Bill Text: WV HB2654 | 2017 | Regular Session | Comm Sub
Bill Title: Expanding county commissions’ ability to dispose of county or district property
Spectrum: Bipartisan Bill
Status: (Engrossed - Dead) 2017-03-29 - To Government Organization [HB2654 Detail]
Download: West_Virginia-2017-HB2654-Comm_Sub.html
WEST virginia legislature
2017 regular session
Committee Substitute
for
House Bill 2654
By Delegates Statler, Miley, Lewis, Evans, E., Pethtel, Williams and Upson
[Introduced
February 22, 2017; referred
to the Committee on Political Subdivisions then the Judiciary]
A BILL to amend and reenact §7-3-3 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, relating to expanding county commissions’ ability to dispose of county or district property; adding the ability of county commissions to grant such property to 501(c)(3) tax exempt organizations operated exclusively for charitable, educational or scientific purposes; noting that such sales are not required to be made considering the property’s present commercial or market value; setting a minimum value for such sales; revising the requirement that property conveyed to volunteer fire department or volunteer ambulance service reverts back to county commission following termination of use to account for the 501(c)(3) tax exempt organizations operated exclusively for charitable, educational or scientific purposes; and, to provide that such reversionary right may be disclaimed by the county commission .
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That §7-3-3 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, be amended and reenacted to read as follows:
ARTICLE 3. COUNTY PROPERTY.
§7-3-3. Sale of county or district property.
(a) Except as may be prohibited by law
or otherwise, the county commission of a county is authorized by law to sell or
dispose of any property, either real or personal, belonging to the county or
held by it for the use of any district thereof. The property shall be sold
either at an on-site public auction or by utilizing an Internet-based public
auction service, and such sale shall be conducted by the president of the
county commission, but before making any such sale, notice of the time, terms,
manner and either the location of the sale or the Internet-based public
auction service to be utilized, together with a brief description of the
property to be sold, shall be published 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 county: Provided,
That this section shall not apply to the sale of any one item of property of
less value than $1,000. Provided, however, That
(b) The provisions of subsection (a) of this section concerning sale at public auction shall not apply to a county commission selling or disposing of its property for a public use to:
(1) The United States of America, its instrumentalities,
agencies or political subdivisions; or to
(2) The State of West Virginia, or its political subdivisions, including county boards of education, volunteer fire departments, and volunteer ambulance services; or
(3) Organizations
operated exclusively for charitable, educational or scientific purposes as
shall at such time qualify as an exempt organization under section 501(c)(3) of
the Internal Revenue Code for an
adequate consideration without considering alone the present commercial or
market value of the property: Provided,
That For sales made pursuant to this subsection, county commissions are not
required to exclusively consider the present commercial or market value of the
property: Provided however, That sales under this subsection shall not
be for less than $1.
(c) For Aall real property conveyed or sold by a county
commission to a volunteer fire department, or volunteer ambulance
service, or charitable, educational, or scientific organization under this
the provisions of subsection (b) of this section, such property
shall revert back to the county commission if the volunteer fire department,
or volunteer ambulance service, or charitable, educational, or
scientific organization ceases to use it for the purpose for which the
real property was conveyed or sold proposes to dispose of the property,
unless the county commission explicitly disclaims this reversionary right.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to expand county commissions’ ability to dispose of county or district property; and to revise the requirement that property conveyed to volunteer fire department or volunteer ambulance service reverts back to county commission following termination of use.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from a heading or the present law and underscoring indicates new language that would be added.
