ENROLLED
COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE
FOR
H. B. 2953
(By Delegate Mr. Speaker, Mr. Thompson)
[By Request of the Executive]
[Passed March 12, 2011; in effect from passage.]
AN ACT to amend and reenact §11-13A-20a of the Code of West
Virginia, 1931, as amended; and to amend and reenact
§31-15A-16 of said code, all relating to dedication of coalbed
methane severance tax proceeds; redirecting coalbed methane
severance tax revenues from the Infrastructure Fund to county
economic development authorities or county commissions;
requiring moneys deposited in the Infrastructure Fund prior to
July 1, 2011, be distributed to county economic development
authorities or county commissions; removing requirement that
the Tax Commissioner provide Infrastructure and Jobs
Development Council a breakdown of coalbed methane severance
taxes paid and amount of coalbed methane produced by each
county; providing calculation methods and specifying a minimum
share of coalbed methane severance tax revenue be distributed
to producing counties in an amount at least equal to the share
received by nonproducing counties; providing for portional
adjustments and redesignation for counties deemed nonproducing; providing that no distribution of moneys to
exceed total amount of coalbed methane severance tax received
in any fiscal year; setting forth the purposes for receiving
and conditions of expending such funds by county economic
development authorities and county commissions; requiring
approval of respective county commissions and the Development
Office prior to expending certain funds; prohibiting certain
expenditures by counties or county economic development
authorities; and authorizing and requiring the Development
Office to promulgate legislative rules regarding use of
certain funds, including emergency rules.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That §11-13A-20a of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as
amended, be amended and reenacted; and that §31-15A-16 of said code
be amended and reenacted, all to read as follows:
CHAPTER 11. TAXATION.
ARTICLE 13A. SEVERANCE AND BUSINESS PRIVILEGE TAX ACT.
11-13A-20a. Dedication of tax; authorization of the development
office to promulgate rules.
(a) The amount of taxes collected under this article from
providers of health care items or services, including any interest,
additions to tax and penalties collected under article ten of this
chapter, less the amount of allowable refunds and any interest
payable with respect to such refunds, shall be deposited into the
special revenue fund created in the State Treasurer's Office and known as the Medicaid State Share Fund. Said fund shall have
separate accounting for those health care providers as set forth in
articles four-b and four-c, chapter nine of this code.
(b) Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection (a) of this
section, for the remainder of fiscal year 1993 and for each
succeeding fiscal year, no expenditures from taxes collected from
providers of health care items or services are authorized except in
accordance with appropriations by the Legislature.
(c) The amount of taxes on the privilege of severing timber
collected under section three-b of this article, including any
interest, additions to tax and penalties collected under article
ten of this chapter, less the amount of allowable refunds and any
interest payable with respect to such refunds, shall be paid into
a special revenue account in the State Treasury to be appropriated
by the Legislature for purposes of the Division of Forestry.
(d) Notwithstanding any other provision of this code to the
contrary, beginning January 1, 2009, there is hereby dedicated an
annual amount not to exceed $4 million from annual collections of
the tax imposed by section three-d of this article to be deposited
into the West Virginia Infrastructure Fund, created in section
nine, article fifteen-a, chapter thirty-one of this code.
(e) Beginning with the fiscal year ending June 30, 2009, and
each fiscal year thereafter, the Tax Commissioner shall pay from
the taxes imposed in section three-d of this article, on October 1,
of each year, to the respective county economic development
authorities or county commissions as provided in subsections (f) through (h) of this section, an amount in the aggregate not to
exceed $4 million per fiscal year. Prior to making any such
payment the commissioner shall deduct the amount of refunds
lawfully paid and administrative costs authorized by this code.
All moneys distributed to the West Virginia Infrastructure Fund
pursuant to this section prior to July 1, 2011, shall be returned
to the Tax Commissioner and distributed to the respective county
economic development authorities or county commissions as provided
in this section.
(f) Notwithstanding any provision of this article to the
contrary, prior to the deposit of the proceeds of the tax on
coalbed methane with each county economic development authority or
county commission pursuant to subsection (e) of this section, the
Tax Commissioner shall undertake the following calculations:
(1) Seventy-five percent of the moneys to be deposited shall
be provisionally allocated for the various counties of this state
in which the coalbed methane was produced; and
(2) The remaining twenty-five percent of the moneys to be
deposited shall be provisionally allocated to the various counties
of this state in which no coalbed methane was produced for projects
in accordance with subsection (h) of this section.
(3) Moneys shall be provisionally allocated to each coalbed
methane producing county in direct proportion to the amount of tax
revenues derived from coalbed methane production in the county.
(4) Moneys shall be provisionally allocated to each coalbed
methane nonproducing county equally.
(5) Portional adjustments.
(A) If, for any year, a coalbed methane producing county's
share of money provisionally allocated to that county is computed
to be an amount that is less than the amount provisionally
allocated to each of the coalbed methane nonproducing counties,
then for purposes of the computations set forth in this subsection,
that coalbed methane producing county shall be redesignated a
coalbed methane nonproducing county. The money that has been
provisionally allocated to that coalbed methane producing county
out of the seventy-five percent portion specified in subdivision
(1) of this subsection shall be subtracted out of the seventy-five
percent portion specified in that subdivision and added to the
twenty-five percent portion specified in subdivision (2) of this
subsection.
