COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE

FOR


Senate Bill No. 194

(By Senators McCabe, Yoder, Foster, Sharpe, Jenkins and

Barnes)

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[Originating in the Committee on the Judiciary;

reported March 15, 2005.]

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A BILL to amend the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, by adding thereto a new section, designated §11-15-4c; to amend and reenact §11-22-2 of said code; and to amend and reenact §31-18D-5, §31-18D-6, §31-18D-7 and §31-18D-9 of said code, all relating to the West Virginia Affordable Housing Trust Fund generally; imposing a fee of twenty dollars on the transfer of real property in addition to the excise tax imposed on real property transfers; imposing a fee of twenty dollars in addition to the consumers sales tax on sales of mobile homes; dedicating the revenues from the additional fees to the West Virginia Affordable Housing Trust Fund; authorizing expenditures for administrative and operating expenses; changing the composition of the Board of Directors of the West Virginia Affordable Housing Trust Fund by reducing the number of members appointed representing nonprofit organizations; adding additional members representing real estate and manufactured housing groups; reducing the number of votes necessary for Board action; providing that the West Virginia Housing Development Fund shall establish best practices for recipients of trust fund moneys; permitting trust fund moneys to be used for initial operational expenses of local governmental programs to reduce substandard housing or inappropriate land use patterns; and eliminating certain restrictions on application procedures for trust fund moneys.

Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, be amended by adding thereto a new section, designated §11-15-4c; that §11-22- 2 of said code be amended and reenacted; and that §31-18D-5, §31- 18D-6, §31-18D-7 and §31-18D-9 of said code be amended and reenacted, all to read as follows:
CHAPTER 11. TAXATION.

ARTICLE 15. CONSUMERS SALES AND SERVICE TAX.
§11-15-4c. Collection of fee in addition to the consumer sales tax for sales of mobile homes; deposit of additional fee in West Virginia Affordable Housing Development Trust Fund.

There is hereby imposed, in addition to sales tax imposed by the provisions of this article and article fifteen-b of this chapter, a fee of twenty dollars on all sales of mobile homes to be collected as provided therein and remitted to the Tax Commissioner to be deposited by the Commissioner into the West Virginia Affordable Housing Trust Fund as provided in article eighteen-d, chapter thirty-one of this code.
The moneys collected from this additional fee shall be segregated from other funds in the West Virginia Affordable Housing Trust Fund and shall be accounted for separately. Not more than ten percent of these additional moneys may be expended by the West Virginia Affordable Housing Trust Fund to defray administrative and operating costs and expenses actually incurred by the West Virginia Affordable Housing Trust Fund.
ARTICLE 22. EXCISE TAX ON PRIVILEGE OF TRANSFERRING REAL PROPERTY.

§11-22-2. Rate of tax; when and by whom payable; additional county tax; collection of additional fee for deposit in West Virginia Affordable Housing Development Trust Fund.

