Introduced Version
Senate Bill 528 History
| Email
Key: Green = existing Code. Red = new code to be enacted
Senate Bill No. 528
(By Senators McCabe, Cann, Edgell, Miller, Palumbo, Tucker,
Walters, Wells, Kessler (Mr. President) and Williams)
____________
[Introduced March 14, 2013; referred to the Committee on
Education; and then to the Committee on Finance .]
____________
A BILL to amend and reenact §18-9A-11 of the Code of West Virginia,
1931, as amended, relating to computing local share of public
education support; finding the benefit of public libraries as
a part of the system of public education; and providing for
equal treatment of county boards of education in funding
public libraries as a part of the system of public education.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That §18-9A-11 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended,
be amended and reenacted to read as follows:
ARTICLE 9A. PUBLIC SCHOOL SUPPORT.
§18-9A-11. Computation of local share; appraisal and assessment of
property; public library support.
(a) On the basis of each county's certificates of valuation as to all classes of property as determined and published by the
assessors pursuant to section six, article three, chapter eleven of
this code for the next ensuing fiscal year in reliance upon the
assessed values annually developed by each county assessor pursuant
to the provisions of articles one-c and three of said chapter, the
state board shall for each county compute by application of the
levies for general current expense purposes, as defined in section
two of this article, the amount of revenue which the levies would
produce if levied upon one hundred percent of the assessed value of
each of the several classes of property contained in the report or
revised report of the value, made to it by the Tax Commissioner as
follows:
(1) The state board shall first take ninety-five percent of
the amount ascertained by applying these rates to the total
assessed public utility valuation in each classification of
property in the county; and
(2) The state board shall then apply these rates to the
assessed taxable value of other property in each classification in
the county as determined by the Tax Commissioner and shall deduct
therefrom five percent as an allowance for the usual losses in
collections due to discounts, exonerations, delinquencies and the
like. All of the amount so determined shall be added to the
ninety-five percent of public utility taxes computed as provided in subdivision (1) of this subsection and this total shall be further
reduced by the amount due each county assessor's office pursuant to
the provisions of section eight, article one-c, chapter eleven of
this code and this amount shall be the local share of the
particular county.
As to any estimations or preliminary computations of local
share required prior to the report to the Legislature by the Tax
Commissioner, the state shall use the most recent projections or
estimations that may be available from the Tax Department for that
purpose.
(b) Effective July 1, 2013, subsection (a) of this section is
void and local share shall be calculated in accordance with the
following:
(1) The state board shall for each county compute by
application of the levies for general current expense purposes, as
defined in sections two and two-a of this article, the amount of
revenue which the levies would produce if levied upon one hundred
percent of the assessed value calculated pursuant to section
five-b, article one-c, chapter eleven of this code;
(2) Five percent shall be deducted from the revenue calculated
pursuant to subdivision (1) of this subsection as an allowance for
the usual losses in collections due to discounts, exonerations,
delinquencies and the like; and
(3) The amount calculated in subdivision (2) of this
subsection shall further be reduced by the sum of money due each
assessor's office pursuant to the provisions of section eight,
article one-c, chapter eleven of this code and this reduced amount
shall be the local share of the particular county.
(c) Whenever in any year a county assessor or a county
commission fails or refuses to comply with the provisions of this
section in setting the valuations of property for assessment
purposes in any class or classes of property in the county, the
State Tax Commissioner shall review the valuations for assessment
purposes made by the county assessor and the county commission and
shall direct the county assessor and the county commission to make
corrections in the valuations as necessary so that they comply with
the requirements of chapter eleven of this code and this section
and the Tax Commissioner shall enter the county and fix the
assessments at the required ratios. Refusal of the assessor or the
county commission to make the corrections constitutes grounds for
removal from office.
(d) For the purposes of any computation made in accordance
with the provisions of this section, in any taxing unit in which
tax increment financing is in effect pursuant to the provisions of
article eleven-b, chapter seven of this code, the assessed value of
a related private project shall be the base-assessed value as defined in section two of said article.
(e) For purposes of any computation made in accordance with
the provisions of this section, in any county where the county
board of education has adopted a resolution choosing to use the
provisions of the Growth County School Facilities Act set forth in
section six-f, article eight, chapter eleven of this code,
estimated school board revenues generated from application of the
regular school board levy rate to new property values, as that term
is designated in said section, may not be considered local share
funds and shall be subtracted before the computations in
subdivisions (1) and (2), subsection (a) of this section or in
subdivisions (2) and (3), subsection (b) of this section, as
applicable, are made.
(f) The Legislature finds that public libraries are present in
every county in the state and have been, are, and should continue
to be a part of the system of education in the state. Public
school systems throughout the state provide support in varying
degrees to public libraries through a variety of means including
budgeted allocations, excess levy funds and portions of their
regular school board levies as may be provided by special act. A
number of public libraries are situated on the campuses of public
schools and several are within public school buildings serving both
the students and public patrons. To the extent that public schools recognize and choose to avail the resources of Within the system of
education, public libraries toward developing develop within their
students such legally recognized elements of a thorough and
efficient education as literacy, interests in literature, knowledge
of government and the world around them and preparation for
advanced academic training, work and citizenship, and public
libraries serve a legitimate school purpose and do so economically.
