H. B. 3164
(By Delegates Kominar and H. White)
[Introduced March 23, 2005; referred to the
Committee on Government Organization then Finance.]
A BILL to amend and reenact §11-22-2 of the Code of West Virginia,
1931, as amended; to amend said code by adding thereto a new
section, designated §17A-3-4a; and to amend and reenact
§31-18D-5, §31-18D-6, §31-18D-7 and §31-18D-9 of said code,
all relating to the funding, composition and operation of the
West Virginia Affordable Housing Trust Fund; imposing a fee of
twenty dollars on the transfer of real property in addition to
the excise tax presently imposed on such transactions;
imposing a fee of twenty dollars on the issuance of a
certificate of title by the Commissioner of the Division of
Motor Vehicles for the transfer of mobile homes subject to
property tax under §11-5-11 and §11-5-12 of said code;
dedicating the revenues resulting from such transfer fees to
the West Virginia Affordable Housing Trust Fund created in
§31-18D-4; authorizing up to ten percent of the moneys generated by such transfer fee to be expended by the West
Virginia Affordable Housing Trust Fund for administrative and
operating expenses; changing the composition of the Board of
Directors of the West Virginia Affordable Housing Trust Fund;
reducing the majority vote requirement for action by the Board
of Directors; providing that the West Virginia Housing
Development Trust Fund shall establish best practices for
recipients of Trust Fund moneys; permitting Trust Fund moneys
to be used for initial operational expenses of local
government programs to reduce substandard housing or
inappropriate land use patterns; and eliminating certain
restrictions on application procedures for Trust Fund moneys.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That §11-22-2 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended,
be amended and reenacted; that said code be amended by adding
thereto a new section, designated §17A-3-4a; and that §31-18D-5,
§31-18D-6, §31-18D-7 and §31-18D-9 of said code be amended and
reenacted, all to read as follows:
CHAPTER 11. TAXATION.
ARTICLE 22. EXCISE TAX ON PRIVILEGE OF TRANSFERRING REAL PROPERTY.
§11-22-2. Rate of tax; when and by whom payable; additional
county tax.
Every person who delivers, accepts or presents for recording
any document, or in whose behalf any document is delivered, accepted or presented for recording, shall be subject to pay for
and in respect to the transaction or any part thereof, a state
excise tax upon the privilege of transferring title to real estate
at the rate of one dollar and ten cents for each five hundred
dollars' value or fraction thereof as represented by such document
as defined in section one hereof, which state tax shall be payable
at the time of delivery, acceptance or presenting for recording of
such document.
Effective January first, one thousand nine hundred sixty-eight
and thereafter, there is hereby imposed an additional county excise
tax for the privilege of transferring title to real estate at the
rate of fifty-five cents for each five hundred dollars' value or
fraction thereof as represented by such document as defined in
section one hereof, which county tax shall be payable at the time
of delivery, acceptance or presenting for recording of such
document: Provided, That after the first day of July, one thousand
nine hundred eighty-nine, the county may increase said excise tax
to an amount equal to the state excise tax. The additional tax
hereby imposed is declared to be a county tax and to be used for
county purposes: Provided, however, That only one such state tax
and one such county tax, together with the fee described in the
last paragraph of this section, shall be paid on any one document
and shall be collected in the county where the document is first
admitted to record, and the same shall be paid by the grantor therein unless the grantee accepts the same without such tax having
been paid, in which event such tax shall be paid by the grantee:
Provided further, That on any transfer of real property from a
trustee or a county clerk transferring real estate sold for taxes,
such tax shall be paid by the grantee.
The county excise tax imposed under this section may not be
increased in any county unless the increase is approved by a
majority vote of the members of the county commission of such
county. Any county commission intending to increase the excise tax
imposed in its county shall publish a notice of its intention to
increase such tax not less than thirty days nor more than sixty
days prior to the meeting at which such increase will be
considered, such notice to be published as a Class I legal
advertisement in compliance with the provisions of article three,
chapter fifty-nine of this code, and the publication area shall be
the county in which such county commission is located.
