COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE
FOR
Senate Bill No. 555
(By Senators Deem and Boley)
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[Originating in the Committee on the Judiciary;
reported February 8, 2008.]
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A BILL to amend and reenact §11-1C-11 of the Code of West Virginia,
1931, as amended, relating to valuation of managed timberland.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That §11-1C-11 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended,
be amended and reenacted to read as follows:
§11-1C-11. Managed timberland; findings, purposes and declaration
of legislative intent; implementation; inspection and
determination of qualification.
(a) The Legislature finds and declares that the public welfare
is enhanced by encouraging and sustaining the abundance of high
quality forest land within the state; that economic pressures may
force industrial, residential or other land development
inconsistent with sustaining the forests; and that tax policy
should provide an incentive for private owners of forest land to
preserve the character and use of land as forest land and to make management decisions which enhance the quality of the future
forest.
(b) In exercising the authority granted by the provisions of
section fifty-three, article VI of the constitution of West
Virginia, the Legislature makes the following declarations of its
intent:
(1) Notwithstanding the provisions of section twenty-four,
article three of this chapter, timberland certified by the division
of forestry as managed timberland shall be valued as managed
timberland as provided in this article when it is managed under a
cooperative contract with the division of forestry and the
certification has not been surrendered by the owner of the property
or revoked by the director of the division of forestry:
Provided,
That when the appraisal of managed timberland results in a decrease
in a county's property tax revenues of more than five percent, the
county may reduce the number of acres classified as managed
timberland so that the loss of revenue will not exceed four
percent. The number of acres reclassified pursuant to this
subsection shall be prorated among all owners of managed timberland
in the county based by comparing the total number of acres of
managed timberland owned by each taxpayer to the total number of
acres of managed timberland within the county.
The division of forestry shall, at the time of contracting,
notify the owner that the owner shall incur a penalty as set forth in section five-a, article three of this chapter if the owner fails
to provide written notice to the county assessor of a change in use
of the managed timberland.
(2) Property certified as managed timberland which prior to
certification is properly taxed in Class II, as defined in section
five, article eight of this chapter and section one, article X of
the constitution of West Virginia, may not be reclassified to Class
III or Class IV, as defined in section five, article eight of this
chapter, merely because the property is certified as managed
timberland unless there is some other event or change in the use of
the property that disqualifies it from being taxed in Class II.
(c) To aid the Legislature in assessing the impact of the
managed timberland program on the state of West Virginia, the
division of forestry and the tax commissioner, on or before the
thirty-first day of December, two thousand one, and on the
thirty-first day of December each year thereafter, shall report in
writing to the joint committee on government and finance of the
Legislature or its designated subcommittee. The tax commissioner
shall include in his or her report a complete and accurate
assessment of the impact of the managed timberland program on the
tax collections of the state, including projected increases or
decreases in tax collection. The division of forestry shall
include in its report detailed information on the number of acres
designated as managed timberland and any identified impacts of the program on the state's timber industry.
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NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to limit classification of
real property as managed timberland to prevent county property tax
revenues from decreasing by more than 4%.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from
the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would
be added.