Every person who delivers, accepts or presents for recording any document, or in whose behalf any document is delivered, accepted or presented for recording, shall be subject to pay for and in respect to the transaction or any part thereof, a state excise tax upon the privilege of transferring title to real estate at the rate of one dollar and ten cents for each five hundred dollars' value or fraction thereof as represented by such document as defined in section one hereof, which state tax shall be payable at the time of delivery, acceptance or presenting for recording of such document. In addition to the state excise tax described above, there is hereby assessed a fee of twenty dollars upon the privilege of transferring real estate. The clerk of the county commission shall collect the additional twenty dollar fee before recording a transfer of title to real estate and shall deposit the moneys from the additional fees into the West Virginia Affordable Housing Trust Fund as provided in article eighteen-d, chapter thirty-one of this code. The moneys collected from this additional fee shall be segregated from other funds in the West Virginia Affordable Housing Trust Fund and shall be accounted for separately. Not more than ten percent of these additional moneys may be expended by the West Virginia Affordable Housing Trust Fund to defray administrative and operating costs and expenses actually incurred by the West Virginia Affordable Housing Trust Fund.
Effective January first, one thousand nine hundred sixty-eight and thereafter, there is hereby imposed an additional county excise tax for the privilege of transferring title to real estate at the rate of fifty-five cents for each five hundred dollars' value or fraction thereof as represented by such document as defined in section one hereof, which county tax shall be payable at the time of delivery, acceptance or presenting for recording of such document: Provided, That after the first day of July, one thousand nine hundred eighty-nine, the county may increase said excise tax to an amount equal to the state excise tax. The additional tax hereby imposed is declared to be a county tax and to be used for county purposes: Provided, however, That only one such state tax and one such county tax shall be paid on any one document and shall be collected in the county where the document is first admitted to record, and the same shall be paid by the grantor therein unless the grantee accepts the same without such tax having been paid, in which event such tax shall be paid by the grantee: Provided further, That on any transfer of real property from a trustee or a county clerk transferring real estate sold for taxes, such tax shall be paid by the grantee.
The county excise tax imposed under this section may not be increased in any county unless the increase is approved by a majority vote of the members of the county commission of such county. Any county commission intending to increase the excise tax imposed in its county shall publish a notice of its intention to increase such tax not less than thirty days nor more than sixty days prior to the meeting at which such increase will be considered, such notice to be published as a Class I legal advertisement in compliance with the provisions of article three, chapter fifty-nine of this code, and the publication area shall be the county in which such county commission is located.
CHAPTER 31. CORPORATIONS.

