H. B. 2429
(By Delegates Spencer, Palumbo, Webster and Amores)
[Introduced February 16, 2005; 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 §11-3-32, relating to
providing relief from property taxes when real property is
damaged or destroyed in a disaster, which results in a
declaration of same from either the Governor or the President
of the United States.
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 §11-3-32, to read as
follows:
ARTICLE 3. ASSESSMENTS GENERALLY.
§11-3-32. Reassessment of property following a natural disaster.
(a) As used in this section:
(1) "Eligible county" means a county that meets both of the
following requirements:
(A) Has been proclaimed by the Governor of West Virginia or
the President of the United States to be in a disaster area;
(B) Has adopted an ordinance providing property tax relief for
disaster victims.
(2) "Eligible property" means real and personal property,
including any new construction that was completed or any change in
ownership that occurred prior to the date of the disaster that
meets both of the following requirements:
(A) Is located in an eligible county;
(B) Has sustained substantial disaster damage and the disaster
resulted in the issuance of a disaster area proclamation by the
Governor of the State or the President of the United States.
"Eligible property" does not include any real or personal
property, whether or not it otherwise qualifies as eligible
property, if that real property or personal property was purchased
or otherwise acquired by a claimant for relief under this section
after the last date on which the disaster occurred.
(3) "Property tax deferral claim" means a claim filed by the
owner of eligible property in conjunction with, or in addition to,
the filing of an application for reassessment of that property
pursuant to this section, that enables the owner to defer payment
of the next installment of taxes on property for the current fiscal
year.
(4) "Substantial disaster damage," as to property located in a county declared to be a disaster area by the Governor or the
President, means damage to the property of at least twenty percent
of its fair market value immediately preceding the disaster causing
the damage.
(b) Notwithstanding any provision of law to the contrary, the
county commission may, by ordinance, provide that every owner of
any taxable property, or any person liable for the taxes thereon,
whose property was damaged or destroyed without his or her fault by
a major misfortune or calamity, in an area or region subsequently
proclaimed by the Governor or President to be in a disaster area,
may apply for reassessment of that property as provided herein. To
be eligible for reassessment the damage or destruction to the
property shall have been caused by a major misfortune or calamity,
in an area or region subsequently proclaimed by the Governor or
President, to be in a disaster area, if that property was damaged
or destroyed by the major misfortune or calamity that caused the
Governor or President to proclaim the area or region to be in a
disaster area. As used in this paragraph, "damage" includes a
diminution in the value of property as a result of restricted
access to the property where that restricted access was caused by
the major misfortune or calamity.
The application for reassessment may be filed within the time
specified in the ordinance or within sixty days of the misfortune
or calamity, whichever is later, by delivering to the assessor a written application requesting reassessment showing the condition
and value, if any, of the property immediately after the damage or
destruction, and the dollar amount of the damage. The application
shall be executed under penalty of perjury and if executed outside
the State of West Virginia, verified by affidavit.
The ordinance may specify a period of time within which the
ordinance shall be effective, and, if no period of time is
specified, it shall remain in effect until repealed.
Upon receiving a proper application, the assessor shall
appraise the property and determine separately the appraised value
of land, improvements and personal property immediately before and
after the damage or destruction. If the sum of the appraised
values of the land, improvements and personal property before the
damage or destruction, exceeds the sum of the values after the
damage or destruction, exceeds the sum of the values after the
damage by five thousand dollars or more, the assessor shall also
separately determine the percentage reductions in value of land,
improvements and personal property due to the damage or
destruction. Upon making the determination, the assessor shall
reduce the values appearing on the assessment roll by the
percentages of damage or destruction computed pursuant to this
subsection and the taxes due on the property shall be adjusted as
provided in this section. However, the amount of the reduction
shall not exceed the actual loss.
The assessor shall notify the applicant in writing of the
amount of the proposed reassessment. The notice shall state that
the applicant may appeal the proposed reassessment to the county
commission within thirty days of the date of mailing the notice.
If an appeal is requested within the thirty-day period, the
county commission shall hear and decide the matter the same as if
they were sitting as board of equalization and review pursuant to
section twenty-four, article three of chapter eleven. The decision
of the county commission regarding the damaged value of the
property may be appealed in the same fashion as is provided for
appeals from the county commission in section twenty-five of this
article.
If no application is made and the assessor determines that
within the preceding thirty days a property has suffered damage
caused by misfortune or calamity that may qualify the property
owner for relief under an ordinance adopted under this section, the
assessor may provide the last known owner of the property with an
application for reassessment. The property owner shall file the
completed application within thirty days of the date of mailing on
notification by the assessor. Upon receipt of a properly
completed, timely filed application, the property shall be
reassessed in the same manner as required in subsection (b) of this
section.
The tax rate fixed for property on the books on which the property so reassessed appeared at the time of the misfortune or
calamity, shall be applied to the amount of the reassessment as
determined in accordance with this section and the taxpayer shall
be liable for: (1) A prorated portion of the taxes that would have
been due on the property for the current tax year had the
misfortune or calamity not occurred, to be determined on the basis
of the number of months in the current tax year prior to the
misfortune or calamity; plus (2) a prorating of the tax due on the
property as reassessed in its damaged or destroyed condition, to be
determined on the basis of the number of months in the tax year
after the damage or destruction, including the month in which the
damage was incurred. If the damage or destruction occurred after
the first day of July and before the thirty-first day of December,
the reassessment shall be utilized to determine the tax liability
for the next tax year as if that were the value of the property on
the first day of July assessment date. Any tax paid in excess of
the total tax due shall be refunded to the taxpayer pursuant to
section twenty-seven of this article or by order of the county
commission without the necessity of a claim being filed pursuant to
section twenty-seven of this article.
On the first day of July assessment date following completion
of the repair, restoration or reconstruction, the assessor shall
enroll the new taxable value of the property as of that assessment
date.
(c) Any owner of eligible property who files a claim for
reassessment on or before the next property tax installment payment
date, pursuant to this section or whose property is otherwise
reassessed pursuant to this section, may apply to the county
sheriff to defer payment of that installment of property taxes for
the current tax year with respect to that property, which are due.
If a timely claim for deferral is filed, the payment shall be
deferred without penalty or interest until the assessor has
reassessed the property and a corrected bill prepared pursuant to
this section has been sent to the property owner. Taxes deferred
pursuant to this section are due thirty days after receipt by the
owner of the corrected tax bill and if unpaid thereafter are due
and owing as provided in article one, chapter eleven-a of this code
and shall be subject to the penalty and interest provided by law.
(d) If, following reassessment pursuant to subsection (b) of
this section, the assessor determines that an owner who applied and
was granted a deferral of property taxes did not file the claim in
good faith, the owner shall be assessed a delinquency penalty for
the nonpayment of the deferred taxes.
(e) The Tax Commissioner shall propose legislative rules in
accordance with article three, chapter twenty-nine-a of this code
designed to implement the provisions of this section.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to provide relief from
property taxes for property damaged or destroyed in a disaster,
which results in a declaration of such from either the Governor or
the federal government, i.e., the President of the United States.
This section is new; therefore, strike-throughs and
underscoring have been omitted.
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