H. B. 2670
(By Delegate Warner)
[Introduced February 5, 1999; referred to the
Committee on Roads and Transportation then Finance.]
A BILL to repeal section one, article six-g, chapter eleven of
the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred
thirty-one, as amended; to amend and reenact sections one
and seven, article six of said chapter; to amend and reenact
sections two, three, five, twelve, thirteen and seventeen,
article six-g of said chapter; and to amend and reenact
section ten-a, article two, chapter seventeen-a, all
relating to the assessment of property tax on interstate
motor vehicles; the disclosure and obtaining of information
by the motor vehicles commissioner; and the duty and
liability of the commissioner of motor vehicles to collect
taxes and fees.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That section one, article six-g, chapter eleven of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as
amended, be repealed; that sections one and seven, article six of
said chapter be amended and reenacted; that sections two, three,
five, twelve, thirteen and seventeen, article six-g of said
chapter be amended and reenacted; and that section ten-a, article
two, chapter seventeen-a be amended and reenacted, all to read as
follows:
CHAPTER 11. TAXATION.
ARTICLE 6. ASSESSMENT OF PUBLIC SERVICE BUSINESSES.
§11-6-1. Returns of property to board of public works.
(a) On or before the first day of May in each year a return
in writing shall be filed with the board of public works: (1) By
the owner or operator of every railroad, wholly or in part,
within this state; (2) by the owner or operator of every railroad
bridge upon which a separate toll or fare is charged; (3) by the
owner or operator of every car or line of cars used upon any
railroad within the state for transportation or accommodation of
freight or passengers, other than the owners or operators as may
own or operate a railroad within the state; (4) by the owner or
operator of every express company or express line, wholly or in
part, within this state, used for the transportation by steam or
otherwise of freight and other articles of commerce; (5) by the
owner or operator of every pipeline, wholly or in part, within
this state, used for the transportation of oil or gas or water,
whether the oil or gas or water be owned by the owner or operator
or not, or for the transmission of electrical or other power, or
the transmission of steam or heat and power or of articles by
pneumatic or other power; (6) by the owner or operator of every
telegraph or telephone line, wholly or in part, within this
state, except private lines not operated for compensation; (7) by
the owner and operator of every gas company and electric lighting
company furnishing gas or electricity for lighting, heating or
power purposes; (8) by the owner or operator of hydroelectric
companies for the generation and transmission of light, heat or
power; (9) by the owner or operator of water companies furnishing
or distributing water; (10) by the owner or operator of all other
public service corporations or persons engaged in public service
business whose property is located, wholly or in part, within
this state.
and (11) on or before the first day of May, one
thousand nine hundred ninety-eight, and on or before the first
day of May, each year thereafter, by the owner or operator of
every truck or semitrailer used as a commercial motor vehicle in
the transportation of property exclusively within this state by
commercial motor vehicles. For the purposes of this article,
commercial motor vehicle is defined as those vehicles that would
otherwise be subject to registration under a proportional
registration agreement as provided in section ten-a except that the vehicle is only engaged in intrastate commerce.
(b) The words "owner or operator," as applied herein to
railroad companies, shall include every railroad company
incorporated by or under the laws of this state for the purpose
of constructing and operating a railroad, or of operating part of
a railroad within this state, whether the railroad or any part of
it be in operation or not; and shall also include every other
railroad company, or persons or associations of persons, owning
or operating a railroad or part of a railroad in this state on
which freight or passengers, or both, are carried for
compensation. The word "railroad," as used herein includes every
street, city, suburban or electric or other railroad or railway.
(c) The words "owner or operator," as applied herein to
express companies, shall include every express company
incorporated by or under the laws of this state, or doing
business in this state, whether incorporated or not, and any
person or association of persons, owning or operating any express
company or express line upon any railroad or otherwise, doing
business partly or wholly within this state.
(d) The words "owner or operator," as applied herein to
trucks or semitrailers used as a commercial motor vehicle in the
transportation of property, shall include every company
incorporated by or under the laws of this state, or doing
business in this state, whether incorporated or not, and any person or association of persons, owning or operating any truck
or semitrailer used as a commercial motor vehicle in the
transportation of property doing business wholly within this
state.