(B) When the adjustment specified in paragraph (A),
subdivision (4) of this subsection has been made for each coalbed
methane producing county that has been redesignated as a coalbed
methane nonproducing county, then the Tax Department shall finalize
the calculations of the amounts to be made available for
distribution to the respective county development authority or
county commission of the coalbed methane producing counties that
have not been redesignated as coalbed methane nonproducing counties
under subdivision (4) of this subsection as follows: The amount
remaining in the provisional seventy-five percent portion specified
in subdivision (1) of this subsection, as adjusted in accordance
with paragraph (A), subdivision (4) of this subsection, shall be allocated, in direct proportion to the amount that tax revenues
derived from coalbed methane production in each such county not
redesignated as a coalbed methane nonproducing county bears to the
total amount of tax revenues derived from coalbed methane
production in all coalbed methane producing counties that have not
been redesignated as a coalbed methane nonproducing county.
(C) The Tax Commissioner shall then finalize the calculation
of the total amount in the twenty-five percent portion specified in
subdivision (2) of this subsection, as adjusted in accordance with
paragraph (A), subdivision (4) of this subsection equally among the
coalbed methane nonproducing counties.
(g) In no case may the total amount distributed in any fiscal
year to the aggregate of all coalbed methane producing counties and
all coalbed methane nonproducing counties calculated by the Tax
Commissioner exceed the total amount of tax on coalbed methane
authorized to be remitted to the county economic development
authority or county commission pursuant to subsection (e) of this
section.
(h) Distribution of coalbed methane severance tax to county
economic development authorities or county commissions is subject
to the following:
(1) If the amount determined pursuant to subsections (f) and
(g) of this section for a county is more than ten thousand dollars,
the Tax Commissioner shall distribute the amount determined for
that county to the economic development authority of that county
created pursuant to article twelve, chapter seven of this code for the purposes of encouraging economic development in the county.
(2) Each county economic development authority shall use such
funds for the following upon a finding by the county economic
development authority that the cost of such projects are reasonably
anticipated to lead to further economic development of the county:
(i) The cost of preparation of land sites for any public or
private facility; or
(ii) The cost of design or construction of water, sewer and
stormwater infrastructure.
(3) Prior to expending any coalbed methane severance tax
moneys, each county economic development authority must obtain the
approval of its respective county commission in writing for the
purpose of such expenditure.
(4) Prior to expending any coalbed methane severance tax
moneys, each county economic development authority must obtain the
approval of the development office in writing for the purpose of
such expenditure. The Development Office shall approve all plans
for use of the moneys if such plans are within the required uses
provided in subdivision (2) of this subsection. The Director of
the State Development Office shall promulgate legislative rules in
accordance with article three, chapter twenty-nine-a of this code
in order to set forth the required documentation to be submitted to
the Development Office from the county economic development
authorities to ensure that such funds are utilized as intended by
the Legislature. The Director of the Development Office is
authorized to promulgate emergency rules to implement the provisions of this section.
(5) A county or county economic development authority may not
use such funds for the purposes of paying wages to any employee of
the county or any employee of a county economic development
authority.
(6) If the amount determined pursuant to subsections (f) and
(g) of this section for a county is ten thousand dollars or less,
the Tax Commissioner shall distribute the amount determined for
that county to the county commission. The county commission may
then use the funds to offset its regional jail costs, costs of any
community corrections programs in which it participates, expenses
of a volunteer fire department that provides service within its
county or expenses of any library that provides services within its
county.
CHAPTER 31. CORPORATIONS.
ARTICLE 15A. WEST VIRGINIA INFRASTRUCTURE AND JOBS DEVELOPMENT
ACT.
§31-15A-16. Dedication of severance tax proceeds.
(a) There shall be dedicated an annual amount from the
collections of the tax collected pursuant to article thirteen-a,
chapter eleven of this code for the construction, extension,
expansion, rehabilitation, repair and improvement of water supply
and sewage treatment systems and for the acquisition, preparation,
construction and improvement of sites for economic development in
this state as provided in this article.
(b) Notwithstanding any other provision of this code to the
contrary, beginning on July 1, 1995, the first $16 million of the
tax collected pursuant to article thirteen-a, chapter eleven of
this code shall be deposited to the credit of the West Virginia
Infrastructure General Obligation Debt Service Fund created
pursuant to section three, article fifteen-b of this chapter
:
Provided, That beginning on July 1, 1998, the first $24 million of
the tax annually collected pursuant to article thirteen-a of this
code shall be deposited to the credit of the West Virginia
Infrastructure General Obligation Debt Service Fund created
pursuant to section three, article fifteen-b of this chapter.
(c) Notwithstanding any provision of subsection (b) of this
section to the contrary: (1) None of the collections from the tax
imposed pursuant to section six, article thirteen-a, chapter eleven
of this code shall be so dedicated or deposited; and (2) the
portion of the tax imposed by article thirteen-a, chapter eleven
and dedicated for purposes of Medicaid and the Division of Forestry
pursuant to section twenty-a of said article thirteen-a shall
remain dedicated for the purposes set forth in that section
twenty-a.
(d) On or before May 1 of each year, commencing May 1, 1995,
the council, by resolution, shall certify to the Treasurer and the
Water Development Authority the principal and interest coverage
ratio and amount for the following fiscal year on any
infrastructure general obligation bonds issued pursuant to the
provisions of article fifteen-b of this chapter.
.