ENROLLED
Senate Bill No. 187
(By Senators Miller, Bailey, Love, Anderson, Dittmar,
Blatnik, Whitlow, Ross, Helmick and Schoonover)
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[Passed March 8, 1995; in effect from passage.]
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AN ACT to amend and reenact sections eleven, twelve and
twelve-a, article seven, chapter twenty of the code of
West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as
amended, all relating to establishing a three-year
registration period for motorboats; establishing a fee of
fifteen dollars for the three-year registration period;
and providing that the assessor shall be furnished boat
registration if the cost price of the vessel exceeds five
hundred dollars or the cost of a motor exceeds two hundred
fifty dollars.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That sections eleven, twelve and twelve-a, article seven,
chapter twenty of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine
hundred thirty-one, as amended, be amended and reenacted, all
to read as follows:
ARTICLE 7. LAW ENFORCEMENT, MOTORBOATING, LITTER.
PART II. MOTORBOATING.
§20-7-11. Motorboats and other terms defined.
As used in this section and subsequent sections of this
article, unless the context clearly requires a different
meaning:
(1) "Vessel" means every description of watercraft, other
than a seaplane on the water, used or capable of being used as
a means of transportation on water;
(2) "Motorboat" means any vessel propelled by an
electrical, steam, gas, diesel or other fuel propelled or
driven motor, whether or not the motor is the principal source
of propulsion, but shall not include a vessel which has a valid
marine document issued by the bureau of customs of the United
States government or any federal agency successor thereto;
(3) "Owner" means a person, other than a lienholder,
having the property in or title to a motorboat. The term
includes a person entitled to the use or possession of a
motorboat subject to an interest in another person, reserved or
created by agreement and securing payment or performance of an
obligation, but the term excludes a lessee under a lease not
intended as security;
(4) "Commissioner" means the commissioner of the division
of motor vehicles; and
(5) "Director" means the director of the division of
natural resources.
§20-7-12. Motorboat identification numbers required;
application for numbers; fee; displaying; reciprocity; change of ownership; conformity with United States
regulations; records; renewal of certificate; transfer of
interest, abandonment, etc.; change of address;
unauthorized numbers; information to be furnished
assessors.
Every motorboat, as herein defined, operating upon public
waters within the territorial limits of this state, shall be
numbered as herein provided:
(a) The owner of each motorboat requiring numbering by
this state shall file an application for a number with the
commissioner on forms approved by the division of motor
vehicles. The application shall be signed by the owner of the
motorboat and shall be accompanied by a fee of fifteen dollars
for a three-year registration period if propelled by a motor of
three or more horsepower. The fee may be prorated by the
commissioner for periods of less than three years. There shall
be no fee for motorboats propelled by motors of less than three
horsepower. All such fees, including those received under
subdivision (b) of this section, shall be deposited in the
state treasury and fifty percent shall be credited to the
division of motor vehicles and shall be used and paid out upon
order of the commissioner solely for the administration of the
certificate of number system. The remaining fifty percent
shall be credited to the division of natural resources and
shall be used and paid out upon order of the director solely
for the enforcement and safety education of the state boating system. Upon receipt of the application in approved form, the
commissioner shall enter the same upon the records of the
division and issue to the applicant a number awarded to the
motorboat and the name and address of the owner. The owner
shall paint on or attach to each side of the bow of the
motorboat the identification number in the manner as may be
prescribed by rules of the commissioner in order that it may be
clearly visible. The number shall be maintained in legible
condition. The certificate of number shall be pocket size and
shall be available at all times for inspection on the motorboat
for which issued, whenever the motorboat is in operation.
(b) In order to permit a motorboat sold to a purchaser by
a dealer to be operated pending receipt of the certificate of
number from the commissioner, the commissioner may deliver to
dealers, upon application therefor and payment of one dollar
for each, temporary certificates of number to in turn be issued
to purchasers of motorboats. Every person who is issued a
temporary certificate by a dealer shall, under the provisions
of subdivision (a) of this section, apply for a certificate of
number no later than ten days from the date of issuance of the
temporary certificate. A temporary certificate shall expire
upon receipt of the certificate, upon recision of the contract
to purchase the motorboat in question or upon the expiration of
forty days from the date of issuance, whichever shall first
occur. It is unlawful for any dealer to issue any temporary
certificate knowingly containing any misstatement of fact or knowingly to insert any false information on the face thereof.
The commissioner may by rule prescribe additional requirements
upon the dealers and purchasers as are consistent with the
effective administration of this section.
