Senate Bill No. 395
(By Senators Unger and Snyder)
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[Introduced March 5, 2001; referred to the Committee on
Transportation.]
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A BILL to amend and reenact section three-a, article three, chapter
seventeen-a of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine
hundred thirty-one, as amended, relating to authorizing
counties to require proof of payment of any applicable
emergency ambulance fees owed prior to the issuance of a
certificate of registration and renewal of registration for a
motor vehicle.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That section three-a, article three, chapter seventeen-a of
the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as
amended, be amended and reenacted to read as follows:
ARTICLE 3. ORIGINAL AND RENEWAL OF REGISTRATION; ISSUANCE OF CERTIFICATES OF TITLE.
§17A-3-3a. Payment of personal property taxes and emergency
ambulance fees prerequisite to registration or renewal; duties
of assessors; schedule of automobile values.
(a) Certificates of registration and renewal of registration
of any vehicle or registration plates for any vehicle shall may not
be issued or furnished by the division of motor vehicles, or any
other officer charged with such the duty, unless the applicant for
the certificate or registration plate, except an applicant exempt
from payment of registration fees under section eight, article ten
of this chapter, has furnished the receipt provided for in this
section to show full payment of either:
(1)(A) The personal property taxes for the calendar year which
immediately precedes the calendar year in which application is made
on all vehicles which were registered with the division of motor
vehicles in the applicant's name on the tax day for the former
calendar year; and
(B) All emergency ambulance fees owed pursuant to section
seventeen, article fifteen, chapter seven of this code, at the time
the receipt is prepared, except for any of the fees that are not
yet past due: Provided, That requirement of receipt showing payment pursuant to paragraph (B), subdivision (1) of this
subsection may be waived by the county commission; or Provided,
That after the first day of July, one thousand nine hundred
ninety-seven, a certificate or registration plate shall not be
issued to
(2)(A) When an applicant who has chosen the optional two-year
registration system provided for in section sixteen of this
article, unless the applicant has provided the receipts provided
for in this section to show full payment of the personal property
taxes for the two calendar years immediately preceding the calendar
year in which application is made on all vehicles which were
registered with the division of motor vehicles in the applicant's
name on the tax day for the former calendar year; and
(B) All emergency ambulance fees owed pursuant to section
seventeen, article fifteen, chapter seven of this code, at the time
the receipt is prepared, except for any of the fees that are not
yet past due: Provided, That requirement of receipt showing
payment pursuant to paragraph (B), subdivision (2) of this
subsection may be waived by the county commission.
(b) If the applicant contends that any registered vehicle was
not subject to personal property taxation for that year or that he or she does not owe any emergency ambulance fees if a receipt for
fees are required by the county, he or she shall furnish the
information and evidence as the commissioner of motor vehicles may
require to substantiate his or her contention.
(c) The assessor shall require any person having a duty to
make a return of property for taxation to him or her to furnish
information identifying each vehicle subject to the registration
provisions of this chapter. When the property taxes on any vehicle
have been paid, the officer to whom the payment was made shall
deliver to the person paying the taxes a written or printed receipt
for the payment and shall retain for his or her records a duplicate
of the receipt. It is the duty of the assessor and sheriff,
respectively, to see that the assessment records and the receipts
contain information adequately identifying the vehicle as
registered under the provisions of this chapter. The officer
receiving payment shall sign each receipt in his or her own
handwriting.
(d) Each receipt given to a taxpayer for payment of personal
property taxes on a vehicle may indicate on the receipt whether the
taxpayer has paid all emergency ambulance fees owed pursuant to
section seventeen, article fifteen, chapter seven of this code at the time the receipt is prepared, except for any of the fees that
are not yet past due: Provided, That each county may include on
the same notice of personal property taxes due the additional
amount due for all emergency ambulance fees.
(e) The state tax commissioner shall annually compile a
schedule of automobile values, based on the lowest values shown in
a nationally accepted used car guide. The state tax commissioner
shall furnish the schedule to each assessor and it shall be used by
him or her as a guide in placing the assessed values on all
automobiles in his or her county.
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NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to authorize counties to
require proof of payment of any applicable emergency ambulance fees
owed prior to the issuance of a certificate of registration and
renewal of registration for a motor vehicle.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from
the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would
be added.