H. B. 4601
(By Delegate Michael)
[Introduced February 16, 2006; referred to the
Committee on Finance.]
A BILL to
amend and reenact §11-6-26 of the Code of West Virginia,
1931, as amended, relating to increasing from one and
three-eights percent to two percent of the tax collected for
the special operating fund in order to allow the Tax
Commissioner to adequately defend assessments issued in
accordance with article six, chapter eleven of this code.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That §11-6-26 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended,
be amended and reenacted to read as follows:
ARTICLE 6. ASSESSMENT OF PUBLIC SERVICE BUSINESSES.
§11-6-26. Operating fund for Public Utilities Division in
Auditor's Office.
The Auditor shall establish a special operating fund in the
State Treasury for the Public Utilities Division in his or her
office. The Auditor shall pay into the fund one and three eighths percent of the gross receipts of all moneys collected as provided
for in this article: Provided, That effective the first day of
July, two thousand six, the Auditor shall pay into the fund two
percent of the gross receipts of all moneys collected as provided
in this article. Up to one percent of the gross receipts shall be
transferred from the operating fund to the Tax Loss Restoration
Fund created in section twenty-seven of this article. From the
operating fund, the Auditor shall reimburse the tax department of
tax and revenue for the actual operating expenses incurred in the
performance of its duties required by this article; the
reimbursement to the tax department from the fund shall not exceed
fifty percent of three eighths of one percent of the annual
deposits to the fund: Provided, That effective the first day of
July, two thousand six, the reimbursement to the tax department
from the fund shall not exceed fifty percent of one percent of the
annual deposits to the fund. Any moneys remaining in the special
operating fund after reimbursement to the tax department shall be
used by the Auditor for funding the operation of the Public
Utilities Division located in his or her office. On the
thirty-first day of July in each fiscal year, if the balance in the
operating fund exceeds one percent of gross revenues plus fifty
thousand dollars, the excess shall be withdrawn from the special
fund and deposited in the General Fund of the state.
NOTE: The
purpose of this bill is to increase the amount
transferred to the Special Operating Fund in the State Treasury for
the Auditor's Public Utilities Division and dedicate the increased
amount to pay for public utility litigation expenses.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from
the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would
be added.