ENROLLED
COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE
FOR
Senate Bill No. 258
(Senators Whitlow, Helmick, Ross and Sharpe,
original sponsors)
____________
[Passed March 9, 1995; in effect ninety days from passage.]
____________
AN ACT to amend and reenact sections one, two, four, five and
six, article three-a, chapter seventeen of the code of
West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as
amended, all relating to the creation of an industrial
access road fund and providing funding therefor;
specifying purposes for which moneys from the fund may be
used; requiring that counties and municipalities guarantee
proposed projects; specifying the criteria upon which the
highways commissioner is to base his or her decision to
allocate funds; approval of division of highways of
proposed industrial access highway; request for funds by
resolution of governing body of county or municipality;
consultation by the division of highways; restrictions on
use of the fund; limits on amount of funds to be
allocated; disbursements from the fund; and annual audit
of the fund.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That sections one, two, four, five and six, article
three-a, chapter seventeen of the code of West Virginia, one
thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, be amended and
reenacted, all to read as follows:
ARTICLE 3A. INDUSTRIAL ACCESS ROAD FUND.
§17-3A-1.
Industrial access road fund created; construction
guarantees by municipalities and counties.
(a) Any other provision of this code notwithstanding,
there is hereby created in the state treasury the "industrial
access road fund", hereinafter referred to as "the fund".
There shall be deposited into the fund three fourths of one
percent of all state tax collections which are otherwise
specifically dedicated by the provisions of this code to the
state road fund or such percentage of those tax collections
that will produce three million dollars for each fiscal year.
At the end of each fiscal year, all unused moneys in the fund
shall revert to the state road fund.
(b) The moneys in the fund shall be expended by the
division of highways for constructing and maintaining
industrial access roads within counties and municipalities to
industrial sites on which manufacturing, distribution,
processing or other economic development activities, including
publicly owned airports, are already constructed or are under
firm contract to be constructed. In the event there is no industrial site already constructed or for which the
construction is under firm contract, a county or municipality
may guarantee to the division of highways by bond or other
acceptable device that an industrial site will be constructed
and if no industrial site acceptable to the division of
highways is constructed within the time limits of the bond,
such bond shall be forfeited.
§17-3A-2. Division of highways to determine construction of
industrial access roads.
In determining whether or not to construct or improve any
industrial access road and in determining the nature of the
road to be constructed, the division of highways shall base its
decision on the costs of the industrial access road in relation
to the volume and nature of the traffic to be generated as a
result of developing the industrial site within the total
industrial area. In making a decision on any industrial site,
the total volume of traffic to be generated shall be considered
in regard to the overall cost of the project. The division of
highways shall consult and work in cooperation with the West
Virginia development office in determining the use of
industrial access road funds.
Prior to a formal request for the use of moneys from the
fund to provide access to new or expanding industrial sites,
the location of the industrial access road shall be submitted
for approval of the division of highways. The division of highways shall consider the cost of the industrial access road
as it relates to the project's location and as it relates to
the possibility of future extensions of the road to serve other
possible industrial sites as well as the future development of
the surrounding area.
Prior to the allocation of moneys from the fund for the
construction or maintenance of an industrial access road to an
industry proposing to locate or expand in a county or
municipality, the governing body of the county or municipality
shall, by resolution, request moneys from the fund and shall be
responsible for the preliminary negotiations with the
industries and other interested parties. The division of
highways shall be available for consultation with the governing
bodies of the counties or municipalities and other interested
parties and may prepare surveys, plans, engineering studies and
cost estimates for the proposed industrial access road.
§17-3A-4. Restrictions on use of fund.
(a) The fund may not be used for the adjustment of
utilities or for the construction of industrial access roads to
schools, hospitals, libraries, armories, shopping centers,
apartment buildings, government installations or similar
facilities, whether public or private. The fund may not be
used to construct industrial access roads on private property.
(b) Moneys from the fund may not be allocated until the
governing body of the county or municipality certifies to the division of highways that the industrial site is constructed
and operating or is under firm contract to be constructed or
operated, or upon the presentation of acceptable surety in
accordance with section one of this article.
(c) Not more than three hundred thousand dollars of
unmatched moneys from the fund may be allocated for use in any
one county in any fiscal year. The maximum amount of unmatched
moneys which may be allocated from the fund is ten percent of
the fair market value of the designated industrial
establishment. The amount of unmatched funds allocated may be
supplemented with additional matched moneys from the fund, in
which case the matched moneys allocated from the fund may not
exceed one hundred fifty thousand dollars, to be matched
equally from sources other than the fund. The amount of
matched moneys which may be allocated from the fund over and
above the unmatched funds may not exceed five percent of the
fair market value of the designated industrial site.
(d) Funds may only be allocated to those items of
construction and engineering which are essential to providing
an adequate facility to serve the anticipated traffic. Funds
may not be allocated for items such as storm sewers, curbs,
gutters and extra pavement width unless necessary to extend or
connect an existing access road.
§17-3A-5. Disbursements from fund.
Any claim of a contractor or others, not otherwise provided for, for labor done or for materials, services or
supplies furnished to the division of highways pursuant to the
provisions of this article shall be audited by the commissioner
of the division of highways. If the commissioner determines
that the claim is valid and correct, the commissioner shall
issue a requisition of the division upon the state auditor
therefor showing the nature of the claim and specifying whether
the claim is for labor done or materials, services or supplies
furnished for the construction or maintenance of state roads,
or for other purposes, and the auditor shall issue his or her
warrant upon the state treasurer therefor. The treasurer shall
issue the warrant to the person, firm or corporation entitled
thereto out of the funds in the treasury provided for that
purpose. The cost of acquiring a right-of-way shall be paid
out of the fund.
§17-3A-6. Annual audit to be made of receipts and expenditures
of fund.
The Legislature, acting through the joint committee on
government and finance, shall cause an annual audit to be made
by a resident independent certified public accountant of all
books, accounts and records relating to all receipts and
expenditures of the fund. The commissioner shall make
available to the independent auditor or auditors performing the
audit all of the division's books, accounts and records
pertaining to all moneys received and expended. The auditor or auditors performing the audit shall make available annually the
audit report with copies thereof to the members of the
Legislature, the governor, the commissioner of the division of
highways, the secretary of state, the state treasurer, the
attorney general and the state auditor. The audit report shall
be available to the public in the office of the secretary of
state.
The Legislature, acting through the joint committee on
government and finance, shall obtain the services of a resident
independent certified public accountant for this purpose, the
cost of which shall be payable out of funds appropriated by the
Legislature. Any audits of the funds which have been made by
any official auditing agency of the United States government
shall be accepted in lieu of the state audit.