H. B.2587
(By Delegates Spencer, Walters, Palumbo,
Hatfield and Brown)
[Introduced
February 21, 2005
; referred to the
Committee on Pensions and Retirement.]
A BILL to amend the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, by
adding thereto
a new section, designated §7-1-3oo
; to amend
and reenact
§7-15-10 of said code;
to amend and reenact
§8-27-10
of said code; to amend and reenact §10-1-6
of said
code; and to amend and reenact §18-5-13,
all relating to
granting county commissions, emergency ambulance authorities
,
county boards of education, urban mass transit authorities,
and the boards of directors of each public library
and county
authority to enter into intergovernmental agreements with
other county levying bodies to fund the collection of
delinquent personal property taxes.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, be amended
by adding thereto a new section, designated
§7-1-3oo
; that
§7-15-10 of said code be amended and reenacted;
that §8-27-10
of said code
be amended and reenacted; that §10-1-6 of said code be amended and
reenacted; and that
§18-5-13
of said code be amended and reenacted
,
all to read as follows:
CHAPTER 7. COUNTY COMMISSIONS AND OFFICERS.
ARTICLE 1. COUNTY COMMISSIONS GENERALLY.
§7-1-3oo. Authority to enter into intergovernmental agreements
with other levying bodies for the collection of
delinquent personal property taxes.
A county commission that has appointed a collector of taxes
pursuant to section five, article one, chapter eleven-a of this
code, may, under the provisions of article twenty-three, chapter
eight of this code, also enter into intergovernmental agreements
with other county levying bodies to apportion the costs of the
collector between and among other county levying bodies, and to be
reimbursed for any costs of collection advanced by the county
commission.
ARTICLE 15. EMERGENCY AMBULANCE SERVICE ACT OF 1975.
§7-15-10. Powers and duties of authorities generally.
Each authority is hereby given the power:
(a) To sue and be sued, implead and be impleaded;
(b) To have and use a seal and alter the same at pleasure;
(c) To make and adopt all rules
and regulations and bylaws as may be necessary or desirable to enable it to exercise the powers
and perform the duties conferred or imposed upon it by the
provisions of this article;
(d) To provide emergency ambulance service, maintain and
operate such service, and employ, in its discretion, planning
consultants, attorneys, accountants, superintendents, managers and
such other employees and agents as may be necessary in its judgment
and fix their compensation;
(e) To acquire by grant, purchase, gift, devise or lease and
to hold, use, sell, lease or otherwise dispose of real and personal
property of every kind and nature whatsoever, licenses, franchises,
rights and interests necessary for the full exercise of its powers
pursuant to the provisions of this article or which may be
convenient or useful for the carrying out of such powers;
(f) To enter into contracts and agreements which are
necessary, convenient or useful to carry out the purposes of this
article with any person, public corporation, state or any agency or
political subdivision thereof and the federal government and any
department or agency thereof, including, without limitation,
contracts and agreements for the joint use of any property and
rights by the authority and any person or authority operating any
system, whether within or without the service area of the
authority, and contracts and agreements with any person or
authority for the maintenance, servicing, storage, operation or use of any system or part thereof, facility or equipment on such basis
as shall seem proper to its board;
(g) To enter into contracts and agreements for superintendence
and management services with any person, who has executive
personnel with experience and skill applicable to the
superintendence and management of any system, for the furnishing of
its services and the services of experienced and qualified
personnel for the superintendence and management of any system or
any part thereof, including, without limitation, superintendence
over personnel, purchases, properties and operations and all
matters relating thereto, and any revenue bond trust indenture may
require such contract or agreement, but the personnel whose
services are to be so furnished under any such contract or
agreement shall not include any member of the board, any member of
the immediate family of a member of the board or any agents or
employees of the authority;
(h) To execute security agreements, contracts, leases,
equipment trust certificates and any other forms of contract or
agreement, granting or creating a lien, security interest,
encumbrance or other security in, on or to facilities and
equipment, containing such terms and provisions as the board
considers necessary;
(i) To apply for, receive and use grants, grants-in-aid,
donations and contributions from any source or sources, including, but not limited to, the federal government and any agency or
department thereof, and a state government whose constitution does
not prohibit such grants, grants-in-aid, donations and
contributions, and any agency or department thereof, and to accept
and use bequests, devises, gifts and donations from any person;
(j) To encumber or mortgage all or any part of its facilities
and equipment;
(k) To render all services permitted pursuant to article
four-c, chapter sixteen of this code, including, but not limited
to, emergency and nonemergency transportation; and
(l) To do any and all things necessary or convenient to carry
out the powers given in this article unless otherwise forbidden by
law.
