Senate Bill No. 29

(By Senator Hunter)

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[Introduced January 12, 2000; referred to the Committee on Government Organization; and then to the Committee on Finance.]
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A BILL to amend and reenact section four, article thirteen-a, chapter sixteen of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, relating to providing that a public service district which sells water for resale to other water utilities in addition to servicing retail customers may adopt an alternative method of determining the salaries of its board members which is based on the annual revenues of the public service district.

Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That section four, article thirteen-a, chapter sixteen of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, be amended and reenacted to read as follows:
ARTICLE 13A. PUBLIC SERVICE DISTRICTS FOR WATER, SEWERAGE AND GAS SERVICES.

§16-13A-4. Board chairman; members' compensation; procedure; district name.
The chairman shall preside at all meetings of the board and may vote as any other members of the board but if he or she should be absent from any meeting, the remaining members may select a temporary chairman and if the member selected as chairman resigns as such or ceases for any reason to be a member of the board, the board shall select one of its members as chairman to serve until the next annual organization meeting. Salaries of each of its board members shall be as follows: For districts with fewer than six hundred customers, each board member may receive seventy-five dollars per attendance at regular monthly meetings and fifty dollars per attendance at additional special meetings, total salary not to exceed fifteen hundred dollars per annum; for districts with six hundred customers or more but fewer than two thousand customers, each board member may receive one hundred dollars per attendance at regular monthly meetings and seventy-five dollars per attendance at additional special meetings, total salary not to exceed two thousand five hundred fifty dollars per annum; for districts with two thousand customers or more, each board member may receive one hundred twenty-five dollars per attendance at regular monthly meetings and seventy-five dollars per attendance at additional special meetings, total salary not to exceed three thousand seven hundred fifty dollars per annum; and for districts with four thousand or more customers, each board member may receive one hundred fifty dollars per attendance at regular monthly meetings and one hundred dollars per attendance at additional special meetings, total salary not to exceed five thousand four hundred dollars per annum. Those public service districts which also sell water for resale to other water utilities may instead adopt the following method of determining salaries for its board members: For districts with annual revenues of less than fifty thousand dollars, each board member may receive seventy-five dollars per attendance at regular monthly meetings and fifty dollars per attendance at additional special meetings, total salary not to exceed fifteen hundred dollars per annum; for districts with annual revenues of fifty thousand dollars or more, but less than two hundred fifty thousand dollars, each board member may receive one hundred dollars per attendance at regular monthly meetings and seventy-five dollars per attendance at special meetings, total salary not to exceed two thousand five hundred fifty dollars per annum; for districts with annual revenues of two hundred fifty thousand dollars or more, but less than five hundred thousand dollars, each board member may receive one hundred twenty-five dollars per attendance at regular monthly meetings and seventy-five dollars per attendance at additional special meetings, total salary not to exceed three thousand seven hundred fifty dollars per annum; and for districts with annual revenues of five hundred thousand dollars or more, each board member may receive one hundred fifty dollars per attendance at regular monthly meetings and one hundred dollars per attendance at additional special meetings, total salary not to exceed five thousand four hundred dollars per annum. The public service district shall certify the number of customers served to the public service commission beginning on the first day of July, one thousand nine hundred eighty-six, and continue each fiscal year thereafter. Board members may be reimbursed for all reasonable and necessary expenses actually incurred in the performance of their duties as provided for by the rules of the board. The board shall by resolution determine its own rules of procedure, fix the time and place of its meetings and the manner in which special meetings may be called. Public notice of meetings shall be given in accordance with section three, article nine-a, chapter six of this code. Emergency meetings may be called as provided by said section. A majority of the members constituting the board also constitute a quorum to do business. The members of the board are not personally liable or responsible for any obligations of the district or the board but are answerable only for willful misconduct in the performance of their duties. At any time prior to the issuance of bonds as hereinafter provided, the board may by resolution change the official or corporate name of the public service district and such change shall be effective from and after filing an authenticated copy of such resolution with the clerk of the county commission of each county in which the territory embraced within such district or any part thereof is located and with the public service commission. The official name of any district created under the provisions of this article may contain the name or names of any city, incorporated town or other municipal corporation included therein or the name of any county or counties in which it is located.



NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to provide that a public service district which sells water for resale to other water utilities in addition to servicing retail customers, may adopt an alternative method of determining the salaries of its board members which is based on the annual revenues of the PSD.

Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would be added.