Senate Bill No. 341
(By Senator Stollings)
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[Introduced January 29, 2007; referred to the Committee on
Finance.]
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A BILL to amend and reenact §11-1A-11 of the Code of West Virginia,
1931, as amended, relating to exempting owners, with the
exception of corporations or partnerships, of one hundred
acres or less of contiguously connected real property from
valuation and assessment as natural resources property;
defining "small property owner"; and extending the exemption
for an owner or owners of two or more tracts of contiguously
connected real property of one hundred acres or less.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That §11-1A-11 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended,
be amended and reenacted to read as follows:
ARTICLE 1A. APPRAISAL OF PROPERTY FOR PERIODIC STATEWIDE
REAPPRAISALS.
§11-1A-11. Valuation of certain classes or species of property;
reserve coal properties; oil producing properties;
gas producing properties; timberland; active mining
mineral interest; commercial real property and industrial land; commercial and industrial
furniture, fixtures, machinery and equipment;
intangible personal property; public utility
property; vehicles, watercraft and aircraft.
(a) On or before the first day of September, one thousand nine
hundred eighty-three, the Tax Commissioner shall propose a
legislative rule for submission to the Legislature pursuant to the
provisions of article three, chapter twenty-nine-a of this code,
which rule shall describe in detail the methods whereby the Tax
Commissioner will determine the market value, during the first
statewide reappraisal, of the following property:
(1) Active and reserve coal properties;
(2) Oil producing properties;
(3) Gas producing properties;
(4) Timberland;
(5) Active mining mineral interests including limestone,
fireclay, dolomite, sandstone and other actively mined minerals;
(6) Commercial real property and industrial land;
(7) Commercial and industrial furniture, fixtures, machinery
and equipment;
(8) Intangible personal property, including stock, accounts
receivable and stocks in banks and capital of savings and loan
associations;
(9) Public utility property; and
(10) Vehicles, watercraft and aircraft.
(b) Notwithstanding any provision of this code to the contrary, small property owners are exempt from natural resources
property valuation and assessment under the provisions of this
article: Provided, That for the purposes of this exemption "small
property owner" means an individual owner or joint individual
owners, excluding any corporate entity or partnership, of one
hundred acres or less of contiguously connected real property:
Provided, however, That this exemption shall extend to separate
contiguously connected tracts of real property owned by the same
individual or individuals of one hundred acres or less.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to exempt owners, other
than corporations or partnerships, of one hundred acres or less of
contiguously connected real property from valuation and assessment
as natural resources property. Toward this end, the bill defines
"small property owner" as an owner of one hundred or less acres of
real property that is not a corporate entity or partnership.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from
the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would
be added.