Source: http://www.wvlegislature.gov/Bill_Status/bills_text.cfm?billdoc=hb2728%20intr.htm&yr=2019&sesstype=RS&i=2728
Timestamp: 2020-08-06 16:38:53
Document Index: 283782842

Matched Legal Cases: ['§8', '§8', '§12', '§11', '§8', '§8', '§8', '§8', '§11', '§11', '§11', '§ 153', '§7', '§59', '§59']

By Delegates Howell, Bibby, Phillips and Pyles
[ Introduced January 29, 2019; Referred
A BILL to amend and reenact §8-1-5a of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, relating to municipal home rule; making legislative findings; establishing the Municipal Home Rule Pilot Program as a permanent program identified as the Municipal Home Rule Program; providing for continuation of plans and amendments approved during Municipal Home Rule Pilot Program; providing that any ordinance, act, resolution, rule, or regulation enacted pursuant to the Municipal Home Rule Pilot Program shall continue until repealed; expanding eligibility to participate in Municipal Home Rule Program; established penalty for failing to timely pay annual assessment; creating special revenue account for Municipal Home Rule board; authorize certain expenditures from special revenue fund; providing suspension of annual assessment when certain conditions are met; clarifying the authority of the Municipal Home Rule Board; requiring Municipal Home Rule board to reject any application or amendment that does not reasonably demonstrate municipality’s ability to manage related costs or liabilities; requiring publication of administrative rules of Municipal Home Rule Board on its website and made available to the public in print upon request; clarifying procedure related to submitting amendment to approved plan’ requiring certain notice prior to proposing or amending a plan; requiring public hearing and notice of hearing prior to municipality proposing a plan or amendment; amending certain prohibitions on the powers and duties of municipalities under home rules; prohibiting municipalities participating in the Municipal Home Rule Program from passing an ordinance, act, resolution, rule, or regulation contrary to laws governing professional licensing or certification of employees; prohibiting municipalities participating in the Municipal Home Rule Program from passing an ordinance, act, resolution, rule, or regulation governing enforcement of building codes or fire codes; prohibiting municipalities participating in the Municipal Home Rule Program from passing an ordinance, act, resolution, rule, or regulation contrary to West Virginia Workplace Freedom Act or Labor-Management Relations Act; prohibiting municipalities participating in the Municipal Home Rule Program from passing an ordinance, act, resolution, rule, or regulation contrary to federal laws, regulations, or standards that would affect the state’s required compliance or jeopardize federal funding; prohibiting municipalities participating in the Municipal Home Rule Program from passing an ordinance, act, resolution, rule, or regulation contrary to laws or rules governing procurement of architectural or engineering services; prohibiting municipalities participating in the Municipal Home Rule Program from passing an ordinance, act, resolution, rule, or regulation contrary to Chapter 17C of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended; prohibiting municipalities participating in the Municipal Home Rule Program from passing an ordinance, act, resolution, rule, or regulation governing communication technologies or telecommunication carriers; prohibiting municipalities participating in the Municipal Home Rule Program from passing an ordinance, act, resolution, rule, or regulation that imposes duties on another governmental entity; providing certain exceptions to that prohibition; prohibiting municipalities participating in the Municipal Home Rule Program from passing an ordinance, act, resolution, rule, or regulation that prohibits or limits rental or a property or regulates duration, frequency, or location of such rental; providing certain exceptions to that prohibitions and limitations; providing procedures for protesting enactment or amendment of an ordinance, act, resolution, rule, or regulation through petition; providing that duly protested enactments shall not become effective unless ratified through majority vote at a regular or special election; specifying voting procedure; providing that each bond must be ratified by majority vote before becoming effective; specifying voting procedure for bond ratification; modifying reporting requirements; and eliminating automatic termination of the Municipal Home Rule Pilot Program on July 1, 2019.
(6) Continuing the Municipal Home Rule Pilot Program is in the public interest Establishing the Municipal Home Rule Pilot Program as a permanent program is in the public interest; and
(7) Increasing the powers and duties of the Municipal Home Rule Board, subject to the limitations set forth herein, will enhance the Municipal Home Rule Pilot Program.
(b) Continuance of pilot program. -- The Municipal Home Rule Pilot Program is continued until July 1, 2019. The ordinances enacted by the participating municipalities pursuant to the l Municipal Home Rule Pilot Program may remain in effect, subject to the requirements of this section, until the ordinances are repealed: Provided, That any ordinance enacting a municipal occupation tax is hereby null and void The Municipal Home Rule Pilot Program is established as a permanent program and shall be identified as the Municipal Home Rule Program. Any plan or amendment to a plan approved by the board during the period of the Municipal Home Rule Program is continued. Any ordinance, act, resolution, rule, or regulation enacted by a participating municipality under the provisions of this section during the period of the Municipal Home Rule Pilot Program shall continue in full force and effect unless and until repealed: Provided, That municipalities that are participants in the Municipal Home Rule Program shall update their ordinances, acts, resolutions, rules, and regulations to comply with any additions or modifications to subsection (i) or subsection (j) of this section.
(1) Commencing July 1, 2015 2019, thirty any Class I, Class II and Class III municipalities municipality that is and four Class IV municipalities that are current in payment of all state fees may apply to participate in the Municipal Home Rule Pilot Program pursuant to the provisions of this section. Also, commending July 1, 2019, up to four applications per year from Class IV municipalities may be approved by the board for participation in the Municipal Home Rule Program pursuant to the provisions of this section, provided the Class IV municipality is current in payment of all state fees.
