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Introduced Version House Bill 2741 History

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Key: Green = existing Code. Red = new code to be enacted
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H. B. 2741

 

         (By Delegates Manypenny, Doyle, Mahan,

           Guthrie, Canterbury, Barker, Hartman, Brown

                      and Hatfield)

 

         [Introduced January 21, 2011; referred to the

         Committee on the Judiciary then Finance.]

 

A BILL to amend the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, by adding thereto a new section, designated §11-3-9a, relating to exempting the construction or addition of active solar energy systems from real and personal property taxation.

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 §11-3-9a, to read as follows:

ARTICLE 3. ASSESSMENTS GENERALLY.

§11-3-9a. Solar energy systems exempt from taxation.

    (a) All property, real and personal, resulting from the construction or addition of any active solar energy system, as defined in subsection (b) of this section is exempt from taxation.

    (b)(1) "Active solar energy system" means a system that uses

solar devices, which are thermally isolated from living space or any other area where the energy is used, to provide for the collection, storage, or distribution of solar energy.

    (2) "Active solar energy system" does not include solar swimming pool heaters or hot tub heaters.

    (3) Active solar energy systems may be used for any of the following:

    (A) Domestic, recreational, therapeutic, or service water heating;

    (B) Space conditioning;

    (C) Production of electricity;

    (D) Process heat; and

    (E) Solar mechanical energy.

    (c) An active solar energy system that uses solar energy in the production of electricity includes storage devices, power conditioning equipment, transfer equipment, and parts related to the functioning of those items. In general, the use of solar energy in the production of electricity involves the transformation of sunlight into electricity through the use of devices such as solar cells or other solar collecting equipment. However, an active solar energy system used in the production of electricity includes only equipment used up to, but not including, the stage of conveyance or use of the electricity. For the purpose of this subsection, the term "parts" includes spare parts that are owned by the owner of, or the maintenance contractor for, an active solar energy system that uses solar energy in the production of electricity and which spare parts were specifically purchased, designed, or fabricated by or for that owner or maintenance contractor for installation in an active solar energy system that uses solar energy in the production of electricity, including those parts in the tax appraisal exclusion created by this section.

    (d) An active solar energy system that uses solar energy in the production of electricity also includes pipes and ducts that are used exclusively to carry energy derived from solar energy. Pipes and ducts that are used to carry both energy derived from solar energy and from energy derived from other sources are active solar energy system property only to the extent of seventy-five percent of their full cash value.

    (e) An active solar energy system that uses solar energy in the production of electricity does not include auxiliary equipment, such as furnaces and hot water heaters, that use a source of power other than solar energy to provide usable energy. An active solar

energy system that uses solar energy in the production of electricity does include equipment, such as ducts and hot water tanks, that is utilized by both auxiliary equipment and solar energy equipment, that is, dual use equipment. That equipment is active solar energy system property only to the extent of seventy-five percent of its full cash value.

    (f)(1) Notwithstanding any other provision in this code, for purposes of this section, "the construction or addition of any active solar energy system" includes the construction of an active solar energy system incorporated by the owner-builder in the initial construction of a new building that the owner-builder does not intend to occupy or use. The exclusion from "newly constructed" provided by this subsection applies to the initial purchaser who purchased the new building from the owner-builder, but only if the owner-builder did not receive an exclusion under this section for the same active solar energy system and only if the initial purchaser purchased the new building prior to that building becoming subject to reassessment to the owner-builder. The assessor shall administer this subdivision in the following manner:

     (A) The initial purchaser of the building shall file a claim with the assessor and provide to the assessor any documents necessary to identify the value attributable to the active solar energy system included in the purchase price of the new building. The claim shall also identify the amount of any rebate for the active solar energy system provided to either the owner-builder or the initial purchaser by the Public Service Commission, an electrical corporation, a local publicly owned electric utility, or any other agency of the State of West Virginia.

    (B) The assessor shall evaluate the claim and determine the portion of the purchase price that is attributable to the active

solar energy system. The assessor shall then reduce the new value established as a result of the change in ownership of the new building by an amount equal to the difference between the following two amounts:

     (i) That portion of the value of the new building attributable to the active solar energy system; and

     (ii) The total amount of all rebates, if any, described in subdivision (A) of this subsection that were provided to either the owner-builder or the initial purchaser.

     (C) The extension of the new construction exclusion to the initial purchaser of a newly constructed new building shall remain in effect only until there is a subsequent change in ownership of the new building.

    (2) The Tax Commissioner shall prescribe the manner, documentation and form for claiming the new construction exclusion

set forth in this subsection.

 

 

 

    NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to exempt the construction or addition of active solar energy systems from real and personal property taxation.

 

    This section is new; therefore, it has been completely underscored.

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