(m) Pursuant to article twenty-three, chapter eight of this
code, to enter into an intergovernmental agreement with a county
commission that has appointed a collector of taxes under the
provisions of article one, chapter eleven-a of this code and with
other levying bodies for the purpose of apportioning the costs of
the collector between and among other county levying bodies and to
reimburse the county commission for any costs of collection
advanced by the county commission.
CHAPTER 8. MUNICIPAL CORPORATIONS.
ARTICLE 27. INTERGOVERNMENTAL RELATIONS -- URBAN MASS
TRANSPORTATION SYSTEMS.
PART III. POWERS AND DUTIES OF AUTHORITIES.
§8-27-10. Powers and duties of authorities generally.
Each authority is hereby given the power:
(a) To sue and be sued, implead and be impleaded;
(b) To have and use a seal and alter the same at pleasure;
(c) To make and adopt all rules
and regulations and bylaws as
may be necessary or desirable to enable it to exercise the powers
and perform the duties conferred or imposed upon it by the
provisions of this article;
(d) To employ, in its discretion, planning, architectural and
engineering consultants, attorneys, accountants, construction,
financial, transportation and traffic experts and consultants,
superintendents, managers and such other employees and agents as
may be necessary in its judgment, and to fix their compensation;
(e) To acquire by grant, purchase, gift, devise or lease and
to hold, use, sell, lease or otherwise dispose of real and personal
property of every kind and nature whatsoever, licenses, franchises,
rights and interests necessary for the full exercise of its powers
pursuant to the provisions of this article, or which may be
convenient or useful for the carrying out of such powers;
(f) To acquire, construct, reconstruct, complete, develop,
improve, own, equip, maintain and operate any system or systems, or
any part thereof, including, without limitation, the power to
acquire by purchase, lease or gift all or any part of any licenses, franchises, rights, interests, engineering and technical studies,
data or reports owned or held by any person and determined by its
board to be necessary, convenient or useful to the authority in
connection with the acquisition, construction, reconstruction,
completion, development, improvement, ownership, equipping,
maintenance or operation of any system or systems and to reimburse
public utilities for relocation of any utility line or facility
made necessary by the construction, reconstruction, completion,
development, improvement, equipping, maintenance or operation of
any system or systems;
(g) To acquire any land, rights or easements deemed necessary
or incidental for the purposes of the authority by eminent domain
to the same extent and to be exercised in the same manner as now or
hereafter provided by law for such right of eminent domain by
business corporations;
(h) To enter into contracts and agreements which are
necessary, convenient or useful to carry out the purposes of this
article with any person, public corporation, state or any agency or
political subdivision thereof and the federal government and any
department or agency thereof, including, without limitation,
contracts and agreements for the joint use of any property and
rights by the authority and any person or authority operating any
system, whether within or without the service area of the
authority, and contracts and agreements with any person or authority for the maintenance, servicing, storage, operation or use
of any system or part thereof, facility or equipment on such basis
as shall seem proper to its board;
(i) To enter into contracts and agreements for superintendence
and management services with any person, who has executive
personnel with experience and skill applicable to the
superintendence and management of any system, for the furnishing of
its services and the services of experienced and qualified
personnel for the superintendence and management of any system or
any part thereof, including, without limitation, superintendence
over personnel, purchases, properties and operations and all
matters relating thereto, and any revenue bond trust indenture may
require such contract or agreement, but the personnel whose
services are to be so furnished under any such contract or
agreement shall not include any member of the board, any member of
the immediate family of a member of the board or any agents or
employees of the authority, and no such contract or agreement shall
extend beyond a term of ten years or such longer time as there are
outstanding any revenue bonds under a trust indenture which
