H. B. 2931
(By Mr. Speaker, Mr. Kiss (By Request))
[Introduced March 8, 2005; referred to the
Committee on the Judiciary then Finance.]
A BILL to amend and reenact §11-3-24a and §11-3-25 of the Code of
West Virginia 1931, as amended; and to amend and reenact
§11-10A-8 of said code, all relating to providing for any
review of the State Tax Commissioner's ruling on a question of
classification or taxability (not valuation) of real property
for ad valorem property tax purposes to be by the Office of
Tax Appeals, not by the various circuit courts, with any
subsequent appeal directly to the Supreme Court of Appeals.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That §11-3-24a and §11-3-25 of the Code of West Virginia,
1931, as amended, be amended and reenacted; and that §11-10A-8 of
said code be amended and reenacted, all to read as follows:
ARTICLE 3. PROPERTY TAX ASSESSMENTS GENERALLY.
§11-3-24a. Protest to assessor regarding classification or
taxability of real or personal property; appeal to office of tax appeals; appeal therefrom directly
to Supreme Court of Appeals.
At any time after property is returned for taxation and up to
and including the time the property books are before the county
court commission for equalization and review, any taxpayer may
apply to the assessor for information regarding the classification
and or taxability of his or her property. In case the taxpayer is
dissatisfied with the classification of property assessed to him or
her or believes that such property is exempt or otherwise not
subject to taxation, he the taxpayer shall file his or her
objections in writing with the assessor. The assessor shall decide
the question by either sustaining the protest and making proper
corrections, or by stating, in writing if requested, the reasons
for his or her the assessor's refusal. The assessor may, and if
the taxpayer requests, the assessor shall, certify the question to
the State Tax Commissioner in a statement sworn to by both parties,
or if the parties are unable to agree, in separate sworn
statements, giving a full description of the property and any other
information which the Tax Commissioner may require. The Tax
Commissioner shall prescribe forms on which the aforesaid questions
shall be certified and he or she shall have the authority to pursue
any inquiry and procure any information which may be necessary for
the disposition of the issue.
The Tax Commissioner shall, as soon as possible on receipt of the question, but in no case later than February the twenty-eighth
day of February of the assessment year, instruct the assessor as to
how the property shall be treated. The instructions issued and
forwarded by mail to the assessor shall be binding upon him the
assessor, but either the assessor or the taxpayer may apply to the
circuit court of the county timely file a petition with the West
Virginia office of Tax Appeals under the provisions of article
ten-a, chapter eleven of this code, within sixty days after
receiving written notice of the Tax Commissioner's ruling, for the
review on the existing record of the question of classification and
or taxability. in the same fashion as is provided for appeals from
the county court in section twenty-five of this article The Tax
Commissioner shall prescribe forms on which the aforesaid questions
shall be certified and he or she shall have the authority to pursue
any inquiry and procure any information which may be necessary for
the disposition of the issue. Any final decision or order of the
West Virginia Office of Tax Appeals disposing of a question of
classification or taxability of real or personal property shall be
prepared, certified and filed in the same manner set forth in
section twenty-five, article three, chapter eleven of this code,
for orders of circuit courts upon review of questions of valuation
of real or personal property. An aggrieved party may timely file
an appeal with the Supreme Court of appeals from a final decision
or order of the West Virginia Office of Tax Appeals on the question of classification or taxability of the property for property tax
purposes, in accordance with the provisions of article ten-a,
chapter eleven of this code.
§11-3-25. Relief in circuit court against erroneous assessment
based upon alleged error in valuation.
