H. B. 2415
(By Delegates Faircloth, Doyle, Trump,
Mezzatesta and Manuel)
[Introduced January 20, 2003; referred to the
Committee on the Judiciary then Finance.]
A BILL to amend and reenact section nine, article three, chapter
eleven of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred
thirty-one, as amended; to further amend said article by
adding thereto a new section, designated section nine-a; and
to amend article twenty-one of said chapter by adding thereto
a new section, designated section twenty-a, all relating to
exempting from personal property tax fifty percent of the
assessed value of one personal vehicle of each member of a
voluntary fire department or an emergency medical services
agency used for voluntary fire department or emergency medical
services purposes; and providing for the chief of the fire
department and commissioner of the bureau of public health to
furnish the assessor with a list of members and mileage
records; and granting these members a credit against state
personal income tax.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That section nine, article three, chapter eleven of the code
of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended,
be amended and reenacted; that said article be further amended by
adding thereto a new section, designated section nine-a; and that
article twenty-one of said chapter be amended by adding thereto a
new section, designated section twenty-a, all to read as follows:
ARTICLE 3. ASSESSMENTS GENERALLY.
§11-3-9. Property exempt from taxation.
(a) All property, real and personal, described in this
subsection, and to the extent herein limited, is exempt from
taxation:
(1) Property belonging to the United States, other than
property permitted by the United States to be taxed under state
law;
(2) Property belonging exclusively to the state;
(3) Property belonging exclusively to any county, district,
city, village or town in this state, and used for public purposes;
(4) Property located in this state, belonging to any city,
town, village, county or any other political subdivision of another
state, and used for public purposes;
(5) Property used exclusively for divine worship;
(6) Parsonages and the household goods and furniture
pertaining thereto;
(7) Mortgages, bonds and other evidence of indebtedness in the hands of bona fide owners and holders hereafter issued and sold by
churches and religious societies for the purposes of securing money
to be used in the erection of church buildings used exclusively for
divine worship, or for the purpose of paying indebtedness thereon;
(8) Cemeteries;
(9) Property belonging to, or held in trust for, colleges,
seminaries, academies and free schools, if used for educational,
literary or scientific purposes, including books, apparatus,
annuities and furniture;
(10) Property belonging to, or held in trust for, colleges or
universities located in West Virginia, or any public or private
nonprofit foundation or corporation which receives contributions
exclusively for such a college or university, if the property or
dividends, interest, rents or royalties derived therefrom are used
or devoted to educational purposes of such a college or university;
(11) Public and family libraries;
(12) Property used for charitable purposes, and not held or
leased out for profit;
(13) Property used for the public purposes of distributing
water or natural gas, or providing sewer service by a duly
chartered nonprofit corporation when such the property is not held,
leased out or used for profit;
(14) Property used for area economic development purposes by
nonprofit corporations when such the property is not leased out for profit;
(15) All real estate not exceeding one acre in extent, and the
buildings thereon, used exclusively by any college or university
society as a literary hall, or as a dormitory or clubroom, if not
used with a view to profit, including, but not limited to, property
owned by a fraternity or sorority organization affiliated with a
university or college, or property owned by a nonprofit housing
corporation or similar entity on behalf of a fraternity or sorority
organization affiliated with a university or college, when the
property is used as residential accommodations, or as a dormitory
for members of the organization;
(16) All property belonging to benevolent associations, not
conducted for private profit;
(17) Property belonging to any public institution for the
education of the deaf dumb or blind, or any hospital not held or
leased out for profit;
(18) Houses of refuge and lunatic mental institutions or
orphan asylums children's homes;
(19) Homes for children or for the aged, friendless or infirm,
not conducted for private profit;
(20) Fire engines and implements for extinguishing fires, and
property used exclusively for the safekeeping thereof, and for the
meeting of fire companies and one personal vehicle owned by each
voluntary fire department member and one personal vehicle owned by each member of an emergency medical service agency used for
voluntary fire department or emergency medical service purposes as
provided in section nine-a of this article;
(21) All property on hand to be used in the subsistence of
livestock on hand at the commencement of the assessment year;
(22) Household goods to the value of two hundred dollars,
whether or not held or used for profit;
(23) Bank deposits and money;
(24) Household goods, which for purposes of this section means
only personal property and household goods commonly found within
the house and items used to care for the house and its surrounding
property, when not held or used for profit;
(25) Personal effects, which for purposes of this section
means only articles and items of personal property commonly worn on
or about the human body, or carried by a person and normally
thought to be associated with the person when not held or used for
profit;
(26) Dead victuals laid away for family use; and
(27) Any other property or security exempted by any other
provision of law.
