H. B. 3114
(By Delegates Armstead, Walters and Webb)
[Introduced March 30, 2001; 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 three-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.