Senate Bill No. 765
(By Senators Unger, Plymale, Jenkins, Barnes, D. Facemire,
Fanning, Stollings and White)
____________
[Originating in the Committee on Transportation and
Infrastructure; reported March 27, 2009.]
_____________
A BILL to amend and reenact §11-24-43a of the Code of West
Virginia, 1931, as amended; and to amend and reenact §17-16B-
7a of said code, all relating to eliminating certain
provisions on the expiration date for requiring the deposit of
moneys in the Special Railroad and Intermodal Enhancement
Fund; eliminating the limit on the total amount to be
deposited into the fund for the year 2016; and relating to
expanding and clarifying the purposes of the Special Railroad
and Intermodal Enhancement Fund to include expending funds for
commuter railways and related structures and to conduct
studies and to develop plans for railways and intermodal
facilities.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That §11-24-43a of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, be amended and reenacted; and that §17-16B-7a of said code be
amended and reenacted, all to read as follows:
CHAPTER 11. TAXATION.
ARTICLE 24. CORPORATION NET INCOME TAX.
§11-24-43a. Dedication of tax proceeds to railways.
(a) Beginning January 1, 2008, there is hereby dedicated an
annual amount of up to $4,300,000 from annual collections of the tax
imposed by this article for the purpose of construction,
reconstruction, maintenance and repair of railways, the construction
of railway-related structures and payment of principal and interest
on state bonds issued for railway purposes, as approved by the West
Virginia Public Port Authority.
(b) For purposes of administering the deposits required by this
subdivision, after December 31, 2007, from the taxes imposed by this
section and paid to the Tax Commissioner in each quarter of the
year, after deducting the amount of any refunds lawfully paid and
any administrative costs authorized by this code, the Tax
Commissioner shall pay into the Special Railroad and Intermodal
Enhancement Fund provided for in section seven-a, article sixteen-b,
chapter seventeen of this code an amount equal to at least
$1,075,000. In any quarter where the collections are less than the
amount required to be paid into the Special Railroad and Intermodal
Enhancement Fund, or where the total amount paid in any year will
be less than $4,300,000, the difference shall be paid from amounts available from collections in succeeding quarters until paid in
full.
Notwithstanding any provision of this section to the
contrary, the total amount to be deposited into the Special Railroad
and Intermodal Enhancement Fund for the year two thousand sixteen
shall not exceed two million one hundred fifty thousand dollars.
(c) Notwithstanding any provision of this section to the
contrary, all provisions of this section relating to requiring the
deposit of moneys in the Special Railroad and Intermodal Enhancement
Fund shall expire at the end of June 30, two thousand sixteen.
CHAPTER 17. ROADS AND HIGHWAYS.
ARTICLE 16B. PUBLIC PORT AUTHORITY.
§17-16B-7a. Special Railroad and Intermodal Enhancement Fund;
purposes.
There is hereby established in the State Treasury a Special
Railroad and Intermodal Enhancement Fund, which shall consist of all
amounts deposited into the fund pursuant to section forty-three-a,
article twenty-four, chapter eleven of this code. The Special
Railroad and Intermodal Fund shall be administered by the West
Virginia Public Port Authority. The money deposited in the fund
shall be used only for the purpose of construction, reconstruction,
maintenance and repair of railways,
including commuter railways, the
construction of railway-related structures,
including commuter
railway-related structures, conducting studies and developing plans
for railways, including commuter railways, and for intermodal facilities and payment of principal and interest on state bonds
issued for railway purposes, as approved by the West Virginia Public
Port Authority.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to eliminate the provision
expiring provisions relating to requiring the deposit of moneys in
the Special Railroad and Intermodal Enhancement Fund; and eliminate
the $2,150,000 limit on the total amount to be deposited into the
fund for the year 2016. The bill finally expands and clarifies the
purposes for which moneys from the Special Railroad and Intermodal
Enhancement Fund may be expended to include commuter railways and
related structures and to conduct studies and to develop plans for
railwys and intermodal facilities.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from
the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would
be added.