COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE
FOR
H. B. 3074
(By Delegate Miley)
[Originating in the Committee on Government Organization]
(March 17, 2009)
A BILL to amend and reenact §11-6-23 of the Code of West Virginia,
1931, as amended, relating to notice of delinquent taxes by
certified mail.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That §11-6-23 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended,
be amended and reenacted to read as follows:
ARTICLE 6. ASSESSMENT OF PUBLIC SERVICE BUSINESSES.
§11-6-23. Lien of taxes; notice; collection by suit.
(a) The amount of taxes and levies assessed under this article
shall constitute a debt due the state, or county, district or
municipal corporation entitled thereto, and shall be a lien on all
of the property and assets of the taxpayer within the state.
(b) The lien shall attach as of December 31, following the
commencement of the assessment year, and shall be prior to all
other liens and charges.
(c) The auditor shall, between May 1 and May 15 of each year,
prepare a list of the taxpayers delinquent in the payment of such
the taxes and levies, setting forth their respective addresses and
the amount of state, county, district and municipal taxes due from each, which said list shall be certified by the Auditor to the
Board of Public Works and filed in the office of the Secretary of
State.
(d) The Secretary of State shall preserve the list in his or
her office, and a certificate from him or her that any taxpayer
mentioned in such the list is delinquent in the amount of taxes
assessed under this article shall be prima facie evidence thereof.
(e) Within ten days after the filing of such the list, the
Secretary of State shall give written notice of such the
delinquency by registered or certified mail to each of such the
delinquent taxpayers at his or her, or its, last known post-office
address; and upon the failure of any such delinquent taxpayer to
pay said the taxes within thirty days from the mailing of such the
notice.
(f) it shall be the duty of The Attorney General to shall
enforce the collection of such the taxes and levies, and for that
purpose he or she may distrain upon any personal property of such
the delinquent taxpayer, or a sufficient amount thereof to satisfy
said the taxes, including accrued interest, penalties and costs.
(g) The Attorney General may also enforce the lien created by
this section on the real estate of such the delinquent taxpayer by
instituting a suit, or suits, in equity in the Circuit Court of
Kanawha County. in the name of the state, in which such the
delinquent taxpayers shall be made defendants.
(h) In the bill filed in any such the suit it shall be
sufficient to allege that the defendant or defendants have failed
to pay the taxes hereunder and that each of them justly owes the
amount of property taxes, levies and penalties, stated therein, which amount shall be computed up to the first day of the month in
which the bill was filed.
(i) No such defendant shall may plead that the Secretary of
State failed to give notice as prescribed by this section.
(j) If, upon the hearing of such the suit, it shall appear to
the court that any defendant has failed to pay such the taxes and
accrued penalties, the court shall enter a decree against such the
defendant for the amount due, and if the decree be is not paid
within ten days, after made, the court shall enter a decree
directing a sale of the real estate subject to said the lien, or so
much thereof as may be necessary to satisfy said the taxes,
including interest, penalties and costs.
(k) When two or more taxpayers are included in one suit, the
court shall apportion the cost thereof among them as it may deem
just.