thousand
nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, be amended and reenacted,
all to read as follows:
ARTICLE 6B. HOMESTEAD PROPERTY TAX EXEMPTION.
§11-6B-2. Definitions.
For purposes of this article, the term:
(1) "Assessed value" means the value of property as
determined under article three of this chapter.
(2) "Claimant" means a person who is age sixty-five or older
or who is certified as being permanently and totally disabled,
and who owns a homestead that is used and occupied by the owner
thereof of the homestead exclusively for residential purposes.
(3) "Homestead" means a single family residential house,
including a mobile or manufactured or modular home, and the land
surrounding such the structure; or a mobile or manufactured or
modular home regardless of whether the land upon which such the
mobile or manufactured or modular home is situated is owned or
leased.
(4) "Owner" means the person who is possessed of the
homestead, whether in fee or for life. A person seized or
entitled in fee subject to a mortgage or deed of trust shall be
deemed is the owner. A person who has an equitable estate of
freehold, or is a purchaser of a freehold estate who is in
possession before transfer of legal title shall also be deemed is
also the owner. Personal property mortgaged or pledged shall is,
for the purpose of taxation, be deemed the property of the party
in possession.
(5) "Permanently and totally disabled" means a person who is
unable to engage in any substantial gainful activity by reason of
any medically determinable physical or mental condition which can
be expected to result in death or which has lasted or can be expected to last for a continuous period of not less than twelve
months.
(6) "Sixty-five years of age or older" includes a person who
attains the age of sixty-five on or before the thirtieth day of
June following the July first assessment day.
(7) (5) "Used and occupied exclusively for residential
purposes" means that the property is used as an abode, dwelling
or habitat for more than six consecutive months of the calendar
year prior to the date of application by the owner; thereof and
that the property is used only as an abode, dwelling or habitat
to the exclusion of any commercial use: Provided, That failure
to satisfy this six-month period shall does not prevent allowance
of a homestead exemption to a former resident in accordance with
section three of this article.
(8) (6) "Tax year" means the calendar year following the
July first assessment day.
(9) (7) "Resident of this state" means an individual who is
domiciled in this state for more than six months of the calendar
year.
§11-6B-3. Twenty thousand dollar homestead exemption allowed.
(a) General. -- An exemption from ad valorem property taxes
shall be is allowed for the first twenty thousand dollars of
assessed value of a homestead that is used and occupied by the
owner thereof of the homestead exclusively for residential purposes, when such owner is sixty-five years of age or older or
is certified as being permanently and totally disabled provided
if the owner has been or will be a resident of the state of West
Virginia for the two consecutive calendar years preceding the tax
year to which the homestead exemption relates: Provided, That an
owner who receives a similar exemption for a homestead in another
state is ineligible for the exemption provided by this section.
The owner's application for exemption shall be accompanied by a
sworn affidavit stating that such the owner is not receiving a
similar exemption in another state: Provided, however, That when
a resident of West Virginia establishes residency in another
state or country and subsequently returns and reestablishes
residency in West Virginia within a period of five years, such
the resident may be allowed a homestead exemption without
satisfying the requirement of two years consecutive residency if
such the person was a resident of this state for two calendar
years out of the ten calendar years immediately preceding the tax
year for which the homestead exemption is sought. Proof of
residency includes, but is not limited to, the owner's voter's
registration card issued in this state or a motor vehicle
registration card issued in this state. Additionally, when a
person is a resident of this state at the time such the person
enters upon active duty in the military service of this country
and throughout such the service maintains this state as his or her state of residence, and upon retirement from the military
service, or earlier separation due to a permanent and total
physical or mental disability, such the person returns to this
state and purchases a homestead, such the person is deemed to
satisfy satisfies the residency test required by this section and
shall be is allowed a homestead exemption under this section if
such the person is otherwise eligible for a homestead exemption
under this article; and the tax commissioner may specify, by
regulation promulgated under rule proposed for legislative
approval in accordance with the provisions of article three,
chapter twenty-nine-a of this code, what constitutes acceptable
proof of these facts. Only one exemption shall be is allowed for
each homestead used and occupied exclusively for residential
purposes by the owner thereof of the homestead, regardless of the
number of qualified owners residing therein in the homestead.
(b) Attachment of exemption. -- This exemption shall attach
attaches to the homestead occupied by the qualified owner on the
July first assessment date and shall be is applicable to taxes
for the following tax year. An exemption shall may not be
transferred to another homestead until the following July first.
If the homestead of an owner qualified under this article is
transferred by deed, will or otherwise, the twenty thousand
dollar exemption shall be is removed from the property on the
next July first assessment date unless the new owner qualifies for the exemption.
(c) Construction. -- The residency requirement specified in
subsection (a) is enacted pursuant to the Legislature's authority
to prescribe by general law requirements, limitations and
conditions for the homestead exemption, as set forth in section
one-b, article ten of the constitution of this state. Should the
supreme court of appeals or a federal court of competent
jurisdiction determine that this residency requirement violates
federal law in a decision that becomes final, this section shall
then be construed and applied, beginning with the July first
assessment day immediately following the date the decision became
final, as if the residency requirement had not been enacted,
thereby preserving the availability of the homestead exemption
and the fiscal integrity of local government levying bodies.
§11-6B-4. Claim for exemption; renewals; waiver of exemption.
(a) General. No exemption shall be is allowed under this
article unless a claim of exemption is filed with the assessor of
the county in which the homestead is located, on or before the
first day of October following the July first assessment day. In
the case of sickness, absence or other disability of the
claimant, the claim may be filed by the claimant or his the
claimant's duly authorized agent.
