Senate Bill No. 289
(By Senators Yoder, Wagner, Bailey, Wooton
,
Love, Anderson, Miller, Helmick, Chafin, and Ross)
____________
[Introduced February 8, 1995; referred to the Committee
on Finance.]
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A BILL to amend chapter five-b of the code of West Virginia, one
thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, by adding
thereto a new article, designated article three, relating to
the creation of the West Virginia "Job Creation Zones Act of
1995"; providing for certain tax exemptions for qualified
new businesses in the ten West Virginia counties with the
highest rate of unemployment; and providing other conditions
and procedures.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That chapter five-b of the code of West Virginia, one
thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, be amended by
adding thereto a new article, designated article three, to read
as follows:
ARTICLE 3. WEST VIRGINIA JOB CREATION ZONES ACT OF 1995.
§5B-3-1. Legislative purpose.
The Legislature hereby finds and declares that the health,
safety and welfare of the people of West Virginia are enhanced by
the continual encouragement, development, growth and expansion of
private enterprise within this state, and that there are certain
economically depressed areas in the state that need particular
attention to create new jobs, stimulate economic activity and
attract private sector investment rather than government subsidy
to improve the quality of life of their citizens. It is the
purpose of the Legislature to encourage new economic activity in
these depressed areas of the state by means of tax relief and the
removal of unnecessary governmental barriers to the production
and earning of wages and profits and the creation of economic
growth.
§5B-3-2. Definitions.
As used in this article:
"Qualified new business" means any person, corporation or
other entity who, during the time of designation of a job creation zone, is engaged in the active conduct of a trade or
business in a job creation zone in one of the ten counties in
West Virginia with the highest unemployment rate for the last
year:
(a) That is not a business involved in mineral extraction,
mining, timber harvesting, farming or mining or harvesting
natural resources; and
(b) The county commission where the qualified new business
will be located certifies that the qualified new business will
not directly compete with sales of products made or services
provided by an existing business in the county or an adjacent
county, and, that it is not a reconfiguration or restructuring of
an existing or previously existing business or business
organization or other entity.
§5B-3-3. Job creation zone tax exemptions.
Notwithstanding any provision of this code to the contrary,
the following exemptions apply to job creation zones:
(a) A qualified new business shall be exempt from the taxes
imposed on it by articles twelve-a, thirteen, thirteen-b, twenty-one and twenty-four, chapter eleven of this code;
(b) Any venture capital company authorized under the
provisions of article one, chapter five-e of this code, lending
institution, individual or other entity who loans money to a
qualified new business is exempt from the taxes imposed on it for
any interest earned or received from the qualified new business;
and
(c) Any venture capital company authorized under the
provisions of article one, chapter five-e of this code, lending
institution, individual or other entity is exempt from the taxes
imposed on it for any gain earned or received from the sale of
stock purchased in a qualified new business.
§5B-3-4. Job creation zone conditions for tax exemptions.
The following additional conditions apply to job creation
zone qualified new businesses:
(a) The exemptions provided for in this article shall apply
for a period of twenty years from the commencement of the
qualified new business;
(b) The exemptions shall be in effect for any qualified new business commencing within ten years after the effective date of
this article;
(c) Any changes or amendments to this article shall not be
retroactively imposed to restrict past or future exemptions
conferred by this article upon qualified new businesses that rely
upon the provisions of this article;
(d) Any person, corporation or other entity engaged in a
business in existence before the effective date of this article
that proves, in a civil action brought in the circuit court of
the county in which it is located, that it has been harmed by
competition from any qualified new business, then the person,
corporation or other business entity harmed by the competition
shall be entitled to the same exemptions provided for in this
article, plus attorney's fees, for the cost of bringing the civil
action to prove the damage to the existing business; and
(e) The exemptions provided for by this article shall apply
to the counties that are among the ten counties with the highest
unemployment rate for the previous year as of the first day of
January of each year: Provided, That counties that qualify may change during the ten year period if their unemployment rate
changes.
NOTE: This bill creates the "West Virginia Job Creation
Zones Act of 1995" that exempts qualified new businesses from
taxation; and exempts interest earned by entities that make loans
to these qualified new businesses or gains from the sale of stock
in a qualified new business. The qualified new business must be
in one of the ten counties in the state with the highest
unemployment rate for the last year.
This article is new; therefore, strike-throughs and
underscoring have been omitted.