H. B. 4627
(By Delegates Faircloth, Doyle, Trump,
Mezzatesta, Douglas, Manuel and Staton)
[Introduced February 23, 2000; referred to the
Committee on Finance.]
A BILL to amend and reenact section nine, article three, chapter
eleven of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine
hundred thirty-one, as amended; to further amend said
article by adding thereto a new section, designated section
nine-a; and to amend article twenty-one of said chapter by
adding thereto a new section, designated section twenty-a,
all relating to exempting fifty percent of the assessed
value of one personal vehicle of each voluntary fire
department member or by each member of an emergency medical
services agency from personal property tax used for
voluntary fire department or emergency medical services
purposes; and providing for the chief of the fire department
and commissioner of the bureau of public health to furnish
the assessor with a list of members and mileage records; and
granting these members a credit against state personal
income tax.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That section nine, article three, chapter eleven of the code
of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as
amended, be amended and reenacted; that said article be further
amended by adding thereto a new section, designated section
nine-a; and that article twenty-one of said chapter be amended by
adding thereto a new section, designated section twenty-a, all to
read as follows:
ARTICLE 3. ASSESSMENTS GENERALLY.
§11-3-9. Property exempt from taxation.
(a) All property, real and personal, described in this
subsection, and to the extent herein limited, is exempt from
taxation:
(1) Property belonging to the United States, other than
property permitted by the United States to be taxed under state
law;
(2) Property belonging exclusively to the state;
(3) Property belonging exclusively to any county, district,
city, village or town in this state, and used for public
purposes;
(4) Property located in this state, belonging to any city,
town, village, county or any other political subdivision of
another state, and used for public purposes;
(5) Property used exclusively for divine worship;
(6) Parsonages and the household goods and furniture
pertaining thereto;
(7) Mortgages, bonds and other evidence of indebtedness in
the hands of bona fide owners and holders hereafter issued and
sold by churches and religious societies for the purposes of
securing money to be used in the erection of church buildings
used exclusively for divine worship, or for the purpose of paying
indebtedness thereon;
(8) Cemeteries;
(9) Property belonging to, or held in trust for, colleges,
seminaries, academies and free schools, if used for educational,
literary or scientific purposes, including books, apparatus,
annuities and furniture;
(10) Property belonging to, or held in trust for, colleges
or universities located in West Virginia, or any public or
private nonprofit foundation or corporation which receives
contributions exclusively for such college or university, if the
property or dividends, interest, rents or royalties derived
therefrom are used or devoted to educational purposes of such
college or university;
(11) Public and family libraries;
(12) Property used for charitable purposes, and not held or
leased out for profit;
(13) Property used for the public purposes of distributing water or natural gas, or providing sewer service by a duly
chartered nonprofit corporation when such property is not held,
leased out or used for profit;
(14) Property used for area economic development purposes by
nonprofit corporations when such property is not leased out for
profit;
(15) All real estate not exceeding one acre in extent, and
the buildings thereon, used exclusively by any college or
university society as a literary hall, or as a dormitory or
clubroom, if not used with a view to profit, including, but not
limited to, property owned by a fraternity or sorority
organization affiliated with a university or college, or property
owned by a nonprofit housing corporation or similar entity on
behalf of a fraternity or sorority organization affiliated with
a university or college, when the property is used as residential
accommodations, or as a dormitory for members of the
organization;
(16) All property belonging to benevolent associations, not
conducted for private profit;
(17) Property belonging to any public institution for the
education of the deaf dumb or blind, or any hospital not held or
leased out for profit;
(18) Houses of refuge and lunatic mental institutions or
orphan asylums childrens homes;
(19) Homes for children or for the aged, friendless or
infirm, not conducted for private profit;
(20) Fire engines and implements for extinguishing fires,
and property used exclusively for the safekeeping thereof, and
for the meeting of fire companies and one personal vehicle owned
by each voluntary fire department member and one personal vehicle
owned by each member of an emergency medical service agency used
for voluntary fire department or emergency medical service
purposes as provided in section nine-a of this article;
(21) All property on hand to be used in the subsistence of
livestock on hand at the commencement of the assessment year;
(22) Household goods to the value of two hundred dollars,
whether or not held or used for profit;
(23) Bank deposits and money;
(24) Household goods, which for purposes of this section
means only personal property and household goods commonly found
within the house and items used to care for the house and its
surrounding property, when not held or used for profit;
(25) Personal effects, which for purposes of this section
means only articles and items of personal property commonly worn
on or about the human body, or carried by a person and normally
thought to be associated with the person when not held or used
for profit;
(26) Dead victuals laid away for family use; and
(27) Any other property or security exempted by any other
provision of law.