requires such contract or agreement;
(j) To assume any lien indebtedness of any system or part
thereof acquired by it under the provisions of this article;
(k) To execute security agreements, contracts, leases,
equipment trust certificates and any other forms of contracts or agreements, granting or creating a lien, security interest,
encumbrance or other security in, on or to facilities and
equipment, containing such terms and provisions as the board deems
necessary;
(l) To apply for, receive and use grants, grants-in-aid,
donations and contributions from any source or sources, including,
but not limited to, the federal government and any agency or
department thereof, and a state government whose constitution does
not prohibit such grants, grants-in-aid, donations and
contributions, and any agency or department thereof, and to accept
and use bequests, devises, gifts and donations from any person;
(m) To lease any system or any part thereof to, or contract
for the use of any system or any part thereof by, any person, but
a trust indenture may prohibit, limit or restrict the exercise of
such power;
(n) To acquire for cash or in exchange for its bonds all or
any part of any publicly or privately owned system or systems;
(o) To make or cause to be made either by itself or in
cooperation with other persons or organizations, whether public or
private, traffic surveys, population surveys and such other surveys
and studies as it shall consider useful in the performance of its
duties or the exercise of its powers under the provisions of this
article and in connection therewith the authority may contract with
any person or organization for such planning services;
(p) To enter into contracts and agreements with any public or
private system either within or contiguous to its boundaries for
the transfer of passengers between it and the system operating in
territory contiguous to its boundaries;
(q) To fix and establish from time to time, such fees, rates
or other charges and routes, time schedules and standards of
service as will provide revenues in each year at least sufficient
to pay the principal of and interest on all bonds issued by the
authority, and reasonable reserves therefor, as the same shall
become due, together with the cost of administration, maintenance,
repair and operation of such system or systems in each year,
together with all other payments required in each such year by the
resolution which authorized the issuance of such bonds, or the
trust indenture securing the same, including, without limitation,
reasonable reserves or margins for any of such purposes:
Provided,
That prior to the initial implementation of any fees, rates or
other charges and any subsequent increase thereof affecting
generally the users of the system, every authority shall hold a
public hearing in the service area of the system on such proposed
fees, rates or other charges or any increase thereof, and each
authority shall publish a notice of the time and place of said
hearing as a Class II legal advertisement in compliance with the
provisions of article three, chapter fifty-nine of this code, and
the publication area for such publication shall be the service area of the authority. Such notice shall plainly state the fees, rates
or other charges or any increase thereof to be imposed, the time
when they shall go into effect, and the time and place where such
public hearing will be conducted. Said public hearing shall not be
less than ten days subsequent to the date of the last publication
of such notice. At such hearing all objections and suggestions
shall be heard, and after the hearing has been held the authority
shall take such action as it shall deem proper:
Provided, however,
That the foregoing public hearing and notice requirements shall not
apply to fees, rates or charges imposed for charter or special
services rendered by said authorities;
(r) To issue revenue bonds of the authority for any of its
purposes or projects and to refund its bonds, all as provided in
this article;
(s) To encumber or mortgage all or any part of its facilities
and equipment;
(t) To prepare plans for and assist in the relocation of
persons displaced by the authority and to make relocation payments
to or with respect to such persons for moving expenses and losses
of property for which reimbursement or compensation is not
otherwise made, including the making of such payments financed by
the federal government; and
(u) To do any and all things necessary or convenient to carry
out the powers given in this article unless otherwise forbidden by law.
