Senate Bill No. 513
(By Senator Craigo)
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[Introduced March 24, 1997; referred to the Committee
on Finance.]
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A BILL to amend chapter eleven of the code of West Virginia, one
thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, by adding
thereto a new article, designated article six-f, relating to
appraisal of property as part of qualified capital addition
to a manufacturing facility for ad valorem property tax
purposes; legislative findings; definition of terms;
certification by state tax commissioner; and rules including
emergency rules and effective dates.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That chapter eleven of the code of West Virginia, one
thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, be amended by
adding thereto a new article, designated article six-f, to read
as follows:
ARTICLE 6F. SPECIAL METHOD OR APPRAISING QUALIFIED CAPITAL
ADDITIONS TO MANUFACTURING FACILITIES.
§11-6F-1. Legislative findings.
The Legislature finds that the encouragement of economic
growth and development in this state is in the public interest
and promotes the general welfare of the people of this state.
The Legislature further finds that the ad valorem property tax
valuation set forth in this article for certified capital
addition property, as defined in section two of this article,
will help preserve the tax base and preserve and create jobs
attributable to manufacturing facilities existing in this state.
§11-6F-2. Definitions.
As used in this article, the term:
(a) "Certified capital addition property" means all real
property and personal property included within or to be included
within a qualified capital addition to a manufacturing facility
that has been certified by the state tax commissioner in
accordance with section four of this article:
Provided, That
airplanes and motor vehicles licensed by the division of motor
vehicles shall in no event constitute certified capital addition
property.
(b) "Manufacturing facility" means any factory, mill,
chemical plant, refinery, warehouse, building or complex of
buildings, including land on which it is located, and all
machinery, equipment, improvements and other real property and
personal property located at or within the facility used in connection with the operation of the facility in a manufacturing
business.
(c) "Personal property" means all property specified in
subdivision (q), section ten, article two, chapter two of this
code and, includes, but is not limited to, furniture, fixtures,
machinery and equipment, pollution control equipment, computers
and related data processing equipment, spare parts and supplies.
(d) "Qualified capital addition to a manufacturing facility"
means all real property and personal property, the combined
original cost of all of the property which exceeds fifty million
dollars to be constructed, located or installed at or within two
miles of a manufacturing facility owned or operated by the person
making the capital addition that has a total original cost before
the capital addition of at least one hundred million dollars:
Provided, That if the capital addition is made in a polymer
alliance zone as designated from time-to-time by executive order
of the governor, then the person making the capital addition may
for purposes of satisfying the requirements of this subsection
join in a multiparty project with a person owning or operating a
manufacturing facility that has a total original cost before the
capital addition of at least one hundred million dollars if the
capital addition creates additional production capacity of
existing or related products or feedstock or derivative products
respecting the manufacturing facility.
(e) "Real property" means all property specified in
subdivision (p), section ten, article two, chapter two of this
code and, includes, but is not limited to, lands, buildings and
improvements on the land such as sewers, fences, roads, paving
and leasehold improvements.
§11-6F-3. Tax treatment of certified capital addition property.
Notwithstanding any other provisions of law, the value of
certified capital addition property, for purposes of ad valorem
property taxation under this chapter, shall be its salvage value,
which for purposes of this article is five percent of the
certified capital addition property's original cost.
§11-6F-4. Application and certification.
Any person seeking designation of property as certified
capital addition property shall first make a sworn application to
the state tax commissioner on forms prescribed by the state tax
commissioner on or before the date the property is first required
to be reported on an annual return for ad valorem property tax
purposes. The state tax commissioner shall within ninety days of
the application determine in writing whether the property is or
will be part of a qualified capital addition to a manufacturing
facility as defined in section two of this article and shall
provide a copy of the written determination to the applicant and
the assessor or assessors in the county or counties in which the
manufacturing facility is located. The applicant may file an appeal with the state tax commissioner to have a formal hearing
for a review and redetermination on qualified capital additions
to a manufacturing facility which have been disallowed by the
state tax commissioner within thirty days of the official written
notification from the state tax commissioner. After the state
tax commissioner determines that property is or will be part of
a qualified capital addition to a manufacturing facility, the
property is and remains certified capital addition property for
purposes of this article until the earlier of: (a) The
disposition of the property to an unrelated third party other
than a transferee who continues to operate the manufacturing
facility; (b) the cessation of all business at the manufacturing
facility; or (c) the tenth year succeeding the year in which the
qualified capital addition to a manufacturing facility to which
the property relates is first placed in service. All
applications and determinations under this section constitute
return information and are subject to section twenty-three,
article one-a of this chapter. The state tax commissioner shall
report annually the number of applications filed, certified,
denied and pending pursuant to this section for the preceding
year along with recommendations regarding the structure, benefits
and costs of the valuation method specified in this article to
the joint committee on government and finance and to the
governor:
Provided, That identifying characteristics and facts about applicants may not in any event be disclosed under this
section.
§11-6F-5. Authority to propose rules.
The state tax commissioner shall propose rules for
promulgation in accordance with article three, chapter twenty- nine-a of this code for the administration of this article as may
be necessary to implement the provisions of this article:
Provided, That the state tax commissioner may promulgate
emergency rules to implement the provisions of this article.
§11-6F-6. Effective date.
This article is effective for the tax years beginning on and
after the first day of July, one thousand nine hundred ninety- seven.
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(NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to provide for a special
method for appraising qualified capital additions to
manufacturing facilities.
This article is new; therefore strike-throughs and
underscoring have been omitted.)