H. B. 4366

(By Delegates Manuel, C. White, Armstead, Spencer, Pethtel, Webb and Pino)


(Originating in the Committee on the Judiciary)



[February 1, 2002]


A BILL to amend and reenact section sixteen, article five, chapter seven of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended; and to amend and reenact section twenty-six, article three, chapter eleven-a of said code, all relating to the preparation, publication and disposition of financial statements by the county commission of each county under section sixteen, article five, chapter seven and to the certificates of redemption and reports to be issued by the clerk of the county commission under section twenty-six, article three, chapter eleven-a, when delinquent property taxes are redeemed.

Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That section sixteen, article five, chapter seven of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, be amended and reenacted; and that section twenty-six, article three, chapter eleven-a of said code be amended and reenacted, all to read as follows:
CHAPTER 7. COUNTY COMMISSIONS GENERALLY.

ARTICLE 5. FISCAL AFFAIRS
§7-5-16. Preparation, publication and disposition of financial statements.
(a) The county commission of every county, within sixty ninety days after the first session held after the beginning of each fiscal year, shall prepare on a form to be prescribed by the state tax commissioner, and cause to be published a statement revealing: (1) The receipts and expenditures of the county during the previous fiscal year arranged under descriptive headings; (2) the name of each firm, corporation, and person who received more than fifty dollars from any fund during the previous fiscal year, together with the amount received and the purpose for which paid; and (3) all debts of the county, the purpose for which each debt was contracted, its due date, and to what date the interest thereon has been paid. The statement shall be published as a Class I-0 legal advertisement in compliance with the provisions of article three, chapter fifty-nine of this code, and the publication area for such publication shall be the county: Provided, That all salaries, receipts and expenditures to all county employees by office or department may be published in the aggregate.
(b) The county commission shall transmit to any resident of the county requesting the same a copy of the published statement for the fiscal year designated, supplemented by a list of the names of each firm, corporation and person who received less than fifty dollars from any fund during such fiscal year showing the amount paid to each, the purpose for which paid and an itemization of the salaries, receipts and expenditures to all county employees by office or department otherwise published in the aggregate.
(c) If a county commission willfully fails or refuses to perform the duties hereinbefore named, every member of the commission, concurring in such failure or refusal, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and, upon conviction thereof, shall be fined not less than fifty nor more than one hundred dollars; and the prosecuting attorney of any county shall, when the failure or refusal shall come to his knowledge, immediately present the evidence thereof to the grand jury if in session, and if not in session, he shall institute proper criminal proceedings before a magistrate against any offender, and cause the failure or refusal to be investigated by the next succeeding grand jury.
(d) Where in subsections (a) and (b), salaries, receipts and expenditures are published in the aggregate, the county commission shall, upon written request, provide to any resident of the county an itemized accounting of such salaries, receipts and expenditures.
CHAPTER 11A. COLLECTION AND ENFORCEMENT OF PROPERTY TAXES.

ARTICLE 3. SALE OF TAX LIENS AND NONENTERED, ESCHEATED AND WASTE AND UNAPPROPRIATED LANDS.
§11A-3-26. Certificate of redemption issued by clerk; recordation; disposition of redemption money.

(a) Upon payment of the sum necessary to redeem, the clerk shall execute a certificate of redemption in duplicate, which certificate shall specify the real estate redeemed, or the part thereof or the interest therein, as the case may be, together with any changes in respect thereto which were made in the landbook and in the record of delinquent lands; shall specify the year or years for which payment was made; and shall state that it is a receipt for the money paid and a release of the tax lien on the real estate redeemed. The original certificate shall be retained in the files in the clerk's office and one copy shall be delivered to the person redeeming. The clerk shall make any necessary changes in his record of delinquent lands and shall note the fact of redemption on such record, and shall record the certificate in a separate volume provided for the purpose.
The fee for issuing the certificate of redemption shall be twenty-five dollars.
(b) All certificates of redemption issued by the clerk in each year shall be numbered consecutively and shall be filed by the clerk in numerical order. Reference to the year and number of the certificate shall be included in the notation of redemption required herein. No fee shall be charged by the clerk for any recordation, filing or notation required by this section.
(c) In April of each year, the clerk shall prepare and certify to the auditor a list of all redemptions which have not been included in any other lists.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would be added.