Every person who delivers, accepts or presents for recording
any document, or in whose behalf any document is delivered,
accepted or presented for recording, shall be subject to pay for
and in respect of the transaction a fee of twenty dollars for the
privilege of transferring title to real estate. This twenty dollar
fee shall be in addition to the state and county excise taxes
described in this section, and shall be payable to the county clerk
at the time of delivery, acceptance or presenting for recording of such document, deposited by the county clerk into an account for
the benefit and use of the West Virginia Affordable Housing Trust
Fund established in article eighteen-d, chapter thirty-one of this
code. An amount not to exceed ten percent of any and all fees
received by the
West Virginia
Affordable Housing Trust Fund under
this section and under section four-a, article three, chapter
seventeen-a of this code, may be expended by the West Virginia
Affordable Housing Trust Fund to defray administrative and
operating costs and expenses incurred by the West Virginia
Affordable Housing Trust Fund.
CHAPTER 17A. MOTOR VEHICLE ADMINISTRATION, REGISTRATION,
CERTIFICATE OF TITLE, AND ANTITHEFT PROVISIONS.
ARTICLE 3. ORIGINAL AND RENEWAL OF REGISTRATION; ISSUANCE OF
CERTIFICATES OF TITLE.
§17A-3-4a. Fee for transfer of certificates of title for mobile
homes.
Notwithstanding any provisions of this code to the contrary,
a fee of twenty dollars is hereby imposed for the issuance of a
certificate of title by the Commissioner for every mobile home
subject to personal property tax under sections eleven or twelve,
article five, chapter eleven of this code, which fee shall be
payable by either the purchaser or seller of any such mobile home,
as the parties may agree, to the Commissioner at the time of the
issuance of a certificate of title upon the purchase, sale or transfer of ownership of any such mobile home, and the collected
fee shall be deposited by the Commissioner into an account for the
benefit and use of the West Virginia Affordable Housing Trust Fund
established in article eighteen-d, chapter thirty-one of this code,
subject to the provisions of section two, article twenty-two,
chapter eleven of this code. The fee provided in this section
shall be in addition to any taxes imposed on the purchase, sale or
transfer of a mobile home as provided in articles fifteen and
fifteen-a of chapter eleven of this code.
CHAPTER 31. CORPORATIONS.
ARTICLE 18D. WEST VIRGINIA AFFORDABLE HOUSING TRUST FUND.
§31-18D-5. Housing Trust Fund Board of Directors.
(a) The Affordable Housing Trust Fund has a Board of
Directors, which consists of eleven voting members. The members of
the Board are responsible for administering the Trust Fund.
(b) The Trust Fund Board of Directors consists of:
(1) The Secretary of the Department of Health and Human
Resources, ex officio, or his or her designee;
(2) The Executive Director of the West Virginia Development
Office, ex officio, or his or her designee;
(3) The Executive Director of the West Virginia Housing
Development Fund, ex officio, or his or her designee;
(4) One member who is chosen from the private directors
appointed by the governor to the board of the West Virginia housing development fund representative of the manufactured housing sales
industry;
(5) One member who is an officer of a corporation or member of
a limited liability company, which is currently licensed to do
business in West Virginia and is engaged in representative of the
real estate development or real estate sales industry;
(6) Three members One member who are is an executive directors
or officers director or officer of local, community based
not-for-profit organizations organization, which are is not
affiliated with one another through common management control and
which are currently licensed to do business in West Virginia and
which have has been recognized as exempt from federal income tax
under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code, as amended,
codified in 26 U.S.C. §501 (c) (3), and are organized and operated
exclusively for charitable purposes within the meaning of that
section, and in accordance with those purposes, provide housing
assistance to low or moderate income citizens of this state;
(7) One member representative of the banking industry;
(8) One citizen member who is representative of the population
served by the trust fund member who is an officer or member of a
municipality or county commission, or his or her designee; and
(9) One member who is an executive director of a public
housing authority operating in a county or municipality in this
state;
(10) One member who is an executive director or officer of a
statewide not-for-profit organization which has as one of its
primary missions the provision of housing assistance to low or
moderate income citizens of this state, and which is currently
licensed to do business in West Virginia and which has been
recognized as exempt from federal income tax under Section
501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code, as amended, codified in
U.S.C. §501(c)(3), and is organized and operated exclusively for
charitable purposes within the meaning of that section;
(11) One member representative of the homebuilding industry.
(c) Not more than three members, excluding the ex officio
members, shall be appointed from any one congressional district.
