H. B. 3059


(By Delegates Duke, Manuel, Doyle,

Hall, Trump, Blair and Faircloth)


[Introduced February 19, 2003; referred to the

Committee on Education then Finance.]




A BILL to amend and reenact section eleven, article nine-a, chapter eighteen of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, relating to school funding for growth counties; providing that when counties have net enrollment increases for students K through 12 and the net increases are not fully funded, then the chargeback in local share is reduced to offset the amount that the state board underfunded the counties' allocations for net enrollment increases.

Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That section eleven, article nine-a, chapter eighteen of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, be amended and reenacted to read as follows:
ARTICLE 9A. PUBLIC SCHOOL SUPPORT.

§18-9A-11. Computation of local share; appraisal and assessment of property.
(a) For the fiscal year beginning on the first day of July, one thousand nine hundred ninety-three, and thereafter, on the basis of each county's certificates of valuation as to all classes of property as determined and published by the assessors pursuant to section six, article three, chapter eleven of this code for the next ensuing fiscal year in reliance upon the assessed values annually developed by each county assessor pursuant to the provisions of articles one-c and three, chapter eleven of this code, the state board shall for each county compute by application of the levies for general current expense purposes, as defined in section two of this article, the amount of revenue which such levies would produce if levied upon one hundred percent of the assessed value of each of the several classes of property contained in the report or revised report of such value, made to it by the tax commissioner as follows:
(1) The state board shall first take ninety-five percent of the amount ascertained by applying these rates to the total assessed public utility valuation in each classification of property in the county.
(2) The state board shall then apply these rates to the assessed taxable value of other property in each classification in the county as determined by the tax commissioner and shall deduct therefrom five percent as an allowance for the usual losses in collections due to discounts, exonerations, delinquencies and the like. All of the amount so determined shall be added to the ninety-five percent of public utility taxes computed as provided above, and this total shall be further reduced by the amount due each county assessor's office pursuant to the provisions of section eight, article one-c, chapter eleven of this code, and this amount shall be the local share of the particular county.
As to any estimations or preliminary computations of local share that may be required prior to the report to the Legislature by the tax commissioner, the state board of education shall use the most recent projections or estimations that may be available from the tax department for such purpose.
(b) Whenever in any year a county assessor or a county commission shall fail or refuse to comply with the provisions of this section in setting the valuations of property for assessment purposes in any class or classes of property in the county, the state tax commissioner shall review the valuations for assessment purposes made by the county assessor and the county commission and shall direct the county assessor and the county commission to make such corrections in the valuations as may be necessary so that they shall comply with the requirements of chapter eleven of this code and this section, and the tax commissioner shall enter the county and fix the assessments at the required ratios. Refusal of the assessor or the county commission to make such corrections shall constitute ground for removal from office.
(c) For the purposes of any computation made in accordance with the provisions of this section, in any taxing unit in which tax increment financing is in effect pursuant to the provisions of article eleven-b, chapter seven of this code, the assessed value of a related private project shall be the base assessed value as defined in section two of said article.
 (d) When counties have net enrollment increases for students and the net increases are not fully funded by foundation allowances during a fiscal year, then the chargeback in local share shall be reduced to offset the amount that the foundation allowance program failed to provide funding for in relation to the counties' allocations for net enrollment increases.



NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to provide that when counties have net enrollment increases for students K through 12 and the net increases are not fully funded, then the chargeback in local share is reduced to offset the amount that the state board underfunded the counties' allocations for net enrollment increases.

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