WEST virginia Legislature
2017 regular session
By
[
to the Committee on Energy then Finance.
A BILL to amend the Code
of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, by adding thereto a new section, designated
§11-13A-3f, relating to reallocating and
dedicating up to $30 million of the natural gas and oil severance tax revenues
annually to the natural gas and oil-producing counties of origin; providing for
distribution of the moneys to the districts of the Division of Highways by the
State Treasurer; establishing amounts each natural gas and oil-producing
Division of Highways district and counties within a district are to receive;
requiring moneys be used solely for the secondary roads; providing duties
of State Tax Commissioner and Division
of Highways; requiring reports of expenditures to Joint Committee on Government
and Finance; providing audits of distributed funds when authorized by the Joint
Committee on Government and Finance; providing an effective date; and
authorizing legislative and emergency rules.
Be it enacted by the
Legislature of West Virginia:
That the Code of West
Virginia, 1931, as amended, be amended by adding thereto a new section,
designated §11-13A-3f, to read as follows:
ARTICLE 13A. SEVERANCE AND BUSINESS
PRIVILEGE TAX ACT.
§11-13A-3f.
Reallocation and dedication of the natural gas and oil severance tax for
benefit of natural gas and oil producing counties; maximum amount; permissible
uses of distributed revenues; duties of State Treasurer, State Tax Commissioner
and Division of Highways; audits; rule making.
(a) The purpose of this
section is to provide for the reallocation and dedication of the tax
attributable to the severance of natural gas and oil imposed by section three-a
of this article for the use and benefit of the secondary roads in the various
counties in which the natural gas and oil was located at the time it was
produced.
(b) Effective July 1,
2017, the tax attributable to the severance of natural gas and oil imposed by
section three-a of this article shall be transferred to the line item accounts
in the Division of Highways and specifically allocated to the individual
districts of the division where the natural gas and oil was produced on a
production pro rata basis as provided in this section.
(c) The amounts of the
tax dedicated in subsection (b) of this section shall be deposited, from time
to time, into a special fund known as the Natural Gas and Oil Division of Highways
Reallocated Severance Tax Fund, which is hereby established in the State
Treasury, as the proceeds are received by the State Tax Commissioner.
(d) The net proceeds of
the deposits made into the Natural Gas and Oil Division of Highways Reallocated
Severance Tax Fund shall be allocated among and distributed quarterly to the
natural gas and oil producing districts of the Division of Highways by the
State Treasurer in the manner specified in subsection (b) of this section. Upon receipt of those funds, the districts
shall reallocate their pro rata shares to the local county offices of the
division on a county by county production pro rata basis.
(e) The maximum yearly
amount permitted to be transferred to the Division of Highways by this section
is $30 million. If the tax collected
pursuant to section three-a of this article is greater than $30 million, then
each district of the Division of Highways' share shall be based on its pro rata
production share of the total amount of natural gas and oil produced within the
state for that year.
(f) (1) No distribution
made under this section may be deposited into the Division of Highway's General
Fund. Each district receiving a
distribution under this section shall establish a special account to be known
as the "[Name of District]
Natural Gas and Oil County Reallocated Severance Tax Fund" into which all distributions made under this section
shall be deposited.
(2) Moneys in the
district's Natural Gas and Oil County Reallocated Severance Tax Fund shall be
allocated to the district's local offices and expended by those local offices
solely for secondary road projects in their respective counties. The amount
available for secondary road projects within a county shall be its production
pro rata share of the natural gas and oil produced in each county of a district
on a yearly basis.
(g) On or before
December 31, 2018, and December 1 of each year thereafter, each Division of
Highways district receiving a distribution of funds under this section shall
deliver to the Joint Committee on Government and Finance a written report
setting forth the specific secondary road projects for which those funds were
expended during the preceding fiscal year, a detailed account of those
expenditures and a showing that the expenditures were made for the purposes
required by this section.
(h) An audit of funds
distributed under this section may be authorized at any time by the Joint
Committee on Government and Finance to be conducted by the Legislative Auditor
at no cost to the Division of Highways or the districts audited.
(i) The State Tax
Commissioner and Division of Highways shall jointly propose for legislative
approval legislative rules pursuant to article three, chapter twenty-nine-a of
this code for the administration of this section, and is authorized to
promulgate emergency rules for those purposes pursuant to that article.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is
to reallocate and dedicate the natural gas and oil severance tax revenues, up
to $30 million annually, to the natural gas and oil producing counties of
origin. The bill provides for distribution of the moneys to the districts of
the Division of Highways by the State Treasurer. The bill establishes amounts
each natural gas and oil-producing county in a district is to receive. The bill
requires moneys be used solely for the secondary roads. The bill provides
duties of State Tax Commissioner. The bill requires reports of expenditures to
Joint Committee on Government and Finance. The bill provides audits of
distributed funds when authorized by the Joint Committee on Government and
Finance. The bill provides an effective date. The bill authorizes legislative
and emergency rules.
Strike-throughs indicate language
that would be stricken from a heading or the present law and underscoring
indicates new language that would be added.