(v) Pursuant to article twenty-three, chapter eight of this
code, to enter into an intergovernmental agreement with a county
commission that has appointed a collector of taxes under the
provisions of article one, chapter eleven-a of this code and with
other levying bodies for the purpose of apportioning the costs of
the collector between and among other county levying bodies and to
reimburse the county commission for any costs of collection
advanced by the county commission.
CHAPTER 10. PUBLIC LIBRARIES; PUBLIC RECREATION; ATHLETIC
ESTABLISHMENTS; MONUMENTS AND MEMORIALS; ROSTER OF
SERVICEMEN; EDUCATIONAL BROADCASTING AUTHORITY.
ARTICLE 1. PUBLIC LIBRARIES.
§10-1-6. Board of library directors -- Powers and duties.
The Board of Directors of each public library established or
maintained under this article shall: (a) Immediately after
appointment, meet and organize by electing one member as president
and one as secretary, and such other officers as may be necessary.
All officers shall hold office for one year and shall be eligible
for reelection; (b) adopt such bylaws, rules and regulations as
are necessary for its own guidance and for the administration,
supervision and protection of the library and all property
belonging thereto as may not be inconsistent with the provisions of this article; (c) supervise the expenditure of all money credited
to the library fund. All money appropriated or collected for
public library purposes shall be deposited in the treasury of the
governing authority to the credit of the library fund, to be paid
out on the certified requisition of the library board, in the
manner provided by law for the disbursement of other funds of such
governing authority, or shall be deposited as the library's board
of directors shall direct and be disbursed by the officer
designated by that board, such officer before entering upon his or
her duties to give bond payable to and in an amount fixed by the
board of directors of the library, conditioned for the faithful
discharge of his or her official fiscal duties. The cost of such
bond shall be paid from the library fund. The books, records and
accounts of the library board shall be subject to audit and
examination by the office of the State Tax Commissioner of West
Virginia; (d) lease or purchase and occupy suitable quarters, or
erect upon ground secured through gift or purchase, an appropriate
building for the use of such library; and have supervision, care
and custody of the grounds, rooms or buildings constructed, leased,
or set apart for library purposes; (e) employ a head librarian,
and upon his or her recommendation employ such other assistants as
may be necessary for the efficient operation of the library; (f)
pursuant to article twenty-three, chapter eight of this code, to
enter into an intergovernmental agreement with a county commission that has appointed a collector of taxes under the provisions of
article one, chapter eleven-a of this code and with other levying
bodies for the purpose of apportioning the costs of the collector
between and among other county levying bodies and to reimburse the
county commission for any costs of collection advanced by the
county commission.
CHAPTER 18. EDUCATION.
ARTICLE 5. COUNTY BOARD OF EDUCATION.
§18-5-13. Authority of boards generally.
