Senate Bill No. 187
(By Senators Miller, Bailey, Love, Anderson, Dittmar,
Blatnik, Whitlow, Ross, Helmick and Schoonover)
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[Introduced January 26, 1995; referred to the Committee
on Natural Resources; and then to the Committee on Finance.]
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A BILL 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; and establishing a fee of fifteen dollars for the
three-year registration period.
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 two hundred dollars or the cost of the motor does not
exceed one hundred seventy-five 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.
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(NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to assess motorboat
registration fees for a maximum three-year registration period.)