COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE
FOR
Senate Bill No. 105
(By Senator White)
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[Originating in the Committee on the Judiciary;
reported February 16, 2010.]
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A BILL to amend and reenact §11-1A-17 of the Code of West Virginia,
1931, as amended, relating to making permanent reassessments
by county commissions finding that no marketable coal exists
remain in full force and effect for subsequent assessments;
and providing for increased assessment and payment of interest
if coal is later mined.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That §11-1A-17 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended,
be amended and reenacted to read as follows:
ARTICLE 1A. APPRAISAL OF PROPERTY.
§11-1A-17. Review of appraisal by the county commission sitting as
an administrative appraisal review board.
(a) Within thirty days after the earlier of (1) the day the
tax commissioner notifies the owner of his determination described
in subsection (d) of the preceding section, or (2) the twenty-first
day after the request described in subsection (c) of the preceding
section was made, the owner may petition for a hearing of record
before the county commission of the county in which the larger portion of the appraised property is liable to assessment for ad
valorem property taxation. Contemporaneously with the filing of
the petition with the county commission, the owner shall mail a
copy of the petition to the tax commissioner and the assessor, and
the petition shall have endorsed or appended to it a certificate by
the owner or his attorney that such copies were mailed.
(b) The county commission shall sit as an administrative
appraisal review board, shall hear such testimony, under oath, as
the owner, the tax commissioner and other witnesses may offer, and
shall make a true record of the testimony by nonstenographic
electronic recording suitable to assure that the recorded testimony
will be accurate and trustworthy. Upon making such true record and
preserving the other evidence presented, the commission shall
determine whether the amount of value fixed by the appraisal of the
property is correct under the circumstances. If the county
commission finds the appraisal to be correct it shall enter an
order approving the value as appraised and adopting by reference
the determination and reasons made by the commissioner under
subsection (d), section sixteen of this article. If the county
commission determines that the amount of value fixed by the
appraisal of the property is incorrect, and if sufficient evidence
has been presented to permit correction of the appraisal, the
county commission shall correct the appraisal and fix the value of
the appraised property. If the county commission shall find that
the evidence is not sufficient to determine the correct value, the
county commission shall direct the parties to develop and present
such evidence, and may continue the hearing from time to time for
this purpose until there be evidence before it sufficient to fix the correct value. Upon making a determination, the county
commission shall enter an order and inform the parties in writing,
setting forth in summary form the reasons for such determination.
(c) Any person who is a taxpayer of ad valorem property taxes
in any West Virginia county may protest an appraisal of property
under this article for good cause alleged and shown. A person
desiring to protest a reappraisal of property shall petition for a
hearing before the administrative appraisal review board in the
same manner as an owner would petition for hearing with regard to
the appraisal of his property under the provisions of subsection
(a) of this section:
Provided, That a petition for protest must be
filed with the county commission within forty-five days after the
publication of the notice required in subsection (a), section
sixteen of this article. The hearing of a protest shall be
governed by the same procedures described for hearings in
subsection (b) of this section.
(d) Upon a showing of good cause, any person who is a taxpayer
of ad valorem property taxes in any West Virginia county may be
permitted to intervene in the hearing provided for in this section.
(e) Notwithstanding any provision of this code to the
contrary, effective July 1, 2010, once a county commission has
determined that property apparently subject to reassessment due to
increased natural resources property valuation contains no
marketable coal or coal reserves that determination shall remain in
full force and effect for subsequent reassessment; Provided that,
if at a later date the coal is mined, all previous taxes at the
increased rate shall be assessed and must be paid together with
interest, before any coal on said property may be mined.