ARTICLE 18D. WEST VIRGINIA AFFORDABLE HOUSING TRUST FUND.
§31-18D-5. Housing trust fund board of directors.
(a) The Affordable Housing Trust Fund has a Board of Directors, which consists of eleven voting members. The members of the Board are responsible for administering the Trust Fund.
(b) The Trust Fund Board of Directors consists of:
(1) The Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Resources, ex officio, or his or her designee;
(2) The Executive Director of the West Virginia Development Office, ex officio, or his or her designee;
(3) The Executive Director of the West Virginia Housing Development Fund, ex officio, or his or her designee;
(4) One member who is chosen from the private directors appointed by the governor to the board of the West Virginia housing development fund representative of the manufactured housing sales industry;
(5) One member who is an officer of a corporation or member of a limited liability company, which is currently licensed to do business in West Virginia and is engaged in real estate development representative of the real estate development or real estate sales industry;
(6) Three members who are executive directors or officers of not-for-profit organizations, which are not affiliated with one another through common management control and which are One member who is an executive director or an officer of a local, community- based not-for-profit organization currently licensed to do business in West Virginia and which have been is recognized as exempt from federal income tax under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code, as amended, codified in 26 U.S.C. §501 (c) (3), and are organized and operated exclusively for charitable purposes within the meaning of that section, and in accordance with those purposes, provide housing assistance to low or moderate income citizens of this state;
(7) One member representative of the banking industry;
(8) One citizen member who is representative of the population served by the trust fund; and One member who is an officer or member of a municipality or county commission, or his or her designee;
(9) One member who is an executive director of a public housing authority operating in a county or municipality in this state.
(10) One member who is an executive director or officer of a statewide not-for-profit organization which has as one of its primary missions the provision of housing assistance to low and moderate income citizens of this state, currently licensed to do business in West Virginia and is exempt from federal income tax under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code, as amended, codified in 26 U.S.C. §501 (c) (3), and are organized and operated exclusively for charitable purposes within the meaning of that section; and
(11) One member representative of the homebuilding industry.
(c) Not more than three members, excluding the ex officio members, shall be appointed from any one congressional district. Not more than four of the members, excluding the ex officio members, may belong to the same political party. Except for initial appointments and midterm special appointments made to fill irregular vacancies on the board, members shall be appointed for terms of three years each. Initial appointments shall consist of three members whose terms expire after two years, three members whose terms expire after three years and two members whose terms expire after four years. Members are eligible for reappointment. However, no member may serve for more than two consecutive full terms. Except for midterm special appointments made to fill irregular vacancies on the board, appointment terms shall begin on the first day of July of the beginning year. All appointment terms, special and regular, end on the thirtieth day of June of the final year of the term.
(d) All members of the board except those who serve ex officio shall be appointed by the Governor, with the advice and consent of the Senate.
(e) The Governor may remove any appointed member in case of incompetency, neglect of duty, moral turpitude or malfeasance in office, and the Governor may declare the office vacant and fill the vacancy as provided in other cases of vacancy.
(f) The Governor shall designate one of the initial members as chairperson of the board. During or after the first meeting of the board the board may select a new chairperson and shall annually select its chairperson.
(g) The Board shall meet not less than four times during the fiscal year, and additional meetings may be held upon a call of the chairperson or of a majority of the members. Board members shall be reimbursed for sums necessary to carry out responsibilities of the Board and for reasonable travel expenses to attend board meetings. The ex officio members may not be reimbursed by the Fund for travel expenses to attend board meetings.
(h) Six members of the Board is a quorum. No vacancy in the membership of the Board impairs the right of a quorum to exercise all the rights and perform all the duties of the Board. No action may be taken by the board except upon the affirmative vote of at least six of the members. Action may be taken by the affirmative vote of a majority of members present at a properly noticed and legally convened meeting of the Board.
§31-18D-6. Powers and responsibilities of the board.
(a) It is the duty of the Board to manage and control the affordable housing trust fund. In order to carry out the day-to-day management and control of the trust fund and effectuate the purposes of this article, the Board may appoint an executive director and other staff. The Board shall fix the executive director's duties and compensation as well as that of other staff. The Executive Director and other staff serve at the will and pleasure of the Board. The Board may provide for staff payroll and employee benefits in the same manner as the West Virginia Housing Development Fund provides for its employees.
(b) The members of the Board and its officers are not liable personally, either jointly or severally, for any debt or obligation created by the Board.
(c) Members of the Board and its officers and employees shall be provided insurance coverage by the state's Risk and Insurance Management Board to the same extent and in the same manner the coverage is applicable to state government agencies and appointed state officials and employees. The Board may elect to obtain other forms of insurance coverage it considers reasonable for its operations.
(d) The acts of the Board are solely acts of its corporation and are not those of an agent of the state, nor is any debt or obligation of the Board a debt or obligation of the state.
(e) The Board shall:
(1) Develop and implement comprehensive policies and programs for the use of the Trust Fund that ensures the equitable distribution of moneys from the Trust Fund throughout the various geographic areas of this state and between urban and rural areas of this state;
(2) Develop and implement an application and selection system to identify housing sponsors or providers of affordable housing developments or programs that qualify to receive assistance from the Trust Fund for eligible activities;
(3) Provide funds for technical assistance to prospective applicants;
