HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 109
(By Delegates Hutchins, Fleischauer
and L. White)
[Introduced February 16, 1998; referred to
the Committee on Constitutional Revision.]
Proposing an amendment to the Constitution of the State of West
Virginia, amending section one, article ten thereof,
relating to permitting the state and municipalities, along
with the counties, to levy property taxes; permitting a
phase out of tax on personal property; permitting lower
rates on improvements than on land; numbering and
designating such proposed amendment; and providing a
summarized statement of the purpose of such proposed
amendment.
Resolved by the Legislature of West Virginia, two thirds of
the members elected to each house agreeing thereto:
That the question of ratification or rejection of an amendment
to the Constitution of the State of West Virginia be submitted to
the voters of the State at the next general election to be held
in the year one thousand nine hundred ninety-eight, which
proposed amendment is that section one, article ten thereof be
amended, to read as follows:
ARTICLE X. TAXATION AND FINANCE.
§1. Taxation and finance.
(a) Subject to the exceptions in this section contained,
taxation shall be equal and uniform throughout the state, and all
property, both real and personal, shall be taxed in proportion to
its value to be ascertained as directed by law. No one species
of property from which a tax may be collected shall be taxed
higher than any other species of property of equal value; except
that the aggregate of taxes assessed in any one year upon
personal property employed exclusively in agriculture, including
horticulture and grazing, products of agriculture as above
defined, including livestock, while owned by the producer, and
money, notes, bonds, bills and accounts receivable, stocks and
other similar intangible personal property shall not exceed fifty
cents on each one hundred dollars of value thereon and upon all
property owned, used and occupied by the owner thereof
exclusively for residential purposes and upon farms occupied and
cultivated by their owners or bona fide tenants, one dollar; and
upon all other property situated outside of municipalities, one dollar and fifty cents; and upon all other property situated
within municipalities, two dollars; and the Legislature shall
further provide by general law for increasing the maximum rates,
authorized to be fixed, by the different levying bodies upon all
classes of property, by submitting the question to the voters of
the taxing units affected, but no increase shall be effective
unless at least sixty percent of the qualified voters shall favor
such increase, and such increase shall not continue for a longer
period than three years at any one time, and shall never exceed
by more than fifty percent the maximum rate herein provided and
prescribed by law; and the revenue derived from this source shall
be apportioned by the Legislature among the levying units of the
state in proportion to the levy laid in said units upon real and
other personal property; but property used for educational,
literary, scientific, religious or charitable purposes, all
cemeteries, public property, the personal property, including
livestock, employed exclusively in agriculture as above defined
and the products of agriculture as so defined while owned by the
producers may by law be exempted from taxation; household goods to the value of two hundred dollars shall be exempted from
taxation. The Legislature shall have authority to tax
privileges, franchises, and incomes of persons and corporations
and to classify and graduate the tax on all incomes according to
the amount thereof and to exempt from taxation, incomes below a
minimum to be fixed from time to time, and such revenues as may
be derived from such tax may be appropriated as the Legislature
may provide.
After the year nineteen hundred thirty-three, the
rate of the state tax upon property shall not exceed one cent
upon the hundred dollars valuation, except to pay the principal
and interest of bonded indebtedness of the state now existing.
(b) The State by legislative action, and the counties and
municipalities by local option may levy taxes in proportion to
the value of: (1) Land; (2) the improvements thereon; and (3)
personal property. These taxes shall be uniform on all
properties in each of these categories throughout their
respective taxing jurisdictions. State, county and municipal
legislative bodies shall each determine annual rates of such
taxes. Real property shall be reassessed at least every three years at full and fair market value according to procedures
prescribed by general law. The state may phase out the tax on
personal property. The state, counties and municipalities may
set lower rates on improvements than on land, but not higher
rates on improvements than on land. Full or partial property tax
exemptions or deferrals shall be subject to approval by the
Legislature at intervals no longer than every five years.
Resolved further, That in accordance with the provisions of
article eleven, chapter three of the code of West Virginia, one
thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, such proposed
amendment is hereby numbered "Amendment No. 1" and designated as
the "State and Local Option Two-Rate Property Tax Amendment," and
the purpose of the proposed amendment is summarized as follows:
"To provide an amendment that will allow the state, counties and
municipalities to levy taxes on land, improvements and personal
property; and also to permit all levels of taxing jurisdictions
to lower the tax rate on improvement values below the tax rate
set for land values."
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to provide a property tax
amendment thatwhich will allow the state, counties and municipalities
to levy taxes on land, improvements and personal property; and
also to permit all levels of taxing jurisdictions to lower the
tax rate on improvement values below the tax rate set for land
values.
Property Classes andclasses and rates are purposely not addressed in
this amentment indment in line with modern tax administration principals
which hold that these matters are the proper province of the
Legislature.permit the reduction of the tax rate for
property improvements from the rate set for land and minerals, and
also allow the state and municipalities to levy property taxes on
land, improvements or personal property.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken
from the present constitution, and underscoring indicates new
language that would be added.