(e) (d) The return shall be signed and sworn to by the owner
or operator if a natural person, or, if the owner or operator
shall be a corporation, shall be signed and sworn to by its
president, vice president, secretary or principal accounting
officer.
(f) (e) The return required by this section of every owner
or operator shall cover the year ending on the thirty-first day
of December, next preceding, and shall be made on forms
prescribed by the board of public works, which board is hereby
invested with full power and authority and it is hereby made its
duty to prescribe the forms as will require from any owner or
operator herein mentioned information as in the judgment of the
board may be of use to it in determining the true and actual
value of the properties of the owners or operators.
§11-6-7. Same -- Telegraph and telephone companies.
In the case of a telegraph or telephone line,
such the
report shall show for every
such owner or operator: (a) The
number of miles of lines owned, leased or operated within this
state, the gauge of the wire, the number of strands of wire, the
material of which it is made and, as accurately as may be, the time when the line or any material part thereof was constructed
or last replaced;
(b) if such lines be partly within and partly
without the state, the whole number of miles thereof within this
state and the whole number of miles without this state, including
all branches and connecting lines in and out of the state; (c)
(b) the true and actual value per mile of such line in each
county of this state;
(d) (c) its stations, shops and machinery
therein, and all buildings, structures and appendages connected
or used therewith, together with all real estate, other than its
telegraph or telephone line, owned or used by it in connection
with its line, and of each parcel of such real estate and the
true and actual value thereof in each county in this state in
which it is located;
(e) (d) its personal property of every kind
whatsoever, including money, credits and investments, and the
amounts thereof wholly held or used in this state, showing the
amount and value thereof in each county;
(f) (e) an itemized list
of all other real property within this state, with the location
thereof; and
(g) (f) the actual capital employed in the business
of such owner or operator, the total amount of the bonded
indebtedness of
such the owner or operator, with respect to
such
the line, and of all indebtedness not bonded; and, if
such the
owner or operator be a corporation, its capital stock, the
character, number, amount and the market value of the shares
thereof, and the amount of capital stock actually paid in; its bonded indebtedness and its indebtedness not bonded. The board
of public works shall have the right to require any such owner or
operator to furnish such other and further information as, in the
judgment of the board, may be of use to it in determining the
true and actual value of the property to be assessed to
such the
owner or operator.
ARTICLE 6G. ASSESSMENT OF INTERSTATE PUBLIC SERVICE CORPORATION
MOTOR VEHICLE BUSINESSES REGISTERED UNDER A PROPORTIONAL REGISTRATION AGREEMENT.
§11-6G-2. Disclosure of required information to the tax
commissioner.
(a) "Interstate motor vehicle," for purposes of this
article, is defined as every truck, road tractor or semitrailer
used as an interstate
public service corporation motor vehicle
registered under a proportional registration agreement.
(b) The procedure for determining the value thereof is
exclusively provided for under section two of this article.
(c) The words "owner or operator," as applied herein to
trucks or semitrailers used as an interstate motor vehicle in the
transportation of property, shall include every company
incorporated by or under the laws of this state, or doing
business in this state, whether incorporated or not, and any
person or association of persons, owning or operating any truck or semitrailer used as a interstate motor vehicle in the
transportation of property doing business partly or wholly within
this state.
(d) Every interstate commercial motor vehicle covered by
this article shall pay such taxes based upon the assessments as
are required by law pursuant to rules promulgated by the tax
commissioner.
§11-6G-3. Interstate public service motor vehicle business;
calculation of tax.
(a) In the case of interstate public service motor vehicles
used for the transportation of property and which are registered
under a proportional registration agreement, pursuant to the
provisions of section ten-a, article two, chapter seventeen-a of
this code, the owners, operator or operators, for each interstate
motor vehicle, on forms prescribed by the commissioner of motor
vehicles, shall disclose the total miles driven in West Virginia
and the total miles driven in any other states as reported in the
most recent taxable year to the division of motor vehicles
pursuant to any proportional registration agreement on file
therewith. The return shall, additionally, show the gross
capital cost of the interstate motor vehicle to the purchaser
thereof and the year the purchaser acquired the interstate motor
vehicle.
