ENROLLED

Committee Substitute

for

H. B. 2434

(By Delegates Riggs, Trump, Linch and Staton)

[Passed March 11, 1995; in effect ninety days from passage.]




AN ACT to amend and reenact section three, article four, chapter eleven of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, relating to including real property designated as "wetlands" in the definition of "farm" which is Class II property for tax and levy purposes.

 Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That section three, article four, chapter eleven of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, be amended and reenacted to read as follows:
ARTICLE 4. ASSESSMENT OF REAL PROPERTY.

§11-4-3. Definitions.

For the purpose of giving effect to the "Tax Limitations Amendment" this chapter shall be interpreted in accordance with the following definitions, unless the context clearly requires a different meaning:
"Owner" means the person who is possessed of the freehold, whether in fee or for life. A person seized or entitled in fee subject to a mortgage or deed of trust securing a debt or liability is deemed the owner until the mortgagee or trustee takes possession, after which such mortgagee or trustee shall be deemed the owner. A person who has an equitable estate of freehold, or is a purchaser of a freehold estate who is in possession before transfer of legal title is also deemed the owner.
"Used and occupied by the owner thereof exclusively for residential purpose" means actual habitation by the owner of all or a portion of a parcel of real property as a place of abode to the exclusion of any commercial use. If a license is required for an activity on the premises or if an activity is conducted thereon which involves the use of equipment of a character not commonly employed solely for domestic as distinguished from commercial purposes, the use may not be construed to be exclusively residential.
"Farm" means a tract or contiguous tracts of land used for agriculture, horticulture or grazing and includes all real property designated as "wetlands" by the United States army corps of engineers or the United States fish and wildlife service.
"Occupied and cultivated" means subjected as a unit to farm purposes, whether used for habitation or not, and although parts may be lying fallow, in timber or in wastelands.