hb2098 intr

H. B. 2098

(By Delegates Ellem, Azinger, Warner and Beane)

[Introduced January 10, 2003 ; referred to the

Committee on Roads and Transportation then Finance.]

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 exempting one motor vehicle owned by a volunteer fireman from personal property taxation.

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 may not be issued or furnished by the division of motor vehicles, or any other officer charged with the duty, unless the applicant for the certificate or registration plate, except in the case of one vehicle owned by a volunteer fireman as provided for under subsection (f) of this section or when an applicant is 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 any county which does not impose emergency ambulance fees or which chooses not to show emergency ambulance fees on the personal property tax receipt may issue a receipt without complying with paragraph (B), subdivision (1) of this subsection and the commissioner of motor vehicles may issue or renew registration without regard to such fees;

(2) (A) When an applicant has chosen the optional two-year registration system provided for in section sixteen of this article, 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) 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 the county shall 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.

(f) Upon the presentation of sufficient proof by an individual that he or she is a voluntary firefighter in this state, that individual is exempt from the payment of personal property taxes as provided for under section one, article five, chapter eleven of this code for one vehicle the individual owns. If an individual who is a volunteer firefighter owns more than one motor vehicle, the individual must designate the motor vehicle used to respond to fire calls as the one to be exempt from personal property taxation. The commissioner shall propose rules for legislative approval in accordance with the provisions of article three, chapter twenty-nine-a, to effectuate the provisions of this subsection.

NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to exempt one motor vehicle owned by a volunteer firefighter from personal property taxation.

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