(b) Ad valorem taxes provided for in this chapter shall,
notwithstanding the provisions of section five, article one-c of
this chapter, be determined as follows for: (1) The gross
capital cost of an interstate motor vehicle shall be multiplied
by a percentage factor representing the remainder of the
vehicle's value after depreciation according to a depreciation
schedule established by the tax commissioner, which calculation
shall yield the appraised value of the vehicle,
which appraised
value shall be multiplied by sixty percent to yield the assessed
value; (2) for the interstate truck, road tractor, or power unit,
registered in this state as part of a fleet registered under any
proportional registration agreement under the provisions of
section ten-a, article two, chapter seventeen-a of this code, the
appraised assessed value shall be multiplied by the
fraction
comprised of a numerator representing the total miles driven in
West Virginia (regardless whether property is being transported
for commercial purposes) in the taxable year and a denominator
representing the total miles driven in the taxable year by the
interstate motor vehicle operator during times property was being
transported for commercial purposes, apportioned percentage
calculated in accordance with the articles and by-laws of any
proportional registration agreement for the mileage reporting
year, as reported to the division of motor vehicles
for the
corresponding registration year pursuant to any proportional registration agreement on file therewith to obtain the
apportioned value, which apportioned value shall be
multiplied by
sixty percent to yield the assessed value which shall be
multiplied by the applicable rate of tax.
§11-6G-5. Compelling such disclosure; procuring information and
tentative assessments by motor vehicles
commissioner.
(a) If any owner or operator fails to make
such disclosure
within the time required by section one of this article, it shall
be the duty of the commissioner of motor vehicles to take
such
steps as may be necessary to compel such compliance, and to
enforce any and all penalties imposed by law for such failure,
pursuant to his or her authority under this article as well as
section ten, article two, chapter seventeen-a, and section ten-a,
article two, chapter seventeen-a of this code.
(b) The disclosure delivered to the motor vehicles
commissioner shall be examined by him
or her, and if it be found
insufficient in form or in any respect defective, imperfect or
not in compliance with law, he
or she shall compel the person
required to make it to do so in proper and sufficient form, and
in all respects as required by law.
(c) If any
such owner or operator fails to make such
disclosure, the motor vehicles commissioner shall proceed, in
such a manner as to him
or her may seem best, to obtain the facts
and information required to be furnished by
such the disclosures.
(d) The motor vehicles commissioner may send for persons and
papers, and may compel the attendance of any person and the
production of any paper necessary, in the opinion of
said the
motor vehicles commissioner, to enable him
or her to obtain the
information required for the proper discharge of his
or her
duties under this section.
(e) The motor vehicles commissioner shall arrange, collate
and tabulate such disclosures and all pertinent information and
data contained therein, such further evidence or information as
may be required by the motor vehicles commissioner of such owner
or operator, and all other pertinent evidence, information and
data he has been able to procure, upon suitable work sheets, so
that they may be conveniently considered, and shall on or before
the fifteenth day of September, lay such disclosures and work
sheets, together with his recommendations in the form of a
tentative assessment of the property of each such owner or
operator, before the motor vehicles commissioner. And as soon as
the motor vehicles commissioner has completed the preparation of
such work sheets and tentative assessments, he shall notify the
owner or operator affected thereby of the amount of such
tentative assessment by written notice deposited in the United
States post office, addressed to such owner or operator at the principal office or place of business of such owner or operator,
and the motor vehicles commissioner shall retain in his office
true copies of such work sheets which shall be available for
inspection by any such owner or operator or his duly authorized
representative.
§11-6G-12. Payment of assessment by owner or operator.
Beginning on the first day of July, one thousand nine
hundred ninety-nine, it shall be the duty of
such the foreign
registered owner or operator
with interstate operations within
and through West Virginia, so assessed and charged, to pay
annually the amount of such taxes, and such registration fees as
are set by the motor vehicles commissioner as are required into
the treasury of the state by delivering payment of the same to
the commissioner of motor vehicles in the form and manner
prescribed by him or her.
Further, beginning with the renewal or
registration year starting the first day of July, one thousand
nine hundred ninety-nine, it shall be the duty of the
commissioner of motor vehicles to assess and charge the owner or
operator the annual amount of taxes and registration fees owed.