(b) Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection (a) of this
section, no property is exempt from taxation which has been
purchased or procured for the purpose of evading taxation, whether
temporarily holding the same over the first day of the assessment year or otherwise.
(c) Real property which is exempt from taxation by subsection
(a) of this section shall be entered upon the assessor's books,
together with the true and actual value thereof, but no taxes may
be levied upon the property or extended upon the assessor's books.
(d) Notwithstanding any other provisions of this section, this
section does not exempt from taxation any property owned by, or
held in trust for, educational, literary, scientific, religious or
other charitable corporations or organizations, including any
public or private nonprofit foundation or corporation existing for
the support of any college or university located in West Virginia,
unless such the property, or the dividends, interest, rents or
royalties derived therefrom, is used primarily and immediately for
the purposes of the corporations or organizations.
(e) The tax commissioner shall, by issuance of rules, provide
each assessor with guidelines to ensure uniform assessment
practices statewide to effect the intent of this section.
(f) Inasmuch as there is litigation pending regarding
application of this section to property held by fraternities and
sororities, amendments to this section enacted in the year one
thousand nine hundred ninety-eight shall apply to all cases and
controversies pending on the date of such the enactment.
§11-3-9a. Voluntary fire department member's and emergency
medical service personnel's tax exemption for vehicle.
(a) Each member of a voluntary fire department in this state
who regularly responds to emergency calls and each member of any
emergency medical services agency in this state who regularly
responds to emergency calls, may exempt from personal property tax
fifty percent of the assessed value for one personal vehicle that
is regularly used to further the purposes of the fire department or
of the emergency medical services agency. Up to ten percent of any
increase in revenue that a county derives from property reappraisal
may be used to fund the exemption. If the county incurs a decrease
in revenue as a result of the reappraisal, the exemption is
optional. This exemption is not available to members of a paid
fire department.
(b) The chief of every volunteer fire department within this
state shall provide the assessor of each county with a list of all
members of the chief's volunteer fire department. The list shall
be updated within thirty days of any change in the membership of a
voluntary fire department.
(c) The commissioner of the bureau of public health shall
provide the assessor of each county with a list of all members of
emergency medical service agencies in the state. The list shall be
updated within thirty days of any change in the membership of an
emergency medical service agency.
ARTICLE 21. PERSONAL INCOME TAX.
§11-21-20a. Credit for use of personal vehicle by member of
volunteer fire department or member of emergency
medical service agency.
A resident member of a voluntary fire department in this state
who regularly responds to emergency calls and the personnel of any
emergency medical service agency in this state who regularly
responds to emergency calls shall be allowed a credit against the
tax otherwise due under this article in the amount of one hundred
fifty dollars as the result of the use of one personal vehicle that
is regularly used to further the purposes of the fire department or
of the emergency medical services agency for any income tax imposed
for the taxable year and subject to tax under this article.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to provide for each
volunteer fire department member and each member of an emergency
medical service agency an exemption of 50% of the assessed value
from personal property tax on one personal vehicle used for the
voluntary fire department or for emergency medical services. It
also grants these members a tax credit of $150.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from
the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would
be added.
§11-3-9a and §11-21-20a are new; therefore, strike-throughs
and underscoring have been omitted.
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