Any person claiming to be aggrieved by any assessment in any
land or personal property book of any county who shall have
appeared and contested the valuation or whose assessment has been
raised by the county court commission above the assessment fixed by
the assessor, or who contested the classification or taxability of
his property may, at any time up to thirty days after the
adjournment of the county court commission, apply for relief to the
circuit court of the county in which such books are made out; but
he any such person applying for relief in circuit court shall,
before any such application is heard, give ten days' notice to the
prosecuting attorney of the county, whose duty it shall be to
attend to the interests of the state, county and district in the
matter, and the prosecuting attorney shall give at least five days'
notice of such hearing to the Tax Commissioner. The right of
appeal from any assessment by the county court commission, as
hereinbefore provided, may be taken either by the applicant or by
the state, and in case the applicant, by his or her agent or
attorney, or the state, by its prosecuting attorney or Tax
Commissioner, desires to take an appeal from the decision of the county court commission, the party desiring to take such an appeal
shall have the evidence taken at the hearing of the application
before the county court commission. If there was an appearance by
or on behalf of the owner of before the county court commission, or
if actual notice, certified by such court commission, was given to
the owner, the appeal, when allowed by the court or judge, in
vacation, shall be determined from the evidence so certified. If,
however, there was no actual notice to such owner, and no
appearance by or on behalf of the owner before the county court
commission, or if a question of classification or taxability is
presented, the matter shall be heard de novo by the circuit court.
If, upon the hearing of such appeal, it is determined that any
property has been valued at more than its true and actual value, or
illegally classified or assessed, the circuit court shall, by an
order entered of record, correct the assessment, and fix the
property at its true and actual value. A copy of such order or
orders entered by the circuit court reducing the valuation shall be
certified to the Auditor, if the order or orders pertain to real
property, by the clerk within twenty days after the entering of the
same, and every order or judgment shall show that the prosecuting
attorney or Tax Commissioner was present and defended the interest
of the state, county and district. If it be ascertained that any
property has been valued too high, and that the owner has paid the
excess tax, it shall be refunded to him or her, and if not paid he or she shall be relieved from the payment thereof. If it is
ascertained that any property is valued too low the circuit court
shall, by an order entered of record, correct the valuation and fix
it at its true and actual value. A copy of any order entered by
any circuit court increasing the valuation of property shall be
certified within twenty days, if the order pertains to real
property, to the Auditor, the county clerk and the sheriff;
however, if the order pertains only to personal property, then the
copy shall be certified within twenty days to the county clerk and
to the sheriff and it shall be the duty of the Auditor, the county
clerk and the sheriff to charge the taxpayer affected with the
increase of valuation by applying the rate of levies for every
purpose in the district where such property is situated for the
current year. The order shall also be filed in the office of the
Auditor and clerk of the county court commission. Any order
disposing of a question of classification or taxability shall be
similarly prepared, certified and filed, and the increase or
decrease of taxes resulting shall be treated as provided above for
changes in valuation. The state or the aggrieved taxpayer may
appeal a question of valuation to the Supreme Court of Appeals, if
the assessed value of the property is fifty thousand dollars or
more. and either party may appeal a question of classification or
taxability
ARTICLE 10A. WEST VIRGINIA OFFICE OF TAX APPEALS.
§11-10A-8. Jurisdiction of office of tax appeals.
The Office of Tax Appeals has exclusive and original
jurisdiction to hear and to determine all:
(1) Appeals from tax assessments issued by the Tax
Commissioner pursuant to article ten of this chapter;
(2) Appeals from decisions or orders of the Tax Commissioner
denying refunds or credits for all taxes administered in accordance
with the provisions of article ten of this chapter;
(3) Appeals from orders of the Tax Commissioner denying,
suspending, revoking, or refusing to renew any license or imposing
any civil money penalty for violating the provisions of any
licensing law administered by the Tax Commissioner;
(4) Questions presented when a hearing is requested pursuant
to the provisions of any article of this chapter which is
administered by the provisions of article ten of this chapter;
(5) Matters which the Tax Division is required by statute or
legislatively approved rules to hear, except employee grievances
filed pursuant to article six-a, chapter twenty-nine of this code;
and
(6) Other matters which may be conferred on the office of tax
appeals by statute or legislatively approved rules; and
(7) Appeals by a county assessor or by a taxpayer from rulings
of the Tax Commissioner with respect to classification or
taxability of real or personal property for ad valorem property tax purposes, as set forth in section twenty-four-a, article three,
chapter eleven of this code.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to provide for any review of
the State Tax Commissioner's ruling on a question of classification
or taxability (not valuation) of real or personal property for ad
valorem property tax purposes to be by the Office of Tax Appeals,
not by the various circuit courts, with any subsequent appeal
directly to the Supreme Court of Appeals.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from
the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would
be added.