(b) Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection (a) of this
section, no property is exempt from taxation which has been
purchased or procured for the purpose of evading taxation,
whether temporarily holding the same over the first day of the
assessment year or otherwise.
(c) Real property which is exempt from taxation by
subsection (a) of this section shall be entered upon the
assessor's books, together with the true and actual value
thereof, but no taxes may be levied upon the property or extended
upon the assessor's books.
(d) Notwithstanding any other provisions of this section,
this section does not exempt from taxation any property owned by,
or held in trust for, educational, literary, scientific,
religious or other charitable corporations or organizations,
including any public or private nonprofit foundation or
corporation existing for the support of any college or university
located in West Virginia, unless such property, or the dividends,
interest, rents or royalties derived therefrom, is used primarily
and immediately for the purposes of the corporations or
organizations.
(e) The tax commissioner shall, by issuance of rules,
provide each assessor with guidelines to ensure uniform assessment practices statewide to effect the intent of this
section.
(f) Inasmuch as there is litigation pending regarding
application of this section to property held by fraternities and
sororities, amendments to this section enacted in the year one
thousand nine hundred ninety-eight shall apply to all cases and
controversies pending on the date of such enactment.
§11-3-9a. Voluntary fire department member's and emergency
medical service personnel's tax exemption for
vehicle.
(a) Each member of a voluntary fire department in this state
who regularly responds to emergency calls and each member of any
emergency medical services agency in this state who regularly
responds to emergency calls, may exempt from personal property
tax fifty percent of the assessed value for one personal vehicle
that is regularly used to further the purposes of the fire
department or of the emergency medical services agency. Up to
ten percent of any increase in revenue that a county derives from
property reappraisal may be used to fund the exemption. If the
county incurs a decrease in revenue as a result of the
reappraisal, the exemption is optional. This exemption is not
available to members of a paid fire department.
(b) The chief of every volunteer fire department within this
state shall provide the assessor of each county with a list of all members of the chief's volunteer fire department. The list
shall be updated within thirty days of any change in the
membership of a voluntary fire department.
(c) The commissioner of the bureau of public health shall
provide the assessor of each county with a list of all members of
emergency medical service agencies in the state. The list shall
be updated within thirty days of any change in the membership of
an emergency medical service agency.
ARTICLE 21. PERSONAL INCOME TAX.
§11-21-20a. Credit for use of personal vehicle by member of
volunteer fire department or member of emergency
medical service agency.
A resident member of a voluntary fire department in this
state who regularly responds to emergency calls and the personnel
of any emergency medical service agency in this state who
regularly responds to emergency calls shall be allowed a credit
against the tax otherwise due under this article in the amount of
one hundred fifty dollars as the result of the use of one
personal vehicle that is regularly used to further the purposes
of the fire department or of the emergency medical services
agency for any income tax imposed for the taxable year and
subject to tax under this article.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to provide for each
volunteer fire department member and each member of an emergency
medical service agency an exemption of 50% of the assessed value
from personal property tax on one personal vehicle used for the
voluntary fire department or for emergency medical services. It
also grants these members a tax credit of $150.00.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken
from the present law, and underscoring indicates new language
that would be added.
§11-3-9a and §11-21-20a are new; therefore, strike-throughs
and underscoring have been omitted.