Senate Bill No. 506
(By Senators Harrison, Sprouse, Rowe, McCabe, Weeks, Guills,
Smith, Unger, Hunter, Minear, Ross, Sharpe, Minard, Fanning,
White, Bowman, Chafin, Jenkins and Love)
____________
[Introduced February 12, 2003; referred to the Committee on
Finance.]
____________
A BILL to amend and reenact sections two, three, four, ten and
twelve, article six-b, chapter eleven of the code of West
Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended,
all relating to providing the homestead property tax exemption
for all homeowners, regardless of age or disability;
continuing criminal penalties; and providing an effective
date.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That sections two, three, four, ten and twelve, article six-b,
chapter eleven of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine
hundred thirty-one, as amended, be amended and reenacted, all to
read as follows:
ARTICLE 6B. HOMESTEAD PROPERTY TAX EXEMPTION.
§11-6B-2. Definitions.
For purposes of this article, the term:
(1) "Assessed value" means the value of property as determined
under article three of this chapter.
(2) "Claimant" means a person who is age sixty-five or older
or who is certified as being permanently and totally disabled, and
who owns a homestead that is used and occupied by the owner thereof
of the homestead exclusively for residential purposes.
(3) "Homestead" means a single family residential house,
including a mobile or manufactured or modular home, and the land
surrounding such the structure; or a mobile or manufactured or
modular home regardless of whether the land upon which such the
mobile or manufactured or modular home is situated is owned or
leased.
(4) "Owner" means the person who is possessed of the
homestead, whether in fee or for life. A person seized or entitled
in fee subject to a mortgage or deed of trust shall be deemed is
the owner. A person who has an equitable estate of freehold, or is
a purchaser of a freehold estate who is in possession before
transfer of legal title shall also be deemed is also the owner.
Personal property mortgaged or pledged shall is, for the purpose of
taxation, be deemed the property of the party in possession.
(5) "Permanently and totally disabled" means a person who is
unable to engage in any substantial gainful activity by reason of
any medically determinable physical or mental condition which can
be expected to result in death or which has lasted or can be expected to last for a continuous period of not less than twelve
months.
(6) "Sixty-five years of age or older" includes a person who
attains the age of sixty-five on or before the thirtieth day of
June following the July first assessment day.
(7) "Used and occupied exclusively for residential purposes"
means that the property is used as an abode, dwelling or habitat
for more than six consecutive months of the calendar year prior to
the date of application by the owner; thereof and that the property
is used only as an abode, dwelling or habitat to the exclusion of
any commercial use: Provided, That failure to satisfy this
six-month period shall does not prevent allowance of a homestead
exemption to a former resident in accordance with section three of
this article.
(8) "Tax year" means the calendar year following the July
first assessment day.
(9) "Resident of this state" means an individual who is
domiciled in this state for more than six months of the calendar
year.
§11-6B-3. Twenty thousand dollar homestead exemption allowed.
(a) General. -- Subject to the provisions of subsection (b) of
this section, an exemption from ad valorem property taxes shall be
is allowed for the first twenty thousand dollars of assessed value
of a homestead that is used and occupied by the owner thereof of the homestead exclusively for residential purposes, when such owner
is sixty-five years of age or older or is certified as being
permanently and totally disabled provided if the owner has been or
will be a resident of the state of West Virginia for the two
consecutive calendar years preceding the tax year to which the
homestead exemption relates: Provided, That an owner who receives
a similar exemption for a homestead in another state is ineligible
for the exemption provided by this section. The owner's
application for exemption shall be accompanied by a sworn affidavit
stating that such the owner is not receiving a similar exemption in
another state: Provided, however, That when a resident of West
Virginia establishes residency in another state or country and
subsequently returns and reestablishes residency in West Virginia
within a period of five years, such the resident may be allowed a
homestead exemption without satisfying the requirement of two years
consecutive residency if such the person was a resident of this
state for two calendar years out of the ten calendar years
immediately preceding the tax year for which the homestead
exemption is sought. Proof of residency includes, but is not
limited to, the owner's voter's registration card issued in this
state or a motor vehicle registration card issued in this state.
