Senate Bill No. 142
(By Senators Boley, Sprouse and Minear)
____________
[Introduced January 13, 2003; referred to the Committee on the
Judiciary; and then to the Committee on Finance.]
____________
A BILL to amend and reenact section nine, article one-c, chapter
eleven of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred
thirty-one, as amended, relating to changing the time for
periodic valuations and assessments of real and personal
property; and providing for a three-percent cap on any
increase in one year.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That section nine, article one-c, chapter eleven of the code
of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended,
be amended and reenacted to read as follows:
ARTICLE 1C. FAIR AND EQUITABLE PROPERTY VALUATION.
§11-1C-9. Periodic valuations.
(a) After completion of the initial valuation required under
section seven of this article, each assessor shall maintain current
values on the real and personal property within the county. In repeating three-year five-year cycles, every parcel of real
property shall be visited by a member of the assessor's staff who
has been trained pursuant to section six of this article to
determine if any changes have occurred which would affect the
valuation for the property. With this information and information
such as sales ratio studies provided by the tax commissioner, the
assessor shall make such adjustments as are necessary to maintain
accurate, current valuations of all the real and personal property
in the county and shall adjust the assessments accordingly.
(b) In any year the assessed value of a property or species of
property be is less than or exceed exceeds sixty percent of current
market value, the tax commissioner shall direct the assessor to
make the necessary adjustments: Provided, That any increases in
valuations may not result in more than a three percent increase in
assessment in any one year. If any assessor fails to comply with
the provisions of this section, the tax commissioner may, at the
county commission's expense, take reasonable steps to remedy the
assessment deficiencies.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to
change the time for
periodic valuations and assessments of real and personal property
from every three years to every five years and provide a three
percent cap on any increase in assessment in any one year.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from
the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would
be added.