H. B. 2978
(By Delegates Armstead, Webb and Harrison)
[Introduced February 26, 1999; referred to the
Committee on the Judiciary then Finance.]
A BILL to amend and reenact section nine, article one-c, chapter
eleven of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine
hundred thirty-one, as amended, relating to periodic
valuations of real property and placement of that property
on the county land books.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That section nine, article one-c, 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 1C. FAIR AND EQUITABLE PROPERTY VALUATION.
§11-1C-9. Periodic valuations.
(a) After completion of the initial valuation required under
section seven of this article, each assessor shall maintain
current values on the real and personal property within the
county. In repeating three-year cycles, every parcel of real property shall be visited by a member of the assessor's staff who
has been trained pursuant to section six of this article to
determine if any changes have occurred which would affect the
valuation for the property. With this information and
information such as sales ratio studies provided by the tax
commissioner, the assessor shall make such adjustments as are
necessary to maintain accurate, current valuations of all the
real and personal property in the county and shall adjust the
assessments accordingly.
(b) In any year the assessed value of a property or species
of property be less than or exceed sixty percent of current
market value, the tax commissioner shall direct the assessor to
make the necessary adjustments. If any assessor fails to comply
with the provisions of this section, the tax commissioner may, at
the county commission's expense, take reasonable steps to remedy
the assessment deficiencies.
(c) Notwithstanding any provision of this article or chapter
to the contrary, the assessor may not include any real property
on the land books of the county during the period of valuation in
a three-year cycle, until all of the real property in the county
has been valued.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to require county
assessors to complete the 3 year evaluation of all real property
in the county before placing the new values on the land books.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken
from the present law, and underscoring indicates new language
that would be added.