Public libraries should therefore be forever encouraged within the
entire scope of a thorough and efficient system of education with
continuing and equal public support by the dedication of public
levy funds. For the purposes of any computation made in accordance
with the provisions of this section the library funding obligation
on the regular school board levies which is created by a special
act and is due and payable from the levy revenues to a library
shall be paid from the county school board's discretionary
retainage, which is hereby defined as the amount by which the
regular school board levies exceeds the local share as determined
hereunder. If the library funding obligation which is created by
a special act and is due and payable to a library is greater than
the county school board's discretionary retainage, the library
funding obligation created by the special act is amended and is
reduced to the amount of the discretionary retainage,
notwithstanding any provisions of the special act to the contrary. Any excess of the discretionary retainage over the library funding
obligation shall be available for expenditure by the county board
in its discretion for its properly budgeted purposes and
notwithstanding any other provision in this chapter to the
contrary, effective July 1, 2014, each county board of education
shall allocate in its annual general current expense budget an
amount equal to no less than one percent (1%) thereof and shall pay
such amount as its library funding obligation to the public library
or public libraries located in the county. If more than one public
library is located in the county, the library funding obligation as
created herein shall be paid by the county board of education to
the public libraries of such county in proportion to the ratio
which the service population of the particular public library bears
to the total service population of all public libraries in the
county, as determined, calculated, and declared from time to time
by the West Virginia Library Commission.
(g) It is the intent of the Legislature that whenever a
provision of subsection (f) of this section is contrary to any
special act of the Legislature which has been or may in the future
be enacted by the Legislature that creates a library funding
obligation on the regular school board levy or on the excess levy
of a county board of education, subsection (f) of this section
controls over the special act. Specifically, the special acts which are subject to said subsection upon the enactment of this
section during the 2007 2013 regular session of the Legislature
include:
(1) Enrolled Senate Bill No. 11, passed on February 12, 1970,
applicable to the Berkeley County Board of Education;
(2) Enrolled House Bill No. 1352, passed on April 7, 1981,
applicable to the Hardy County Board of Education;
(3) Enrolled Committee Substitute for House Bill No. 2833,
passed on March 14, 1987, applicable to the Harrison County Board
of Education;
(4) Enrolled House Bill No. 161, passed on March 6, 1957,
applicable to the Kanawha County Board of Education;
(5) Enrolled Senate Bill No. 313, passed on March 12, 1937, as
amended by Enrolled House Bill No. 1074, passed on March 8, 1967,
and as amended by Enrolled House Bill No. 1195, passed on January
18, 1982, applicable to the Ohio County Board of Education;
(6) Enrolled House Bill No. 938, passed on February 28, 1969,
applicable to the Raleigh County Board of Education;
(7) Enrolled House Bill No. 398, passed on March 1, 1935, and
amended by Enrolled House Bill No. 279, passed on February 27,
1953, applicable to the Tyler County Board of Education;
(8) Enrolled Committee Substitute for Senate Bill No. 450,
passed on March 11, 1994, applicable to the Upshur County Board of Education; and
(9) Enrolled House Bill No. 2994, passed on March 13, 1987,
applicable to the Wood County Board of Education;
____(10) Enrolled House Bill No. 801, passed on March 9, 1967,
applicable to the Cabell County Board of Education; and
____(11) Enrolled Senate Bill No. 20, passed on May 20, 1986,
applicable to the Lincoln County Board of Education.
(h) Notwithstanding any provision of any special act set forth
in subsection (g) of this section to the contrary, the county board
of any county with a special act creating a library obligation out
of the county's regular school levy revenues may transfer that
library obligation so that it becomes a continuing obligation of
its excess levy revenues instead of an obligation of its regular
school levy revenues, subject to the following:
(1) If a county board chooses to transfer the library
obligation pursuant to this subsection, the library funding
obligation shall remain an obligation of the regular school levy
revenues until the fiscal year in which the excess levy is
effective or would have been effective if it had been passed by the
voters;
(2) If a county board chooses to transfer the library
obligation pursuant to this subsection, the county board shall
include the funding of the public library obligation in the same amount as its library funding obligation which exists or had
existed on its regular levy revenues as one of the purposes for the
excess levy to be voted on as a specifically described line item of
the excess levy: Provided, That if the county board has
transferred the library obligation to the excess levy and the
excess levy fails to be passed by the voters or the excess levy
passes and thereafter expires upon the time limit for continuation
as set forth in section sixteen, article eight, chapter eleven of
this code, then in any subsequent excess levy which the county
board thereafter submits to the voters the library funding
obligation again shall be included as one of the purposes of the
subsequent excess levy as a specifically described line item of the
excess levy;
(3) If a county board chooses to transfer the library
obligation pursuant to this subsection, regardless of whether or
not the excess levy passes, effective the fiscal year in which the
excess levy is effective or would have been effective if it had
been passed by the voters, a county's library obligation on its
regular levy revenues is void notwithstanding any provision of the
special acts set forth in subsection (g) of this section to the
contrary; and
(4) Nothing in subdivision (3) of this subsection this chapter
prohibits a county board from funding its public library obligation voluntarily in an amount greater than that provided for herein.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to provide for equal
treatment of county boards of education in funding public libraries
as a part of the system of public education.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from
the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would
be added.