Senate Bill No. 498
(By Senator Unger)
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[Introduced February 4, 2002; referred to the Committee
on Agriculture; and then to the Committee on Finance.]
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A BILL to amend and reenact section eighty-one, article
twenty-four, chapter eight of the code of West Virginia, one
thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended; and to further
amend said article by adding thereto a new section, designated
section eighty-five, all relating to the funding of farmland
protection programs; and requiring an additional tax on the
privilege of transferring title to real estate for funding of
farmland protection programs.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That section eighty-one, article twenty-four, chapter eight of
the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as
amended, be amended and reenacted; and that said article be further
amended by adding thereto a new section, designated section
eighty-five, all to read as follows:
ARTICLE 24. PLANNING AND ZONING.
§8-24-81. Funding of farmland protection programs.
(a) Creation of fund. -- A county commission may use any funds
not specifically limited to other uses to fund and support a
farmland protection program and, once having created a county
farmland protection board, shall authorize the board to create and
maintain a farmland protection fund and hire staff as it considers
appropriate. County funds.
(1) Creation of county funds. -- A county commission shall
authorize the county farmland protection board to create and
maintain a farmland protection fund and hire staff as it considers
appropriate.
(2) Sources. -- A county farmland protection fund is comprised
of:
(A) Any moneys not specifically limited to other uses and
dedicated to the fund by a county commission; and
(B) Any moneys collected pursuant to section eighty-five of
this article.
(b) State fund.
(b) (1) Created and continued. -- The West Virginia farmland
protection fund is created for the purposes specified in this
article.
(c) (2) Sources. -- The West Virginia farmland protection fund
is comprised of:
(1) (A) Any money made available to the fund by general or
special fund appropriations;
(2) (B) Any money made available to the fund by grants or transfers from governmental or private sources;
(3) (C) Any money realized by investments, interest, dividends
or distributions; and
(4) (D) Any money appropriated by the Legislature for the West
Virginia farmland protection fund.
(d) (3) Disbursements. -- The treasurer may not disburse any
money from the fund other than:
(1) (A) For costs associated with the staffing, administration
and technical and legal duties of the authority;
(2) (B) For reasonable expenses incurred by the members of the
board of trustees of the authority in the performance of official
duties; and
(3) (C) For consideration in the purchase of farmland
conservation and preservation easements.
(e) (4) Money remaining at end of fiscal year. -- Any money
remaining in the fund at the end of a fiscal year shall not revert
to the general revenue fund of the state, but shall remain in the
West Virginia farmland protection fund to be used for the purposes
specified in this chapter.
(f) (5) Budget. -- The estimated budget of the authority for
the next fiscal year shall be included with the budget of the West
Virginia department of agriculture.
(g) (6) Audit. -- The fund shall be audited annually.
§8-24-85. Tax on privilege of transferring real property.
(a) Notwithstanding the provisions of section two, article twenty-two, chapter eleven, and effective the first day of January,
two thousand three, and thereafter, in addition to the tax imposed
pursuant to article twenty-two, chapter eleven of this code, any
county that has adopted and implemented a farmland protection
program may impose an additional county excise tax for the
privilege of transferring title to real estate at the rate of one
dollar and ten cents for each five hundred dollars' value or
fraction thereof as represented by a document as defined in section
one, article twenty-two, chapter eleven of this code, payable at
the time of delivery, acceptance or presenting for recording of the
document.
(b) The tax imposed pursuant to this section is to be
administered and collected as the tax on the privilege of
transferring title to real estate imposed pursuant to the
provisions of article twenty-two, chapter eleven of this code.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to assess an additional
transfer tax to fund county farmland protection programs.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from
the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would
be added.
§8-24-85 is new; therefore, strike-throughs and underscoring
have been omitted.