The taxes and fees will be assessed and charged annually prior to
the registration year during the renewal period. It shall be the
duty of the owner or operator with interstate operations and
domiciled in the state, so assessed and charged, to pay annually
prior to the registration, the amount of taxes and registration fees set by the motor vehicles commissioner in the form and
manner prescribed by him or her. If such owner or operator fail
to pay such taxes, and registration fees when due, as prescribed,
then interest thereon at the rate of nine per centrum per annum
until paid shall be added to any and all other penalties imposed
by the motor vehicles commissioner. The payment of
such taxes by
any
such owner or operator shall not prejudice or affect the
right of
such the owner or operator to obtain relief against the
assessment or valuation of its property in proceedings now
pending or hereafter brought under the provisions of section
eight of this article, or in any suit, action or proceeding in
which
such relief may be obtainable; and if under the provisions
of said section eight or in any suit, action or proceeding, it be
ascertained that the assessment or valuation of the property of
such the owner or operator is too high and the same is
accordingly corrected, it shall be the duty of the auditor of the
state to issue to the owner or operator a certificate showing the
amount of taxes and which have been overpaid, and
such the
certificate shall be receivable thereafter for the amount of
such
overpayment in payment of any taxes and assessed against the
property of
such the owner or operator, its successors or
assigns. It shall likewise be the duty of said auditor to
certify to the county commission, school districts and
municipalities, the amounts of the respective overpayments distributable to such counties, school districts and
municipalities.
Implementation of collection of assessments upon interstate
commercial motor vehicles by the commissioner of motor vehicles
shall begin the first day of July, one thousand nine hundred
ninety-nine. The motor vehicles commissioner, upon receipt of
funds from other jurisdictions under a proportional registration
agreement, shall deliver
such the funds received to the auditor
beginning in August, one thousand nine hundred ninety-nine, and
thereafter every thirty days in arrears. All moneys received by
the auditor under the provisions of this section shall be
transmitted to the several counties within thirty days from
receipt thereof.
§11-6G-13. No release of taxes assessed against such
corporations.
Neither the county commission of any county, nor any board
of education, nor the municipal authorities of any incorporated
town, shall have jurisdiction, power or authority, by compromise
or otherwise, to remit or release any portion of the taxes so
assessed upon the property of any
such owner or operator. It
shall be the duty of the motor vehicles commissioner to collect
the whole thereof, regardless of any order or direction of any
such county commission, board of education or municipal authority to the contrary.
and, if he fail to do so, he and his sureties
in his official bond, if any, shall, unless he be restrained or
prohibited from so doing by legal process from some court having
jurisdiction to issue the same, be liable thereon for such taxes
that he may so fail to collect, if he could have collected the
same by the use of due diligence. Any member of the county
commission or board of education, or of the council of a
municipal corporation, who shall vote to remit or release any
part of the taxes, so assessed on the property of any
such owner
or operator, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and fined five
hundred dollars, and shall be removed from his
or her office by
the court by which the judgment of
such the fine is rendered, in
addition to
such the fine.
§11-6G-17. Operating fund for interstate commerce disclosure
division in auditor's office.
The auditor shall establish a special operating fund in the
state treasury for the interstate commerce disclosure division in
his or her office. The auditor shall pay into the fund
three
eighths of one percent of the gross receipts of all moneys
collected as provided for in this article. From the fund, the
auditor shall reimburse the
department of tax and revenue tax
department and the division of motor vehicles for the actual
operating expenses incurred in the performance of its duties required by this article. The reimbursements to the tax
department
and division of motor vehicles from the fund shall not
exceed
fifty percent one-third of the annual deposits to the fund
per agency. Any moneys remaining in the special operating fund
after reimbursement to the tax department
and the division of
motor vehicles shall be used by the auditor for funding the
operation of the interstate commerce disclosure division located
in his
or her office.
The interstate commerce disclosure
division is hereby granted
authority and required to share any and all information obtained
by the division in the implementation of this article with state
auditor, tax commissioner and the commissioner of motor vehicles
to effectuate the collection of taxes under this article. The
motor vehicles commissioner is hereby authorized and required to
share any and all information obtained by the
department division
of motor vehicles in the implementation of this article. The
commissioner of motor vehicles will supply to the interstate
commerce disclosure division the names of, location or locations
of, and amount or amounts paid by West Virginia
corporations
owners or operators of interstate motor vehicles registered under
the terms of any proportional registration agreement. The tax
commissioner is hereby authorized and required to share any and
all information obtained by the department of tax and revenue.
