HB2434 H POLSUBS AM #1 3-14

Casto 3264

The Committee on Political Subdivisions moved to amend the bill on page one, immediately following the enacting clause, by striking out the remainder of the bill and inserting in lieu thereof the following:

“That §11-4-5 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, be amended and reenacted to read as follows:

ARTICLE 4. ASSESSMENT OF REAL PROPERTY

§11-4-5. Information to Be Obtained from Landowners by Assessor; Corrections in Landbook of Previous Year; Special Assessment of Property Damaged by Disaster.

(a) The assessor and his or her deputies shall annually, when listing and assessing personal and real property, make diligent inquiry of every resident landowner, and of the resident agents of any nonresident landowner, as to the number of acres of land owned by them, the number of acres in each tract, and the number of town lots owned by them, and the value per acre of each tract and the local description thereof, and the value and location of the town lots.

(b) ~~They~~ The assessor and his or her deputies shall determine the nature and extent of the interest of the owner, whether in fee and undivided or otherwise, and the character of use to which the property is put, whether residential or agricultural or otherwise. They shall also inquire of such owners or agents whether the entries charged against them in the landbooks of the previous year are correct, whether any part thereof ought to be transferred to any other person, and if so to whom, and the nature of the evidence to authorize such transfer; also, whether any other land in the county ought to be charged to such resident or nonresident, and whether the description given to any tract of land or town lot in the book of the previous year is incorrectly given. It shall be the duty of such owners and agents to answer all of such inquiries on oath. The assessor shall provide for himself or herself, and for each one of his or her deputies, a copy of so much of the landbook of the previous year as contains a list of the land in the tax districts severally apportioned to them, and shall note in such copies such changes and corrections as ought to be made in the landbook of the previous year, according to the information obtained. The deputy assessor shall report any such changes and corrections, as appear to them should be made, to the assessor at some of the stated meetings provided for. The assessor shall make such use of the information so obtained as he or she can properly make, consistent with the other provisions of this chapter, in making out the landbook of the county for the current year.

(c) A landowner or the resident agent of any nonresident landowner may make a request of the assessor or assessor’s deputies to evaluate property which has been damaged as a result of a disaster. Once such request is received, the assessor and the assessor’s deputies shall promptly and diligently assess and promptly reflect the changes in value to the property, if any exist, in the current landbook and in the previous year’s landbook, if the prior year’s property tax bill is not yet due. This subsection applies to damage to structures only, and does not apply to changes in value caused by damage to access routes. For purposes of this section, “disaster” has the same meaning as found in section two of article five of chapter fifteen of this Code; Provided, that such disaster must have resulted in a state of emergency being declared by the Governor or by the Legislature pursuant to the provisions of section six, article five, chapter fifteen of this code, or in a major disaster declaration or emergency declaration being issued by the president of the United States pursuant to the provisions of 42 U. S. C. § 5122.”