H. B. 2544
(By Delegate Angotti)
[Introduced February 26, 2001; referred to the
Committee on the Judiciary.]
A BILL to amend and reenact sections five and forty-five, article
three, chapter eleven-a of the code of West Virginia, one
thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, relating to
providing that when land is offered for sale for delinquent
taxes and it is contiguous to lands owned by the state that
the state has priority to acquire the land over private
interests; and, defining the term "state."
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That sections five and forty-five, article three, chapter
eleven-a of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred
thirty-one, as amended, be amended and reenacted to read as
follows:
ARTICLE 3. COLLECTION AND ENFORCEMENT OF PROPERTY TAXES.
§11A-3-5. Sale by sheriff; immunity; penalty; mandamus.
(a) The tax lien on each unredeemed tract or lot, or each unredeemed part thereof or undivided interest therein shall be sold
by the sheriff, in the same order as set forth in the list and
notice prescribed in section two of this article, at public auction
to the highest bidder, between the hours of nine in the morning and
four in the afternoon on any business working day after the
fourteenth day of October and before the twenty-third day of
November:
Provided, That no tax lien for such unredeemed tract or
lot or undivided interest therein
shall may be sold upon any bid or
for any sum less than the total amount of taxes, interest and
charges then due:
Provided, however, That at
any such the sale,
the tax lien for each unredeemed tract or lot, or undivided
interest therein, shall be offered for sale and sold for the
entirety of such tract or lot or undivided interest therein as the
same is described and constituted as a unit or entity in the list
and notice prescribed in section two of this article:
Provided
further, That if the land is contiguous to land owned by the state
as a state park or state forest the state shall have priority over
others to purchase the land for an amount equal to the highest bid,
or, if no other bid exists, upon the payment of an amount equal to
the total amount of taxes, interest and charges then due. For the
purposes of this section, "state" means an existing department,
division, agency or instrumentality of state government that holds
title to or is legally empowered to hold title to the state park or
state forest. If the sale
shall not be is not completed on the day designated in the notice for the holding of
such the
sale, it shall
be continued from day to day between the same hours until
disposition shall have been is made of all the land. The payment
for any tax lien purchased at a sale shall be made by check or
money order payable to the sheriff of the county and delivered
before the close of business on the day of the sale.
(b) Each sheriff is immune from liability if a loss or claim
results from the sale of a tax lien conducted pursuant to the
provisions of this article or from any subsequent conveyance of the
property to which the lien attaches: Provided, That where a
sheriff fails or refuses to sell said the tax lien pursuant to the
provisions of this article for reasons other than those provided by
section seven of this article, the sheriff may be compelled by
mandamus to sell the same lien upon the petition of the auditor or
any taxpayer of the county in a court of competent jurisdiction.
§11A-3-45. Deputy commissioner to hold annual auction.
(a) Each tract or lot certified to the deputy commissioner
pursuant to the preceding section shall be sold by the deputy
commissioner at public auction at the courthouse of the county to
the highest bidder between the hours of nine in the morning and
four in the afternoon on any business working day within one
hundred twenty days after the auditor has certified the lands to
the deputy commissioner as required by the preceding section:
Provided, That if the land is contiguous to land owned by the state as a state park or state forest the state shall have priority over
others to purchase the land for an amount equal to the highest bid,
or, if no other bid exists, upon the payment of an amount equal to
the total amount of taxes, interest and charges then due. For the
purposes of this section, "state" means an existing department,
division, agency or instrumentality of state government that holds
title to or is legally empowered to hold title to the state park or
state forest. The payment for any tract or lot purchased at a sale
shall be made by check or money order payable to the sheriff of the
county and delivered before the close of business on the day of
sale. No part or interest in any tract or lot subject to such
sale, or any part thereof of interest therein, that is less than
the entirety of such unredeemed tract, lot or interest, as the same
is described and constituted as a unit or entity in said list,
shall be offered for sale or sold at such sale. If the sale shall
not be is not completed on the first day of the sale, it shall be
continued from day to day between the same hours until all the land
shall have been is offered for sale.
(b) A private, nonprofit, charitable corporation, incorporated
in this state, which has been certified as a nonprofit corporation
pursuant to the provisions of Section 501(c)(3) of the federal
Internal Revenue Code, as amended, which has as its principal
purpose the construction of housing or other public facilities and
which notifies the deputy commissioner of an intention to bid and subsequently submits a bid that is not more than five percent lower
than the highest bid submitted by any person or organization which
is not a private, nonprofit, charitable corporation as defined in
this subsection, shall be sold the property offered for sale by the
deputy commissioner pursuant to the provisions of this section at
the public auction as opposed to the highest bidder.
The nonprofit corporation referred to in this subsection does
not include a business organized for profit, a labor union, a
partisan political organization or an organization engaged in
religious activities and it does not include any other group which
does not have as its principal purpose the construction of housing
or public facilities.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to provide that when land
contiguous to a state park or state forest is sold for delinquent
taxes that the state has first right to purchase the land. The
bill gives the state the right pursuant to the sheriff's sale and
to the later auction by the special commissioner of forfeited
lands.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from
the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would
be added.
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