West Virginia Code 11-1C-1 – Legislative findings
(a) The Legislature hereby finds and declares that all property in this state should be fairly and equitably valued wherever it is situated so that all citizens will be treated fairly and no individual species or class of property will be overvalued or undervalued in relation to all other similar property within each county and throughout the state.
Terms Used In West Virginia Code 11-1C-1
- Equitable: Pertaining to civil suits in "equity" rather than in "law." In English legal history, the courts of "law" could order the payment of damages and could afford no other remedy. See damages. A separate court of "equity" could order someone to do something or to cease to do something. See, e.g., injunction. In American jurisprudence, the federal courts have both legal and equitable power, but the distinction is still an important one. For example, a trial by jury is normally available in "law" cases but not in "equity" cases. Source: U.S. Courts
- Fair market value: The price at which an asset would change hands in a transaction between a willing, informed buyer and a willing, informed seller.
- State: when applied to a part of the United States and not restricted by the context, includes the District of Columbia and the several territories, and the words "United States" also include the said district and territories. See West Virginia Code 2-2-10
- Tax year: means the calendar year following the July first assessment day or, in the case of a public service business assessed pursuant to article six of this chapter, the calendar year beginning on the January first assessment day. See West Virginia Code 11-5-3
- Value: means in the case of any document not a gift, the amount of the full actual consideration for the document, paid or to be paid, including the amount of any lien or liens assumed. See West Virginia Code 11-22-1
(b) The Legislature by this article seeks to create a method to establish and maintain fair and equitable values for all property. The Legislature does not intend by this article to implement the reappraisal as conducted under articles one-a and one-b of this chapter nor does it intend to affect tax revenue in any manner.
(c) The Legislature finds that requiring the valuation of property to occur in three-year cycles with an annual adjustment of assessments as to those properties for which a change in value is discovered shall not violate the equal and uniform provision of section one, article ten of the West Virginia Constitution, the Legislature further finding that such three-year cycle and annual adjustment are an integral and indispensable part of a systematic review of all properties in order to achieve equality of assessed valuation within and among the counties of this state. Notwithstanding such finding, the Legislature intends to permit the assessors and the board of public works to place proportionately uniform percentage changes in values on the books during the two tax years preceding the tax year beginning on July 1, 1993, in accordance with the provisions of section seven of this article.
(d) The Legislature deems that the goal of this article is that by the end of the three-year cycle contemplated by this article, and thereafter from year to year, all property shall be annually assessed at sixty percent of its then current fair market value except for the values derived for farms and managed timberland properties, which are to be valued as prescribed by this article one-c and article four of this chapter.