Senate Bill No. 256
(By Senators Edgell, Barnes, Minard, Hunter, Love and Kessler)
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[Introduced January 24, 2006; referred to the Committee
on Agriculture; and then to the Committee on Finance.]
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A BILL to amend and reenact §11-3-9 of the Code of West Virginia,
1931, as amended, relating to exempting farming equipment
and livestock from personal property taxation.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That §11-3-9 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended,
be amended and reenacted to read as follows:
ARTICLE 3. ASSESSMENTS GENERALLY.
§11-3-9. Property exempt from taxation.
(a) All property, real and personal, described in this
subsection, and to the extent herein limited, is exempt from
taxation:
(1) Property belonging to the United States, other than
property permitted by the United States to be taxed under state
law;
(2) Property belonging exclusively to the state;
(3) Property belonging exclusively to any county, district,
city, village or town in this state, and used for public
purposes;
(4) Property located in this state, belonging to any city,
town, village, county or any other political subdivision of
another state, and used for public purposes;
(5) Property used exclusively for divine worship;
(6) Parsonages and the household goods and furniture
pertaining thereto;
(7) Mortgages, bonds and other evidence of indebtedness in
the hands of bona fide owners and holders hereafter issued and
sold by churches and religious societies for the purposes of
securing money to be used in the erection of church buildings
used exclusively for divine worship, or for the purpose of paying
indebtedness thereon;
(8) Cemeteries;
(9) Property belonging to, or held in trust for, colleges,
seminaries, academies and free schools, if used for educational,
literary or scientific purposes, including books, apparatus,
annuities and furniture;
(10) Property belonging to, or held in trust for, colleges
or universities located in West Virginia, or any public or
private nonprofit foundation or corporation which receives
contributions exclusively for such college or university, if the property or dividends, interest, rents or royalties derived
therefrom are used or devoted to educational purposes of such
college or university;
(11) Public and family libraries;
(12) Property used for charitable purposes, and not held or
leased out for profit;
(13) Property used for the public purposes of distributing
water or natural gas, or providing sewer service by a duly
chartered nonprofit corporation when such property is not held,
leased out or used for profit;
(14) Property used for area economic development purposes by
nonprofit corporations when such property is not leased out for
profit;
(15) All real estate not exceeding one acre in extent, and
the buildings thereon, used exclusively by any college or
university society as a literary hall, or as a dormitory or
clubroom, if not used with a view to profit, including, but not
limited to, property owned by a fraternity or sorority
organization affiliated with a university or college, or property
owned by a nonprofit housing corporation or similar entity on
behalf of a fraternity or sorority organization affiliated with a
university or college, when the property is used as residential
accommodations, or as a dormitory for members of the
organization;
(16) All property belonging to benevolent associations, not
conducted for private profit;
(17) Property belonging to any public institution for the
education of the deaf, dumb or blind, or any hospital not held or
leased out for profit;
(18) Houses of refuge and mental health facility or
orphanage;
(19) Homes for children or for the aged, friendless or
infirm, not conducted for private profit;
(20) Fire engines and implements for extinguishing fires,
and property used exclusively for the safekeeping thereof, and
for the meeting of fire companies;
(21) All property on hand to be used in the subsistence of
livestock on hand at the commencement of the assessment year;
(22) Household goods to the value of two hundred dollars,
whether or not held or used for profit;
(23) Bank deposits and money;
(24) Household goods, which for purposes of this section
means only personal property and household goods commonly found
within the house and items used to care for the house and its
surrounding property, when not held or used for profit;
(25) Personal effects, which for purposes of this section
means only articles and items of personal property commonly worn
on or about the human body, or carried by a person and normally thought to be associated with the person when not held or used
for profit;
(26) Dead victuals laid away for family use;
(27) All property belonging to the state, any county,
district, city, village, town or other political subdivision, or
any state college or university which is subject to a lease
purchase agreement and which provides that, during the term of
the lease purchase agreement, title to the leased property rests
in the lessee so long as lessee is not in default or shall not
have terminated the lease as to the property; and
(28) Personal property, including livestock, employed
exclusively in agriculture, as defined in article ten, section
one of the West Virginia Constitution, the products of
agriculture, and while owned by the producer; and
(28)
(29) Any other property or security exempted by any
other provision of law.
(b) Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection (a) of this
section, no property is exempt from taxation which has been
purchased or procured for the purpose of evading taxation,
whether temporarily holding the same over the first day of the
assessment year or otherwise.
(c) Real property which is exempt from taxation by
subsection (a) of this section shall be entered upon the
assessor's books, together with the true and actual value thereof, but no taxes may be levied upon the property or extended
upon the assessor's books.
(d) Notwithstanding any other provisions of this section,
this section does not exempt from taxation any property owned by,
or held in trust for, educational, literary, scientific,
religious or other charitable corporations or organizations,
including any public or private nonprofit foundation or
corporation existing for the support of any college or university
located in West Virginia, unless such property, or the dividends,
interest, rents or royalties derived therefrom, is used primarily
and immediately for the purposes of the corporations or
organizations.
(e) The Tax Commissioner shall, by issuance of rules,
provide each assessor with guidelines to ensure uniform
assessment practices statewide to effect the intent of this
section.
(f) Inasmuch as there is litigation pending regarding
application of this section to property held by fraternities and
sororities, amendments to this section enacted in the year one
thousand nine hundred ninety-eight shall apply to all cases and
controversies pending on the date of such enactment.
(g) The amendment to subdivision (27), subsection (a) of
this section, passed during the two thousand five regular session
of the Legislature, shall apply to all applicable lease purchase agreements in existence upon the effective date of the amendment.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to exempt farming
equipment and livestock from personal property taxation.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken
from the present law, and underscoring indicates new language
that would be added.