(b) Claims for disability exemption. -- Each claim for
exemption based on the owner being permanently and totally disabled shall include one of the following forms of
documentation in support of said claim: (1) A written
certification by a doctor of medicine or doctor of osteopathy
licensed to practice their particular profession in this state
that the claimant is permanently and totally disabled; (2) a
written certification by the social security administration that
the claimant is currently receiving benefits for permanent and
total disability; (3) a copy of the letter from the social
security administration originally awarding benefits to the
claimant for permanent and total disability and a copy of a
current check for such benefits, marked void; (4) a current
social security health insurance (medicare) card in the name of
the claimant and a copy of a current check to the claimant,
marked void, for benefits from the social security administration
for permanent and total disability; (5) a written certification
signed by the veterans administration certifying that a person is
totally and permanently disabled; (6) any lawfully recognized
workers' compensation documentation certifying that a person is
totally and permanently disabled; (7) any lawfully recognized
pneumoconiosis documentation certifying that a person is totally
and permanently disabled; or (8) any other lawfully recognized
documentation certifying that a person is totally and permanently
disabled.
(c) Renewals.
(1) Senior citizens. If the claimant is age sixty-five or
older, then after the claimant has filed for the exemption once
with his assessor, there shall be no need for that
(b) A claimant is not required to refile unless the claimant
moves to a new homestead.
(2) Disabled. -- If the claimant is permanently and totally
disabled, then after the claimant has filed for the exemption
once with his assessor, and signed a statement certifying that he
will notify the assessor if he is no longer eligible for an
exemption on the basis of being permanently and totally disabled
and that the claimant will notify the assessor within thirty days
of the discontinuance of the receipt of benefits for permanent
and total disability, if the claimant originally claimed receipt
of said benefits to document his claim for exemption, there shall
be no need for that claimant to refile, unless the claimant moves
to a new homestead.
(3) Waiver of exemption. (c) Any person not filing his or
her claim for exemption on or before the first day of October
shall be determined to have has waived his or her right to
exemption for the next tax year.
§11-6B-10. Criminal penalties; restitution.
(a) False or fraudulent claim for exemption. -- Any claimant
who willfully files a fraudulent claim for exemption, and any
person who knowingly assisted in the preparation or filing of such the fraudulent claim for exemption or who knowingly supplied
information upon which the fraudulent claim was prepared or
allowed, shall be is guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction
thereof, shall be fined not less than fifty nor more than one
hundred and fifty dollars, or imprisoned in the county or
regional jail for not more than six months, or both fined and
imprisoned confined.
(b) Fraudulent assessments. -- (1) An assessor or employee
of a county who, with intent to defraud the state, assesses the
value of the eligible claimant's homestead for an amount which is
in excess of its true and actual value or is in excess of the
assessed value of similar property in his the county, in order to
increase the cost of the homestead exemption to his the county
and to thereby secure a larger reimbursement from the state,
shall be is guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction thereof,
shall be fined not less than one hundred dollars nor more than
five hundred dollars, or imprisoned in the county or regional
jail for not more than one year, or both fined and imprisoned
confined. Each violation of this subsection shall constitute is
a separate offense.
(2) An assessor or employee of a county who, with intent to
defraud a claimant, assesses the value of the eligible claimant's
homestead for an amount which is in excess of its true and actual
value or is in excess of the assessed value of similar property in his the county, shall be is guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon
conviction thereof, shall be fined not less than one hundred
dollars nor more than five hundred dollars, or imprisoned in the
county or regional jail for not more than one year, or both fined
and imprisoned confined. Each violation of this subsection shall
constitute is a separate offense.
(c) Failure to notify assessor. -- A claimant or his or her
legal representative, who, prior to the next first day of July,
fails to notify the assessor of the county wherein where property
subject to the homestead property tax exemption is located, that
title to that property or a portion thereof of the property was
transferred by deed, grant, sale, gift, will or by the laws of
this state regulating descent and distribution or that the
property is no longer used and occupied for residential purposes
exclusively by the claimant or that the claimant is no longer
permanently and totally disabled shall be is guilty of a
misdemeanor, and, upon conviction thereof, shall be fined not
more than one thousand dollars or imprisoned confined in a county
or regional jail for not more than one year, or both.
(d) In addition to the criminal penalties provided above in
this section, upon conviction of any of the above offenses, the
court shall order that the defendant make restitution unto to the
state for all taxes not paid due to an improper exemption for the
claimant and interest thereon on the taxes at the legal rate until paid.
§11-6B-12. Effective date.
(a) The provisions of this article enacted in the year one
thousand nine hundred eighty-one took effect on the first day of
July, one thousand nine hundred eighty-one.
(b) Amendments to this article enacted in the year one
thousand nine hundred ninety ninety-nine shall, regardless of the
effective date of this act, be used to determine the assessed
value of property on which ad valorem property taxes are levied
for tax years beginning on or after the first day of January, one
two thousand. nine hundred ninety. Assessors and county
commissioners are hereby authorized and directed to review the
claims for homestead exemption for the current tax year filed in
their counties prior to the second day of October, one thousand
nine hundred eighty-nine, and to make such changes in their books
for the current tax year as may be needed to give these
amendments their intended effect, regardless of any other
provision in this chapter that may prohibit such action. Any
person who has already paid property taxes for tax year one
thousand nine hundred ninety, and who is considered eligible for
homestead exemption under this article, may apply pursuant to
section twenty-seven, article three of this chapter for a refund
for property taxes erroneously paid.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to provide the $20,000
homestead property tax exemption for all homeowners, regardless
of age or disability.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken
from the present law, and underscoring indicates new language
that would be added.