(c) The owner of any motorboat already covered by a number
in full force and effect which has been awarded to it pursuant
to then operative federal law or a federally approved numbering
system of another state shall record the number prior to
operating the motorboat on the waters of this state in excess
of the sixty-day reciprocity period provided for in section
fourteen of this article. The recordation shall be in the
manner and pursuant to procedure required for the award of a
number under subdivision (a) of this section, except that an
additional or substitute number shall not be issued.
(d) Should the ownership of a motorboat change, a new
application form with fee shall be filed with the commissioner
and a new certificate of number shall be awarded in the same
manner as provided for in an original award of number.
(e) In the event that an agency of the United States
government shall have in force an overall system of
identification numbering for motorboats within the United
States, the numbering system employed pursuant to this article
by the division of motor vehicles shall be in conformity
therewith.
(f) All records of the director made or kept pursuant to
this section shall be transferred to the commissioner and shall be maintained as public records.
(g) The license shall be valid for a maximum period of
three years. If at the expiration of that period ownership has
remained unchanged, the owner shall, upon application and
payment of the proper fee, be granted a renewal of the
certificate of number for an additional three-year period.
(h) The owner shall furnish the commissioner notice of the
transfer of all or any part of an interest, other than the
creation of a security interest, in a motorboat numbered in
this state pursuant to subdivisions (a) and (b) of this
section, or of the destruction or abandonment of the motorboat,
within fifteen days thereof. The transfer, destruction or
abandonment shall terminate the certificate of number for the
motorboat, except that in the case of a transfer of a part
interest which does not affect the owner's right to operate the
motorboat, the transfer shall not terminate the certificate of
number.
(i) Any holder of a certificate of number shall notify the
commissioner within fifteen days if his or her address no
longer conforms to the address appearing on the certificate and
shall, as a part of the notification, furnish the commissioner
with his or her new address. The commissioner may provide
rules for the surrender of the certificate bearing the former
address and its replacement with a certificate bearing the new
address or for the alteration of an outstanding certificate to
show the new address of the holder.
(j) No number other than the number awarded to a motorboat
or granted reciprocity pursuant to this article shall be
painted, attached or otherwise displayed on either side of the
bow of the motorboat.
(k) It shall be the duty of the commissioner on or before
the thirtieth day of August of each year, commencing with the
year one thousand nine hundred eighty, to forward to the
assessor of each county a list of the names and addresses of
all persons, firms and corporations owning vessels and
operating the same or other boats registered with the
commissioner under the provisions of this article. In
furnishing this information to each county assessor, the
commissioner shall include the information as to make and model
of the vessels and other equipment required to be registered
for use by said owner or operator thereof under the provisions
of this article: Provided, That the commissioner need not
furnish the information to the assessor if the cost price of
the vessel does not exceed five hundred dollars or the cost of
the motor does not exceed two hundred fifty dollars.
(l) No person may operate an unlicensed motorboat upon any
waters of this state without first acquiring the certificate of
number or license as required by law.
§20-7-12a. Payment of personal property taxes prerequisite to
application for certificate or renewal of number; duties
of assessors; schedule of motorboat values.
Certificates of number and renewals therefor shall not be issued or furnished by the division of motor vehicles, or any
other officer charged with the duty, unless the applicant
therefor furnishes the receipt hereinafter provided to show
full payment of the personal property taxes for the calendar
year which immediately precedes the calendar year in which
application is made on all motorboats which were listed with
the division of motor vehicles in the applicant's name on the
tax day for the former calendar year. If the applicant
contends that any motorboat so listed was not subject to
personal property taxation for that year, he or she shall
furnish the information and evidence as the commissioner of
motor vehicles may require to substantiate his or her
contention.
The assessor shall require any person having a duty to
make a return of property for taxation to him or her to furnish
information identifying each motorboat subject to the numbering
provisions of this article. When the property taxes on the
motorboat have been paid, the officer to whom the payment was
made shall deliver to the person paying the taxes a written or
printed receipt therefor, and shall retain for his or her
records a duplicate of the receipt. The assessor and sheriff,
respectively, shall see that the assessment records and the
receipts contain information adequately identifying the
motorboat as registered under the provisions of this article.
The officer receiving payment shall sign each receipt in his or
her own handwriting.
The assessors shall commence their duties hereunder during
the tax year one thousand nine hundred eighty-nine and the
division of motor vehicles shall commence its duties hereunder
as of the first day of January, one thousand nine hundred
ninety.
The state tax commissioner shall annually compile a
schedule of motorboat values, based on the lowest values shown
in a nationally accepted used motorboat guide, which schedule
shall be furnished to each assessor and shall be used by him or
her as a guide in placing the assessed values on all motorboats
in his or her county.