Additionally, when a person is a resident of this state at the time
such the person enters upon active duty in the military service of
this country and throughout such the service maintains this state as his or her state of residence, and upon retirement from the
military service, or earlier separation due to a permanent and
total physical or mental disability, such the person returns to
this state and purchases a homestead, such the person is deemed to
satisfy satisfies the residency test required by this section and
shall be is allowed a homestead exemption under this section if
such the person is otherwise eligible for a homestead exemption
under this article; and the tax commissioner may specify, by
regulation promulgated under rule proposed for legislative approval
in accordance with the provisions of article three, chapter
twenty-nine-a of this code, what constitutes acceptable proof of
these facts. Only one exemption shall be is allowed for each
homestead used and occupied exclusively for residential purposes by
the owner thereof of the homestead, regardless of the number of
qualified owners residing therein in the homestead. This
exemption, as it applies to homesteads occupied by a qualified
owner who is less than sixty-five years of age or older or is not
permanently and totally disabled, is applicable subject to the
following:
(1) To homesteads in any county in which the property is
appraised at its value, in accordance with section one-b, article
ten of the West Virginia constitution; and
(2) For the tax year two thousand four and each tax year
thereafter, the exemption is allowed upon the first twenty thousand dollars of assessed value of the homestead.
(b) Attachment of exemption. -- This exemption shall attach
attaches to the homestead occupied by the qualified owner on the
July first assessment date and shall be is applicable to taxes for
the following tax year. An exemption shall may not be transferred
to another homestead until the following July first. If the
homestead of an owner qualified under this article is transferred
by deed, will or otherwise, the twenty thousand dollar exemption
shall be is removed from the property on the next July first
assessment date unless the new owner qualifies for the exemption.
(c) Construction. -- The residency requirement specified in
subsection (a) is enacted pursuant to the Legislature's authority
to prescribe by general law requirements, limitations and
conditions for the homestead exemption, as set forth in section
one-b, article ten of the constitution of this state. Should the
supreme court of appeals or a federal court of competent
jurisdiction determine that this residency requirement violates
federal law in a decision that becomes final, this section shall
then be construed and applied, beginning with the July first
assessment day immediately following the date the decision became
final, as if the residency requirement had not been enacted,
thereby preserving the availability of the homestead exemption and
the fiscal integrity of local government levying bodies.
§11-6B-4. Claim for exemption; renewals; waiver of exemption.
(a) General. No exemption shall be is allowed under this
article unless a claim of exemption is filed with the assessor of
the county in which the homestead is located, on or before the
first day of October following the July first assessment day. In
the case of sickness, absence or other disability of the claimant,
the claim may be filed by the claimant or his the claimant's duly
authorized agent.
(b) Claims for disability exemption. --Each claim for
exemption based on the owner being permanently and totally disabled
shall include one of the following forms of documentation in
support of said claim: (1) A written certification by a doctor of
medicine or doctor of osteopathy licensed to practice their
particular profession in this state that the claimant is
permanently and totally disabled; (2) a written certification by
the social security administration that the claimant is currently
receiving benefits for permanent and total disability; (3) a copy
of the letter from the social security administration originally
awarding benefits to the claimant for permanent and total
disability and a copy of a current check for such benefits, marked
void; (4) a current social security health insurance (medicare)
card in the name of the claimant and a copy of a current check to
the claimant, marked void, for benefits from the social security
administration for permanent and total disability; (5) a written
certification signed by the veterans administration certifying that a person is totally and permanently disabled; (6) any lawfully
recognized workers' compensation documentation certifying that a
person is totally and permanently disabled; (7) any lawfully
recognized pneumoconiosis documentation certifying that a person is
totally and permanently disabled; or (8) any other lawfully
recognized documentation certifying that a person is totally and
permanently disabled.
(c) Renewals.
(1) Senior citizens. If the claimant is age sixty-five or
older, then after the claimant has filed for the exemption once
with his assessor, there shall be no need for that
(b) A claimant is not required to refile unless the claimant
moves to a new homestead.
