Senate Bill No. 711
(By Senator Love)
____________
[Introduced February 19, 2007; referred to the Committee on
Agriculture; and then to the Committee on Finance.]
____________
A BILL to amend the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, by
adding thereto a new section, designated §11-1C-11c, relating
to creating open and closed classifications of managed
timberland; assessment; valuations; and taxes imposed.
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 §11-1C-11c, to read as
follows:
ARTICLE 1C. FAIR AND EQUITABLE PROPERTY VALUATION.
§11-1C-11c. Open, closed and restricted areas.
(a)
Scope. -- This article applies to owners of twenty-five
hundred acres or more of land certified as managed timberland and
subject to a cooperative contract with the Division of Forestry
pursuant to section eleven-a of this article.
(b)
Open areas; restriction. -- Except as provided in
subdivisions (1) and (2), each owner subject to the provisions of
this article shall permit public access to the land for hunting, fishing, hiking, sight-seeing, photography and cross-country
skiing.
(1) An owner may restrict public access to any area of open
managed forestland which is within three hundred feet of any
building or within three hundred feet of a commercial logging
operation that conforms to the management plan.
(2) An owner may prohibit the use of motor vehicles, motor
cycles, all terrain vehicles and snowmobiles on any open managed
forestland. At the request of an owner, the department may provide
assistance in enforcing the prohibition.
(c)
Closed areas. -- An owner subject to the provisions of
this section may designate the property as closed to public access.
Provided, That the acres comprising the closed area are assessed
pursuant to subsection (g) of this section.
(1) If an owner designates any area of certified managed
timberland as closed, any addition to the land may be designated as
closed only under the following conditions:
(A) The addition does not exceed twenty-five percent of the
acreage at the time the land was designated as closed; and
(B) The addition is contiguous to the area that is already
designated as closed.
(3) If all or any part of closed managed timberland is
withdrawn or transferred, the owner may designate a different or an
additional closed area if it meets the requirements of (1)(A)of
this section.
(d)
Modification of designation. -- The owner of certified managed timberland may modify the designation of a closed or open
area two times during the term of the cooperative contract.
(e)
Signs.-- An owner may post signs specifying the
designation of or restrictions applicable to any area of managed
forest land. The department may, by rule, specify design standards
for these signs.
(f)
Penalty.-- Any person who fails to comply with subsection
(a) or any rule promulgated under this section shall be subject to
forfeit not more than five hundred dollars.
(g)
Tax roll.-- The assessor, upon receipt of a designation of
either open or closed, shall enter in a special column or other
appropriate place on the tax roll the description of each parcel of
land designated as managed timberland, and shall specify the
acreage of each parcel that is designated open or closed. The land
shall be assessed as indicated below and is subject to review
pursuant to section eleven-b of this article.
(h)
Valuation for closed land.--
(1) Land that is certified managed timberland designated as
closed, will be treated as noncertified managed timberland and
assessed in accordance with subdivision (b), section eleven-b of
this article.
(2) Managed timberland designated as closed but subject to a
leasehold for value will be treated as noncertified managed
timberland and assessed in accordance with subdivision (b), section
eleven-b of this article and an amount that is equal to twenty
percent of the average statewide property tax per acre of Class III property as defined in section five, article eight of this chapter
for each acre that is designated as closed in accordance with this
article.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to create open and closed
classifications for certified managed timberlands,
assessment,
valuations, and taxes imposed.
This section is new; therefore, strike-throughs and
underscoring have been omitted.