Senate Bill No. 524

(By Senators Helmick, Love and Ross)

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[Introduced February 20, 1995;

referred to the Committee on Finance.]

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A BILL to amend article six-a, chapter eleven of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, by adding thereto a new section, designated section five, relating to the property tax treatment of personal property installed at a coal waste disposal power project.

Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That article six-a, chapter eleven of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, be amended by adding thereto a new section, designated section five, to read as follows:
ARTICLE 6A. POLLUTION CONTROL FACILITIES TAX TREATMENT.

§11-6A-5. Coal waste disposal power projects.
(a) Notwithstanding any other provisions of this article, a coal waste disposal power project designed, constructed or installed to reclaim, burn and dispose of coal wastes in compliance with applicable air and water quality standards and which meets the criteria for financing under section twenty-one, article two-c, chapter thirteen of this code shall, for purposes of section three of this article, be subject to the provisions of this section.
(b) All items of personal property installed at a coal waste disposal power project shall be deemed a pollution control facility for purposes of this article, subject to an allocation of value as contemplated by section four of this article, as provided by this subsection. In allocating value, the tax commissioner shall accord salvage valuation to a portion of the total personal property at the project. The portion shall be equal to the ratio of West Virginia coal waste burned and disposed of at the project to the total, by heat content (BTU), of West Virginia coal and West Virginia coal waste burned and disposed at the project during the previous calendar year. The remaining portion of the personal property at the project, but in no event less than twenty-five percent of that total, shall be valued without regard to this article.

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(NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to clarify the tax treatment of personal property located at coal waste disposal power projects.)

FINANCE COMMITTEE AMENDMENTS



On page ___, section five, line ___, after the word "of" by adding the words "tons of";
On page ___, section five, lines ___, after the word "total" by striking out the comma;
On page ___, section five, lines ___, by striking out the words "by heat content (BTU), of West Virginia" and inserting in lieu thereof the words "tons of";
On page ___, section five, line ___, after the words "coal and" by striking out the words "West Virginia"; and
On page ___, section five, line __, after the word "article" by adding the following ": Provided, That the facility shall not qualify as a pollution control facility under this subsection if it burns coal, coal waste, or fuel waste from outside the state of West Virginia".