Each county board, subject to the provisions of this chapter
and the rules of the State Board, has the authority:
(a) To control and manage all of the schools and school
interests for all school activities and upon all school property,
whether owned or leased by the county, including the authority to
require that records be kept of all receipts and disbursements of
all funds collected or received by any principal, teacher, student
or other person in connection with the schools and school
interests, any programs, activities or other endeavors of any
nature operated or carried on by or in the name of the school, or
any organization or body directly connected with the school, to
audit the records and to conserve the funds, which shall be
considered quasipublic moneys, including securing surety bonds by
expenditure of board moneys;
(b) To establish schools, from preschool through high school, inclusive of vocational schools; and to establish schools, programs
or both, for post-high school instruction, subject to approval of
the State Board of Education;
(c) To close any school which is unnecessary and to assign the
pupils of the school to other schools: Provided, That the closing
shall be officially acted upon, and teachers and service personnel
involved notified on or before the first Monday in April, in the
same manner as provided in section four of this article, except in
an emergency, subject to the approval of the State Superintendent,
or under subdivision (e) of this section;
(d) To consolidate schools;
(e) To close any elementary school whose average daily
attendance falls below twenty pupils for two months in succession
and send the pupils to other schools in the district or to schools
in adjoining districts. If the teachers in the closed school are
not transferred or reassigned to other schools, they shall receive
one month's salary;
(f) (1) To provide at public expense adequate means of
transportation, including transportation across county lines for
students whose transfer from one district to another is agreed to
by both county boards as reflected in the minutes of their
respective meetings, for all children of school age who live more
than two miles distance from school by the nearest available road;
to provide at public expense, according to such rules as the Board may establish, adequate means of transportation for school children
participating in county board-approved curricular and
extracurricular activities; to provide at public expense, by rules
and within the available revenues, transportation for those within
two miles distance; and to provide, at no cost to the county board
and according to rules established by the Board, transportation for
participants in projects operated, financed, sponsored or approved
by the Commission on Aging, all subject to the following:
(A) All costs and expenses incident in any way to
transportation for projects connected with the Commission on Aging
shall be borne by the Commission or the local or county chapter of
the Commission;
(B) In all cases, the school buses owned by the county board
shall be driven or operated only by drivers regularly employed by
the county board;
(C) The county board may provide, under rules established by
the State Board, for the certification of professional employees as
drivers of county board-owned vehicles with a seating capacity of
less than ten passengers used for the transportation of pupils for
school-sponsored activities other than transporting students
between school and home. The use of the vehicles shall be limited
to one for each school-sponsored activity; and
(D) Buses shall be used for extracurricular activities as
provided in this section only when the insurance provided for by this section is in effect;
(2) To enter into agreements with one another as reflected in
the minutes of their respective meetings to provide, on a
cooperative basis, adequate means of transportation across county
lines for children of school age subject to the conditions and
restrictions of this subsection and subsection (h) of this section;
(g) (1) To lease school buses operated only by drivers
regularly employed by the county board to public and private
nonprofit organizations or private corporations to transport
school-age children to and from camps or educational activities in
accordance with rules established by the county board. All costs
and expenses incurred by or incidental to the transportation of the
children shall be borne by the lessee;
(2) To contract with any college or university or officially
recognized campus organizations to provide transportation for
college or university students, faculty or staff to and from the
college or university. Only college and university students,
faculty and staff may be transported pursuant to this section. The
contract shall include consideration and compensation for bus
operators, repairs and other costs of service, insurance and any
rules concerning student behavior;
(h) To provide at public expense for insurance against the
negligence of the drivers of school buses, trucks or other vehicles
operated by the Board; and if the transportation of pupils is contracted, then the contract for the transportation shall provide
that the contractor shall carry insurance against negligence in an
amount specified by the Board;
(i) To provide solely from county board funds for all regular
full-time employees of the county board all or any part of the cost
of a group plan or plans of insurance coverage not provided or
available under the West Virginia Public Employees Insurance Act;
(j) To employ teacher aides, to provide in-service training
for teacher aides, the training to be in accordance with rules of
the State Board and, in the case of service personnel assuming
duties as teacher aides in exceptional children programs, to
provide a four-clock-hour program of training prior to the
assignment which shall, in accordance with rules of the State
Board, consist of training in areas specifically related to the
education of exceptional children;
(k) To establish and conduct a self-supporting dormitory for
the accommodation of the pupils attending a high school or
participating in a post high school program and of persons employed
to teach in the high school or post high school program;
(l) At the Board's discretion, to employ, contract with or
otherwise engage legal counsel in lieu of utilizing the prosecuting
attorney to advise, attend to, bring, prosecute or defend, as the
case may be, any matters, actions, suits and proceedings in which
the Board is interested;
(m) To provide appropriate uniforms for school service
personnel;
(n) To provide at public expense and under rules as
established by any county board for the payment of traveling
expenses incurred by any person invited to appear to be interviewed
concerning possible employment by the county board;
(o) To allow or disallow their designated employees to use
publicly provided carriage to travel from their residences to their
workplace and return: Provided, That the usage is subject to the
supervision of the county board and is directly connected with and
required by the nature and in the performance of the employee's
duties and responsibilities;
(p) To provide, at public expense, adequate public liability
insurance, including professional liability insurance for county
board employees;
(q) To enter into agreements with one another to provide, on
a cooperative basis, improvements to the instructional needs of
each district. The cooperative agreements may be used to employ
specialists in a field of academic study or support functions or
services, for the academic study. The agreements are subject to
approval by the State Board;
(r) To provide information about vocational or higher
education opportunities to students with handicapping conditions.
