Bill Text: WV HB2434 | 2018 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Relating to reevaluation of land damaged as a result of natural disaster
Spectrum: Moderate Partisan Bill (Republican 6-1)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2018-01-10 - To House Political Subdivisions [HB2434 Detail]
Download: West_Virginia-2018-HB2434-Introduced.html
WEST virginia Legislature
2017 regular session
Introduced
House Bill 2434
By Delegates Howell, Fast, Hanshaw, Kessinger, Hill, Lynch, Ambler, Love and Hamrick
[Introduced February 14,
2017; Referred
to the Committee on Political Subdivisions then Finance.]
A BILL to amend and reenact §11-4-5 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, relating to reevaluation of land damaged as a result of natural disaster.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
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.
(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) The assessor and the assessor’s deputies shall promptly and diligently inquire of any landowner or resident agents of any nonresident landowner whose property may have been damaged as a result of natural disaster, and shall assess and promptly reflect the changes in value 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.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to provide for reassessment of property damaged by natural disaster for purposes of property taxes.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from a heading or the present law and underscoring indicates new language that would be added.