Senate Bill No. 627

(By Senators Helmick and Minard)

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[Introduced February 17, 2006; referred to the Committee

on Finance.]

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A BILL to amend and reenact §38-10C-2 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, relating to tax liens; allowing facsimile signatures while eliminating the requirement for notarization of notices of tax liens and releases of tax liens when facsimile signatures are used; and making technical changes to the requirements of recordation and release of tax liens.

Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That §38-10C-2 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, be amended and reenacted to read as follows:
ARTICLE 10C. STATE AND LOCAL TAX LIENS.
§38-10C-2. Notices of liens of state, political subdivisions and municipalities to be filed; indexes; release.

It shall be the duty of the State Tax Commissioner, or the proper officers of the political subdivisions of the state for such subdivisions and of the proper officers of the municipalities for the municipalities, having such liens, to file a written notice thereof in the office of the clerk of the county court commission of the county in which the property of the taxpayer against whom such lien is claimed, is situate, certifying stating in said notice what amount of money is owing to the State of West Virginia, the political subdivision thereof or the municipality therein, on account of said lien from the taxpayer owing the same; and the clerk of the county court commission of such county shall, upon the filing of such notice, index the same in the judgment or tax lien docket in his or her office as a tax lien against the said taxpayer in favor of the State of West Virginia, the political subdivision thereof or the municipality therein. Upon the satisfaction of such lien, a properly acknowledged release thereof for recordation shall be signed and delivered to the taxpayer by the proper officer. The signature of the Tax Commissioner or the Tax Commissioner's designee on the notice and on the release may be either a properly acknowledged manual signature, or a facsimile signature authenticated pursuant to the filing of an affidavit and a manual signature with the Secretary of State in the manner specified in section two, article fourteen, chapter six of this code. The facsimile signature shall have the same legal effect as the manual signature.
All acts or parts of acts inconsistent or in conflict herewith are hereby repealed.

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(NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to allow facsimile signatures and to eliminate the requirement for notarization of notices of tax liens and releases of tax liens when facsimile signatures are used.

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


On page one, section two, line twenty-two, by striking out the words "shall be" and inserting in lieu thereof the word "is";
On page one, section two, line twenty-two, by striking out the word "State";
On page one, section two, line twenty-three, by striking out the word "such" and inserting in lieu thereof the words "its";
On page two, section two, line one, by striking out the word "such";
On page two, section two, line four, by striking out the word "such" and inserting in lieu thereof the word "the";
On page two, section two, line four, by striking out the word "said" and inserting in lieu thereof the word "the";
On page two, section two, line seven, by striking out the word "said" and inserting in lieu thereof the word "the";
On page two, section two, line eight, by striking out the word "such" and inserting in lieu thereof the word "the";
On page two, section two, line nine, by striking out the word "such";
On page two, section two, line ten, by striking out the word "said";
And,
On page two, section two, line twelve, by striking out the word "such" and inserting in lieu thereof the word "the";