(4) Monitor services, developments, projects or programs receiving assistance from the Trust Fund to ensure that the developments are operated in a manner consistent with this article and in accordance with the representations made to the Trust Fund Board by the sponsors of the services, developments, projects or programs;
(5) Recommend legislation to further its mission of providing housing for low to moderate income citizens of this state;
(6) Provide funding to increase the capacity of nonprofit community housing organizations to serve their communities;
(7) Research and study housing needs and potential solutions to the substandard quality or lack of affordable housing;
(8) Coordinate programs with other entities when doing so fulfills its mission to provide housing to low to moderate income citizens of this state;
(9) Convene public meetings to gather information or receive public comments regarding housing policy or issues;
(10) Distribute available funds pursuant to policies established by it which may permit the establishment of a permanent endowment; and
(11) Serve as a clearing house for information regarding housing services and providers within this state.
(f) The West Virginia Housing Development Fund shall provide office space and staff support services for the Executive Director and the Board, shall act as fiscal agent for the board and, as such, shall provide accounting services for the Board, invest all funds as directed by the Board, service all investment and loan activities of the Board as requested, and shall make the disbursements of all funds as directed by the Board, and establish best practices for recipient organizations, for which the West Virginia Housing Development Fund shall be reasonably compensated, as determined by the Board.
§31-18D-7. Eligible activities; eligible organizations.
(a) The Board shall use the moneys from the Trust Fund to make, or participate in the making, of loans or grants for eligible activities that shall include, but not be limited to:
(1) Providing funds for new construction, rehabilitation, repair or acquisition of housing to assist low or moderate income citizens including land and land improvements;
(2) Providing matching funds for federal housing moneys requiring a local or state match;
(3) Providing funds for administrative costs for housing assistance programs or nonprofit organizations eligible for funding pursuant to subsection (b) of this section if the grants or loans provided will substantially increase the recipient's access to housing funds or increase its capacity to supply affordable housing;
(4) Providing loan guarantees and other financial mechanisms to facilitate the provision of housing products or services;
(5) Providing funds for down payments, closing costs, foreclosure prevention, home ownership counseling and security bonds which facilitate the construction, rehabilitation, repair or acquisition of housing by low to moderate income citizens; and
(6) Providing risk underwriting products not provided by private sector entities to facilitate broader accessibility of citizens to other federal or state housing funds or loan programs. The products shall be established using professional risk underwriting standards and separate corporate vehicles may be created and capitalized by the Trust Fund to provide the products; and
(7) Providing start-up funds for initial operational expenses of local government programs to reduce substandard housing or inappropriate land use patterns.
(b) Organizations eligible for funding from the Trust Fund include the following: (1) Local governments; (2) local government housing authorities; (3) nonprofit organizations recognized as exempt from federal income tax under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code, as amended, codified in 26 U.S.C. §501 (c) (3), and which are organized and operated exclusively for charitable purposes within the meaning of that section, and in accordance with those purposes provide assistance to low or moderate income citizens of this state; and (4) regional or statewide housing assistance organizations that have been recognized as exempt under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code, as amended, and which provide assistance to low and moderate income or low income citizens of this state.
§31-18D-9. Applications and selection criteria.
(a) The board shall announce by public notice at least two periods annually for prospective applicants to submit proposals, applications or requests for funding. Each period shall be for at least ninety days duration during each calendar year in which funds are available from the trust fund. The board shall approve or deny properly submitted and completed applications, proposals or requests within sixty days of their receipt.
(b) The board shall determine whether each person making an application, proposal or request for funding is an eligible entity and approve as many applications, proposals or requests as will effectively use the available moneys in the trust fund less costs required to administer the program. In selecting entities to receive trust fund assistance, the board shall develop a qualified allocation and selection plan as often as it considers appropriate in order to provide affordable housing and improve the capacity of nonprofit housing entities to supply affordable housing to low and moderate income citizens of this state. The allocation and selection plan for each period shall be available for review of prospective applicants and the general public in sufficient time for prospective applicants to reasonably prepare an application, project proposal or request for funding.
(c) (a) No moneys may be expended from the Trust Fund for projects that discriminate against any buyer or renter because of race, religion, sex, familial status or national origin.
(d) (b) The Board shall forward to the West Virginia Housing Development Fund for its review and information approved requests, applications and proposals for funding containing information as is necessary to permit the West Virginia Housing Development Fund to carry out its duties under this article.



NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to provide funding for the West Virginia Affordable Housing Trust Fund by imposing a transfer fee of twenty dollars on the transfer of all real property and an additional fee of twenty dollars on the sales of mobile homes. The bill requires that the moneys collected be deposited in the West Virginia Housing Development Fund. Under the bill, not more than ten percent of the moneys collected may be used for administrative expenses. The bill changes the composition of the board of directors of the West Virginia Affordable Housing Trust Fund by reducing the number of members appointed representing nonprofit organizations, removing the executive director of a public housing authority from membership on the board and adding additional members representing real estate and manufactured housing groups. The bill also reduces the number of votes necessary for board action, provides that the West Virginia Housing Development Fund shall establish best practices for recipients of trust fund moneys and it permits trust fund moneys to be used for initial operational expenses of local governmental programs to reduce substandard housing or inappropriate land use patterns.

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

§11-15-4c is new; therefore, strike-throughs and underscoring have been omitted.