(2) Disabled. - If the claimant is permanently and totally
disabled, then after the claimant has filed for the exemption once
with his assessor, and signed a statement certifying that he will
notify the assessor if he is no longer eligible for an exemption on
the basis of being permanently and totally disabled and that the
claimant will notify the assessor within thirty days of the
discontinuance of the receipt of benefits for permanent and total
disability, if the claimant originally claimed receipt of said
benefits to document his claim for exemption, there shall be no
need for that claimant to refile, unless the claimant moves to a
new homestead.
(3) Waiver of exemption. (c) Any person not filing his or her
claim for exemption on or before the first day of October shall be
determined to have has waived his or her right to exemption for the
next tax year.
§11-6B-10. Criminal penalties; restitution.
(a) False or fraudulent claim for exemption. -- Any claimant
who willfully files a fraudulent claim for exemption, and any
person who knowingly assisted in the preparation or filing of such
the fraudulent claim for exemption or who knowingly supplied
information upon which the fraudulent claim was prepared or
allowed, shall be is guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction
thereof, shall be fined not less than fifty nor more than one
hundred and fifty dollars, or imprisoned in the county or regional
jail for not more than six months, or both fined and imprisoned.
(b) Fraudulent assessments. -- (1) An assessor or employee of
a county who, with intent to defraud the state, assesses the value
of the eligible claimant's homestead for an amount which is in
excess of its true and actual value or is in excess of the assessed
value of similar property in his the county, in order to increase
the cost of the homestead exemption to his the county and to
thereby secure a larger reimbursement from the state, shall be is
guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction thereof, shall be
fined not less than one hundred dollars nor more than five hundred
dollars, or imprisoned in the county or regional jail for not more than one year, or both fined and imprisoned. Each violation of
this subsection shall constitute is a separate offense.
(2) An assessor or employee of a county who, with intent to
defraud a claimant, assesses the value of the eligible claimant's
homestead for an amount which is in excess of its true and actual
value or is in excess of the assessed value of similar property in
his the county, shall be is guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon
conviction thereof, shall be fined not less than one hundred
dollars nor more than five hundred dollars, or imprisoned in the
county or regional jail for not more than one year, or both fined
and imprisoned. Each violation of this subsection shall constitute
is a separate offense.
(c) Failure to notify assessor. -- A claimant or his or her
legal representative, who, prior to the next first day of July,
fails to notify the assessor of the county wherein where property
subject to the homestead property tax exemption is located, that
title to that property or a portion thereof of the property was
transferred by deed, grant, sale, gift, will or by the laws of this
state regulating descent and distribution or that the property is
no longer used and occupied for residential purposes exclusively by
the claimant or that the claimant is no longer permanently and
totally disabled shall be is guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon
conviction thereof, shall be fined not more than one thousand
dollars or imprisoned confined in a county or regional jail for not more than one year, or both fined and imprisoned.
(d) In addition to the criminal penalties provided above in
this section, upon conviction of any of the above offenses, the
court shall order that the defendant make restitution unto to the
state for all taxes not paid due to an improper exemption for the
claimant and interest thereon on the taxes at the legal rate until
paid.
§11-6B-12. Effective date.
(a) The provisions of this article enacted in the year one
thousand nine hundred eighty-one took effect on the first day of
July, one thousand nine hundred eighty-one.
(b) Amendments to this article enacted in the year one
thousand nine hundred ninety ninety-nine shall, regardless of the
effective date of this act, be used to determine the assessed value
of property on which ad valorem property taxes are levied for tax
years beginning on or after the first day of January, one two
thousand. nine hundred ninety. Assessors and county commissioners
are hereby authorized and directed to review the claims for
homestead exemption for the current tax year filed in their
counties prior to the second day of October, one thousand nine
hundred eighty-nine, and to make such changes in their books for
the current tax year as may be needed to give these amendments
their intended effect, regardless of any other provision in this
chapter that may prohibit such action. Any person who has already paid property taxes for tax year one thousand nine hundred ninety,
and who is considered eligible for homestead exemption under this
article, may apply pursuant to section twenty-seven, article three
of this chapter for a refund for property taxes erroneously paid.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to provide the $20,000
homestead property tax exemption for all homeowners, regardless of
age or disability.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from
the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would
be added.