H. B. 2544


(By Delegate Angotti)

[Introduced February 26, 2001; referred to the

Committee on the Judiciary.]





A BILL to amend and reenact sections five and forty-five, article three, chapter eleven-a of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, relating to providing that when land is offered for sale for delinquent taxes and it is contiguous to lands owned by the state that the state has priority to acquire the land over private interests; and, defining the term "state."

Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:

That sections five and forty-five, article three, chapter eleven-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. COLLECTION AND ENFORCEMENT OF PROPERTY TAXES.

§11A-3-5. Sale by sheriff; immunity; penalty; mandamus.
(a) The tax lien on each unredeemed tract or lot, or each unredeemed part thereof or undivided interest therein shall be sold by the sheriff, in the same order as set forth in the list and notice prescribed in section two of this article, at public auction to the highest bidder, between the hours of nine in the morning and four in the afternoon on any business working day after the fourteenth day of October and before the twenty-third day of November: Provided, That no tax lien for such unredeemed tract or lot or undivided interest therein shall may be sold upon any bid or for any sum less than the total amount of taxes, interest and charges then due: Provided, however, That at any such the sale, the tax lien for each unredeemed tract or lot, or undivided interest therein, shall be offered for sale and sold for the entirety of such tract or lot or undivided interest therein as the same is described and constituted as a unit or entity in the list and notice prescribed in section two of this article: Provided further, That if the land is contiguous to land owned by the state as a state park or state forest the state shall have priority over others to purchase the land for an amount equal to the highest bid, or, if no other bid exists, upon the payment of an amount equal to the total amount of taxes, interest and charges then due. For the purposes of this section, "state" means an existing department, division, agency or instrumentality of state government that holds title to or is legally empowered to hold title to the state park or state forest. If the sale shall not be is not completed on the day designated in the notice for the holding of such the sale, it shall be continued from day to day between the same hours until disposition shall have been is made of all the land. The payment for any tax lien purchased at a sale shall be made by check or money order payable to the sheriff of the county and delivered before the close of business on the day of the sale.
(b) Each sheriff is immune from liability if a loss or claim results from the sale of a tax lien conducted pursuant to the provisions of this article or from any subsequent conveyance of the property to which the lien attaches: Provided, That where a sheriff fails or refuses to sell said the tax lien pursuant to the provisions of this article for reasons other than those provided by section seven of this article, the sheriff may be compelled by mandamus to sell the same lien upon the petition of the auditor or any taxpayer of the county in a court of competent jurisdiction.
§11A-3-45. Deputy commissioner to hold annual auction.
(a) Each tract or lot certified to the deputy commissioner pursuant to the preceding section shall be sold by the deputy commissioner at public auction at the courthouse of the county to the highest bidder between the hours of nine in the morning and four in the afternoon on any business working day within one hundred twenty days after the auditor has certified the lands to the deputy commissioner as required by the preceding section: Provided, That if the land is contiguous to land owned by the state as a state park or state forest the state shall have priority over others to purchase the land for an amount equal to the highest bid, or, if no other bid exists, upon the payment of an amount equal to the total amount of taxes, interest and charges then due. For the purposes of this section, "state" means an existing department, division, agency or instrumentality of state government that holds title to or is legally empowered to hold title to the state park or state forest. The payment for any tract or lot purchased at a sale shall be made by check or money order payable to the sheriff of the county and delivered before the close of business on the day of sale. No part or interest in any tract or lot subject to such sale, or any part thereof of interest therein, that is less than the entirety of such unredeemed tract, lot or interest, as the same is described and constituted as a unit or entity in said list, shall be offered for sale or sold at such sale. If the sale shall not be is not completed on the first day of the sale, it shall be continued from day to day between the same hours until all the land shall have been is offered for sale.
(b) A private, nonprofit, charitable corporation, incorporated in this state, which has been certified as a nonprofit corporation pursuant to the provisions of Section 501(c)(3) of the federal Internal Revenue Code, as amended, which has as its principal purpose the construction of housing or other public facilities and which notifies the deputy commissioner of an intention to bid and subsequently submits a bid that is not more than five percent lower than the highest bid submitted by any person or organization which is not a private, nonprofit, charitable corporation as defined in this subsection, shall be sold the property offered for sale by the deputy commissioner pursuant to the provisions of this section at the public auction as opposed to the highest bidder.
The nonprofit corporation referred to in this subsection does not include a business organized for profit, a labor union, a partisan political organization or an organization engaged in religious activities and it does not include any other group which does not have as its principal purpose the construction of housing or public facilities.



NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to provide that when land contiguous to a state park or state forest is sold for delinquent taxes that the state has first right to purchase the land. The bill gives the state the right pursuant to the sheriff's sale and to the later auction by the special commissioner of forfeited lands.

Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would be added.