Not more than four of the members, excluding the ex officio
members, may belong to the same political party. Except for
initial appointments and midterm special appointments made to fill
irregular vacancies on the Board, members shall be appointed for
terms of three years each. Initial appointments shall consist of
three members whose terms expire after two years, three members
whose terms expire after three years and two members whose terms
expire after four years. Members are eligible for reappointment.
However, no member may serve for more than two consecutive full
terms. Except for midterm special appointments made to fill
irregular vacancies on the Board, appointment terms shall begin on
the first day of July of the beginning year. All appointment terms, special and regular, end on the thirtieth day of June of the
final year of the term.
(d) All members of the Board except those who serve ex officio
shall be appointed by the Governor, with the advice and consent of
the Senate.
(e) The Governor may remove any appointed member in case of
incompetency, neglect of duty, moral turpitude or malfeasance in
office, and the Governor may declare the office vacant and fill the
vacancy as provided in other cases of vacancy.
(f) The Governor shall designate one of the initial members as
chairperson of the Board. During or after the first meeting of the
Board, the Board may select a new chairperson and shall annually
select its chairperson.
(g) The Board shall meet not less than four times during the
fiscal year, and additional meetings may be held upon a call of the
chairperson or of a majority of the members. Board members shall
be reimbursed for sums necessary to carry out responsibilities of
the Board and for reasonable travel expenses to attend Board
meetings. The ex officio members may not be reimbursed by the fund
for travel expenses to attend Board meetings.
(h) Six members of the Board is a quorum. No vacancy in the
membership of the Board impairs the right of a quorum to exercise
all the rights and perform all the duties of the Board. No action
may be taken by the Board except upon the affirmative vote of at least six of the members a simple majority of the members present
at a duly convened meeting.
§31-18D-6. Powers and responsibilities of the Board.
(a) It is the duty of the Board to manage and control the
Affordable Housing Trust Fund. In order to carry out the
day-to-day management and control of the Trust Fund and effectuate
the purposes of this article, the Board may appoint an executive
director and other staff. The Board shall fix the executive
director's duties and compensation as well as that of other staff.
The executive director and other staff serve at the will and
pleasure of the Board. The Board may provide for staff payroll and
employee benefits in the same manner as the West Virginia Housing
Development Fund provides for its employees.
(b) The members of the Board and its officers are not liable
personally, either jointly or severally, for any debt or obligation
created by the Board.
(c) Members of the Board and its officers and employees shall
be provided insurance coverage by the state's Risk and Insurance
Management Board to the same extent and in the same manner the
coverage is applicable to state government agencies and appointed
state officials and employees. The Board may elect to obtain other
forms of insurance coverage it considers reasonable for its
operations.
(d) The acts of the Board are solely acts of its corporation and are not those of an agent of the state, nor is any debt or
obligation of the Board a debt or obligation of the state.
(e) The Board shall:
(1) Develop and implement comprehensive policies and programs
for the use of the Trust Fund that ensures the equitable
distribution of moneys from the Trust Fund throughout the various
geographic areas of this state and between urban and rural areas of
this state;
(2) Develop and implement an application and selection system
to identify housing sponsors or providers of affordable housing
developments or programs that qualify to receive assistance from
the Trust Fund for eligible activities;
(3) Provide funds for technical assistance to prospective
applicants;
(4) Monitor services, developments, projects or programs
receiving assistance from the Trust Fund to ensure that the
developments are operated in a manner consistent with this article
and in accordance with the representations made to the Trust Fund
Board by the sponsors of the services, developments, projects or
programs;
(5) Recommend legislation to further its mission of providing
housing for low to moderate income citizens of this state;
(6) Provide funding to increase the capacity of nonprofit
community housing organizations to serve their communities;
(7) Research and study housing needs and potential solutions
to the substandard quality or lack of affordable housing;
(8) Coordinate programs with other entities when doing so
fulfills its mission to provide housing to low to moderate income
citizens of this state;
(9) Convene public meetings to gather information or receive
public comments regarding housing policy or issues;
(10) Distribute available funds pursuant to policies
established by it which may permit the establishment of a permanent
endowment; and
(11) Serve as a clearing house for information regarding
housing services and providers within this state.