The county board shall provide in writing to the students and their parents or guardians information relating to programs of vocational
education and to programs available at state funded institutions of
higher education. The information may include sources of available
funding, including grants, mentorships and loans for students who
wish to attend classes at institutions of higher education;
(s) To enter into agreements with one another, with the
approval of the State Board, for the transfer and receipt of any
and all funds determined to be fair when students are permitted or
required to attend school in a district other than the district of
their residence; and
(t) To enter into job-sharing arrangements, as defined in
section one, article one, chapter eighteen-a of this code, with its
employees, subject to the following provisions:
(1) A job-sharing arrangement shall meet all the requirements
relating to posting, qualifications and seniority, as provided for
in article four, chapter eighteen-a of this code;
(2) Notwithstanding any provisions of this code or legislative
rule and specifically the provisions of article sixteen, chapter
five of this code to the contrary, a county board which enters into
a job-sharing arrangement in which two or more employees
voluntarily share an authorized full-time position shall provide
the mutually agreed upon employee coverage but shall not offer
insurance coverage to more than one of the job-sharing employees,
including any group plan or group plans available under the State Public Employees Insurance Act;
(3) Each job-sharing agreement shall be in writing on a form
prescribed and furnished by the county board. The agreement shall
designate specifically one employee only who is entitled to the
insurance coverage. Any employee who is not so designated is not
eligible for State Public Employees Insurance coverage regardless
of the number of hours he or she works;
(4) All employees involved in the job-sharing agreement meet
the requirements of subdivision (3), section two, article sixteen,
chapter five of this code; and
(5) When entering into a job-sharing agreement, the county
board and the employees involved in the job-sharing agreement shall
consider issues such as retirement benefits, termination of the
job-sharing agreement and any other issue the parties to the
agreement consider appropriate. Any provision in the agreement
relating to retirement benefits shall not cause any cost to be
incurred by the retirement system that is more than the cost that
would be incurred if a single employee were filling the position.
(u) Pursuant to article twenty-three, chapter eight of this
code, to enter into an intergovernmental agreement with a county
commission that has appointed a collector of taxes under the
provisions of article one, chapter eleven-a of this code and with
other levying bodies for the purpose of apportioning the costs of
the collector between and among other county levying bodies and to reimburse the county commission for any costs of collection
advanced by the county commission.
"Quasipublic funds" as used in this section means any money
received by any principal, teacher, student or other person for the
benefit of the school system as a result of curricular or
noncurricular activities.
Each county board shall expend under rules it establishes for
each child an amount not to exceed the proportion of all school
funds of the district that each child would be entitled to receive
if all the funds were distributed equally among all the children of
school age in the district upon a per capita basis.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to
grant county
commissions, emergency ambulance authorities
, county boards of
education, urban mass transit authorities, and the Boards of
directors of each public library and county
authority to enter into
intergovernmental agreements with other county levying bodies to
fund the collection of delinquent personal property taxes.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from
the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would
be added.
§7-1-3oo
is new; therefore, strike-throughs and underscoring
have been omitted.
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