The state auditor and the interstate commerce disclosure division is hereby authorized and required to share any and all
information obtained by the auditor or
such the division.
CHAPTER 17A. MOTOR VEHICLE ADMINISTRATION,
REGISTRATION, CERTIFICATE OF TITLE, AND ANTITHEFT PROVISIONS.
ARTICLE 2. DEPARTMENT OF MOTOR VEHICLES.
§17A-2-10a. Same -- Authorizing the entry of this state into
reciprocal proportional registration agreements; payment of taxes; issuance of registration plates
or markers; promulgation of rules; interagency cooperation; requirement that all registrants pay
tax; intermittent interstate commerce and
promulgation of rules; proportional registration agreement
prevails.
(a) The commissioner of motor vehicles is hereby authorized
and empowered to enter into reciprocal agreements on behalf of
this state with any jurisdiction which permits or requires the
licensing of motor vehicles in interstate or combined interstate
and intrastate commerce and the payment of taxes, registration,
licensing or other fees fixed by the motor vehicle commissioner,
pursuant to the execution of this article on an apportionment
basis commensurate with and determined by the miles traveled on
public roads and highways in that jurisdiction, as compared with
the miles traveled on public roads and highways in other jurisdictions or on any other equitable basis of apportionment,
and if that jurisdiction exempts motor vehicles registered in
other jurisdictions under that apportionment basis from the
requirements of full payment of its own registration, license or
other fixed fees, the commissioner, by agreement may adopt the
exemption as to those motor vehicles, whether owned by residents
or nonresidents of this state and regardless of where the
vehicles are registered.
(b) The agreements under
such any terms, conditions or
restrictions as the commissioner
deems considers proper may
provide that owners of motor vehicles operated in interstate or
combined interstate and intrastate commerce in this state shall
be permitted to pay registration, license or other fees fixed on
an apportionment basis, commensurate with and determined by the
miles traveled on public roads and highways in this state as
compared with the miles traveled on public roads and highways in
other jurisdictions or any other equitable basis of
apportionment.
Such The agreements shall not authorize or be
construed as authorizing any motor vehicle so registered to be
operated without complying with the provisions of chapter eleven
and chapter twenty-four-a of this code.
(c) Pursuant to the provisions of this section, the
commissioner is expressly authorized and empowered to enter into
and become a member of the international registration plan or
such other designation that may from time to time be given to
such the reciprocal plan.
(d) The commissioner shall prescribe the substance, form,
color and context of any registration plate or marker issued
under the provisions of this section, each of which shall be
visually distinguishable from other registration plates or
markers produced by the
department division of motor vehicles.
(e) The commissioner is authorized to promulgate procedural
rules as may be necessary to carry out the provisions of any
agreements entered into pursuant to this section.
(f) The commissioner is authorized to collect and receive
funds under this article pursuant to the authority vested in him
or her under article six-g of chapter eleven of this code.
(g) The commissioner is hereby authorized and required to
share with the interstate commerce disclosure division of the
office of the state auditor any and all information acquired by
the
department division of motor vehicles pursuant to the
implementation of this article. The
department division shall
provide to the interstate commerce disclosure division, and the
department of tax and revenue the name of the location and amount
paid by West Virginia
corporations owners or operators of
interstate motor vehicles registered under
such the proportional
registration agreement.
(h) The
department division of motor vehicles shall not permit registration of any commercial vehicle without proof that
the public utility tax assessed against it, if any, as certified
by the board of public works, has been paid by production of a
receipt from the division of public utilities in the office of
the state auditor. All
such the registrants shall pay such
assessments regardless of ownership.
(i) For any other irregular, intermittent or temporary
interstate commerce activity, the
department division of motor
vehicles is hereby empowered to promulgate rules for the
administration and oversight thereof.
(j) Notwithstanding any other provision of the code to the
contrary, the requirements of the proportional assessment plan as
contained in article six-g, chapter eleven of this code, and the
provisions of this chapter, shall prevail in the event of any
conflict with any other portion of the code.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to place the duty to
assess interstate motor vehicles on county assessors, to clarify
the formula used for tax purposes, to clarify the duties of the
motor vehicles commissioner and to make technical corrections.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from
the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that
would be added.