(f) The West Virginia Housing Development Fund shall provide
office space and staff support services for the Executive Director
and the Board, shall act as fiscal agent for the Board and, as
such, shall provide accounting services for the Board, invest all
funds as directed by the Board, service all investment and loan
activities of the Board as requested, and shall make the
disbursements of all funds as directed by the Board, and establish
best practices for recipient organizations, for which the West
Virginia Housing Development Fund shall be reasonably compensated,
as determined by the Board.
§31-18D-7. Eligible activities; eligible organizations.
(a) The Board shall use the moneys from the Trust Fund to make, or participate in the making, of loans or grants for eligible
activities that shall include, but not be limited to:
(1) Providing funds for new construction, rehabilitation,
repair or acquisition of housing to assist low or moderate income
citizens including land and land improvements;
(2) Providing matching funds for federal housing moneys
requiring a local or state match;
(3) Providing funds for administrative costs for housing
assistance programs or nonprofit organizations eligible for funding
pursuant to subsection (b) of this section if the grants or loans
provided will substantially increase the recipient's access to
housing funds or increase its capacity to supply affordable
housing;
(4) Providing loan guarantees and other financial mechanisms
to facilitate the provision of housing products or services;
(5) Providing funds for down payments, closing costs,
foreclosure prevention, home ownership counseling and security
bonds which facilitate the construction, rehabilitation, repair or
acquisition of housing by low to moderate income citizens; and
(6) Providing risk underwriting products not provided by
private sector entities to facilitate broader accessibility of
citizens to other federal or state housing funds or loan programs.
The products shall be established using professional risk
underwriting standards and separate corporate vehicles may be created and capitalized by the Trust Fund to provide the products.
(b) Organizations eligible for funding from the Trust Fund
include the following: (1) Local governments; (2) local government
housing authorities; (3) nonprofit organizations recognized as
exempt from federal income tax under Section 501(c)(3) of the
Internal Revenue Code, as amended, codified in 26 U.S.C. §501 (c)
(3), and which are organized and operated exclusively for
charitable purposes within the meaning of that section, and in
accordance with those purposes provide assistance to low or
moderate income citizens of this state; and (4) regional or
statewide housing assistance organizations that have been
recognized as exempt under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal
Revenue Code, as amended, and which provide assistance to low and
moderate income or low income citizens of this state; and
(7) Providing start-up funds for initial operational expenses
of local government programs to reduce substandard housing or
inappropriate land use patterns.
§31-18D-9. Funding restrictions.
(a) The board shall announce by public notice at least two
periods annually for prospective applicants to submit proposals,
applications or requests for funding. Each period shall be for at
least ninety days duration during each calendar year in which funds
are available from the trust fund. The board shall approve or deny
properly submitted and completed applications, proposals or requests within sixty days of their receipt.
(b) The board shall determine whether each person making an
application, proposal or request for funding is an eligible entity
and approve as many applications, proposals or requests as will
effectively use the available moneys in the trust fund less costs
required to administer the program. In selecting entities to
receive trust fund assistance, the board shall develop a qualified
allocation and selection plan as often as it considers appropriate
in order to provide affordable housing and improve the capacity of
nonprofit housing entities to supply affordable housing to low and
moderate income citizens of this state. The allocation and
selection plan for each period shall be available for review of
prospective applicants and the general public in sufficient time
for prospective applicants to reasonably prepare an application,
project proposal or request for funding.
(c) (a) No moneys may be expended from the Trust Fund for
projects that discriminate against any buyer or renter because of
race, religion, sex, familial status or national origin.
(d) (b) The Board shall forward to the West Virginia Housing
Development Fund for its review and information approved requests,
applications and proposals for funding containing information as is
necessary to permit the West Virginia Housing Development Fund to
carry out its duties under this article.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to provide funding for the
West Virginia
Affordable Housing Trust Fund by imposing a transfer
fee of twenty dollars on the transfer of all real property and
mobile homes, and dedicating such transfer fees to the Trust Fund.
The bill also changes the composition of the Board of Directors of
the Trust Fund, and modifies certain provisions of the West
Virginia Affordable Housing Trust Fund Act pertaining to operation
and oversight of the Trust Fund, and application procedures for
Trust Fund moneys.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from
the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would
be added.
§17A-3-4a is new; therefore, strike-throughs and underscoring
have been omitted.
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