A BILL to amend and reenact section one, article six, chapter eleven of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended; to further amend said article by adding thereto two new sections, designated sections seven-c and twenty-seven; and to amend article sixteen-b, chapter seventeen of said code by adding thereto a new section, designated section twenty-three, all relating to creating the West Virginia riverfront development fund; and imposing an ad valorem tax upon nonresident owners or operators of commercial vessels used on the navigable waterways of the state.

Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That

section one, article six, 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 two new sections, designated sections seven-c and twenty-seven; and that article sixteen-b, chapter seventeen of said code be amended by adding thereto a new section, designated section twenty-three, all to read as follows:
CHAPTER 11. TAXATION.
ARTICLE 6. ASSESSMENT OF PUBLIC SERVICE BUSINESSES.
§11-6-1. Returns of property to board of public works.
(a) On or before the first day of May in each year a return in writing shall be filed with the board of public works: (1) By the owner or operator of every railroad, wholly or in part, within this state; (2) by the owner or operator of every railroad bridge upon which a separate toll or fare is charged; (3) by the owner or operator of every car or line of cars used upon any railroad within the state for transportation or accommodation of freight or passengers, other than the owners or operators as may own or operate a railroad within the state; (4) by the owner or operator of every express company or express line, wholly or in part, within this state used for the transportation by steam or otherwise of freight and other articles of commerce; (5) by the owner or operator of every pipeline, wholly or in part, within this state used for the transportation of oil or gas or water, whether the oil or gas or water be owned by the owner or operator or not, or for the transmission of electrical or other power, or the transmission of steam or heat and power or of articles by pneumatic or other power; (6) by the owner or operator of every telegraph or telephone line, wholly or in part, within this state, except private lines not operated for compensation; (7) by the owner and operator of every gas company and electric lighting company furnishing gas or electricity for lighting, heating or power purposes; (8) by the owner or operator of hydroelectric companies for the generation and transmission of light, heat or power; (9) by the owner or operator of water companies furnishing or distributing water; (10) by the owner or operator of every nonresident commercial navigation company upon any navigable waterway within the state engaged in the transportation or accommodation of freight or passengers, or both, for compensation; and (10) (11) by the owner or operator of all other public service corporations or persons engaged in public service business whose property is located, wholly or in part, within this state.
(b) The words "owner or operator", as applied herein to railroad companies, shall include includes every railroad company incorporated by or under the laws of this state for the purpose of constructing and operating a railroad or of operating part of a railroad within this state, whether the railroad or any part of it be in operation or not; and shall also include includes every other railroad company, or persons or associations of persons, owning or operating a railroad or part of a railroad in this state on which freight or passengers, or both, are carried for compensation. The word "railroad", as used herein, includes every street, city, suburban or electric or other railroad or railway.
(c) The words "owner or operator", as applied herein to express companies, shall include includes every express company incorporated by or under the laws of this state, or doing business in this state, whether incorporated or not, and any person or association of persons owning or operating any express company or express line upon any railroad or otherwise, doing business partly or wholly within this state.
(d) The words "owner or operator", as applied to nonresident commercial navigation companies, includes every nonresident navigation company doing business in this state, whether incorporated or not, and any person or association of persons owning or operating any commercial navigation company, equipment, barges, tugs or vessels traversing any navigable waterway within this state and doing business wholly or partly within this state.
(d) (e) The return shall be signed and sworn to by the owner or operator if a natural person or, if the owner or operator shall be is a corporation, shall be signed and sworn to by its president, vice president, secretary or principal accounting officer.
(e) (f) The return required by this section of every owner or operator shall cover the year ending on the thirty-first day of December, next preceding, and shall be made on forms prescribed by the board of public works, which board is hereby invested with full power and authority and it is hereby made its duty to prescribe the forms as will require from any owner or operator herein mentioned which forms contain information as in the judgment of the board may be of use to it in determining the true and actual value of the properties of the owners or operators.

§11-6-7c. Same--Nonresident commercial navigation companies; ad valorem fees.

In the case of any commercial navigation vessels used for the transportation or accommodation of passengers or freight by owners or operators, the return shall show for every owner or operator: (1) The whole number of statute miles of waterway over which the commercial navigation company operates its vessels within this state; (2) if the navigation company operates partly within and partly without this state, the whole number of miles of waterway over which the company operates its vessels within this state and the whole number of miles traveled in other states; (3) the gross capital cost of the vessels to the company and the year the company acquired the vessels; and (4) any information as, in the judgment of the board of public works, may be of use to it in determining the true and actual value of the property to be assessed to the owner or operator. Ad valorem fees provided in this chapter shall be determined for nonresident commercial navigation vessels as follows: (A) The gross capital cost of all commercial vessels shall be multiplied by a percentage factor representing the remainder of each vessel's value after depreciation, according to a depreciation schedule established by the tax commissioner, which calculation shall yield the appraised value of the vessel and which calculation shall then be multiplied by sixty percent to yield the assessed value; and (B) the assessed value shall be multiplied by the apportioned percentage representing the miles traveled in this state to the total system miles traveled in the previous year to obtain the apportioned value, which value shall be multiplied by the applicable rate of tax. "Commercial navigation vessels" includes any equipment, barges, tugs or boats traversing any navigable waterways within this state.

§11-6-27. Dedication of tax.

(a) Not withstanding any provision of the code to the contrary, the state auditor shall deposit one percent of taxes collected under subsection ten, section one-a of this article from owners or operators of nonresident commercial navigation companies to the fund created in section twenty-six of this article. The state auditor shall then deposit the remaining amount, less the amount of allowable refunds, to the riverfront development fund created in section twenty-three, article sixteen-b, chapter seventeen of this code, to be appropriated by the Legislature for the purposes of the West Virginia public port authority authorized in that section.
(b) The state auditor is hereby granted authority to share any and all information obtained by the office in the implementation of this article with the tax commissioner and the public port authority to effectuate the collection of taxes and fees under this article. The public port authority is hereby authorized to share any and all information obtained by the public port authority in the implementation of this article with the tax commissioner and the state auditor to effectuate the collection of taxes and fees under this article. The tax commissioner is hereby authorized to share any and all information obtained by the department of tax and revenue in the implementation of this article with the state auditor and the public port authority to effectuate the collection of taxes and fees under this article.
(c) The proceeds of the tax collected pursuant to this article shall not be used for development, redevelopment, maintenance or construction of any airport.

Riverfront development fund; appropriations from fund.
There is hereby created a special fund in the state treasury which shall be designated and known as the "West Virginia riverfront development fund". The riverfront development fund shall consist of: (i) All funds collected and deposited by the state auditor pursuant to section twenty-seven, article six, chapter eleven of this code; (ii) any appropriations, grants, gifts, contributions or other revenues received by the riverfront development fund from any source; and (iii) all interest earned on moneys held in the fund. The riverfront development fund shall not be treated by the auditor and treasurer as part of the general revenues of the state. Riverfront development funds may only be used for riverfront development and related administrative expenses.

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(NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to tax commercial operations conducted on navigable waterways in the state by nonresident operators.

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

§§11-6-7c, 11-6-27 and 17-16B-23 are new; therefore, strike- throughs and underscoring have been omitted.)