(2) The municipalities participating in the pilot program Municipal Home Rule Program on the effective date of the amendment and reenactment of this section are hereby authorized to continue in the pilot program Municipal Home Rule Program, subject to the requirements of this section, and may amend current written plans and/or or submit new written plans in accordance with the provisions of this section.
(3) On July 1, 2019, all municipalities currently participating in the Municipal Home Rule Pilot Program shall pay an annual assessment of $2,000 for the operations and administration of the Home Rule Board. On July 1 of each year thereafter, all municipalities participating in the Municipal Home Rule Program as of that date shall pay the annual assessment. Any participating municipality that failed to time remit its assessment when die may be assessed a penalty of an additional $2,000 by the board.
(4) There is created in the office of the State Treasurer a special revenue account fund to be known as the Home rule Board Operations Fund. The assessments required by the provisions of §8-1-5a(c)(3) of this code shall be deposited into the fund, and expenditures from the fund shall be made in accordance with appropriation to the Legislature under the provisions of §12-3-1 et seq of this code, and in compliance with the provisions of §11B-2-1 et seq of this code: Provided, That legislative appropriation is not required during fiscal year 2019.
(5) Any balance in the fund created under §8-1-5a(c)(4) of this code at the end of a fiscal year shall not revert to the General Revenue Fund but shall remain in the special revenue account for uses consistent with the provisions of this section.
(6) All costs and expenses lawfully incurred by the board may be paid from the fund created under §8-1-5a(c)(4) of this code.
(7) Notwithstanding any provision of this section to the contrary, if at the end of a fiscal year the unencumbered balance of the fund created in §8-1-5a(c)(4) of this code is $200,000 or more, then annual assessments shall be suspended until the board determines that the unencumbered balance in the fund is insufficient to meet operational expenses. The board shall notify all participating municipalities of the suspension of the annual assessment prior to the end of the fiscal year and provide an estimate of when payment of annual assessments will resume.
(d) Municipal Home Rule Board. -- The Municipal Home Rule Board is hereby continued. Effective July 1, 2015, the The Municipal Home Rule Board shall consist of the following five voting members:
(5) One member representing the West Virginia Chapter of the American Institute of Certified Planners Planning Association, appointed by the Governor with the advice and consent of the Senate.
The Chair of the Senate Committee on Government Organization and the Chair of the House Committee on Government Organization shall continue to be serve as ex officio nonvoting members of the board.
(e) Board's powers and duties. -- The Municipal Home Rule Board has the following powers and duties shall:
(1) Review, evaluate, make recommendations and approve or reject, for any lawful reason, by a majority vote of the board, each aspect of the written plan, or a written plan in its entirety, submitted by a municipality;
(3) Review, evaluate, make recommendations and approve or reject, for any lawful reason, by a majority vote of the board, the amendments to the existing approved written plans submitted by municipalities: Provided, That any new application or amendment that does not reasonably demonstrate the municipality’s ability to manage is associated costs or liabilities shall be rejected;
(f) Written plan. -- Any Class I, Class II, Class III or Class IV municipality desiring to participate in the Municipal Home Rule Pilot Program, or any municipality desiring to amend its existing approved written plan, shall submit a written plan to the board stating in detail the following:
(2) The problems created by the those laws, acts, resolutions, policies, rules or regulations;
(g) Public hearing on written plan. -- Prior to submitting its written plan, or amendedment to an existing approved written plan, to the board, the municipality shall:
(4) After the public hearing, adopt an ordinance authorizing the municipality to submit a written plan or amendment to the Municipal Home Rule Board: Provided, That after the proposed ordinance has been read two times, as required by §8-11-4 of this code.
(h) Selection of municipalities. -- On or after June 1, 2015, by By a majority vote, the Municipal Home Rule Board may select from the municipalities that submitted written plans and were approved by the board by majority vote, new Class I, Class II, Class III and/or Class IV municipalities to participate in the Municipal Home Rule Pilot Program.
(i) Powers and duties of municipalities. -- The municipalities participating in the Municipal Home Rule Pilot Program have the authority to may not pass an ordinance, act, resolution, rule or regulation, under the provisions of this section, that is not contrary to the following:
(10) Federal law, including those governing or crimes and punishment;
(14) Laws governing taxation: Provided, That a participating municipality may enact a municipal sales tax up to one percent if it reduces or eliminates its municipal business and occupation tax: Provided, however, That if a municipality subsequently reinstates or raises the municipal business and occupation tax it previously reduced or eliminated under the Municipal Home Rule Pilot Program or the Municipal Home Rule Program, it shall reduce or eliminate the municipal sales tax enacted under the Municipal Home Rule Pilot Program or the Municipal Home Rule Program in an amount comparable to the revenue estimated to be generated by the reinstated tax: Provided further, That any municipality that imposes a municipal sales tax pursuant to this section shall use the services of the Tax Commissioner to administer, enforce and collect the tax in the same manner as the state consumers sales and service tax and use tax under required by the provisions of §11-15-1 et seq, §11-15A-1 et seq, and §11-15B-1 et seq, of this code and all applicable provisions of the Streamlined Sales and Use Tax Agreement: And provided further, That such the tax will does not apply to the sale of motor fuel or motor vehicles;
(18) Laws governing professional licensing or certification, including the administration and oversight of those laws, by state agencies to the extent required by law;
(19) Laws, rules, or regulations governing the enforcement of state building or fire codes;
(20) The West Virginia Workplace Freedom Act and Labor-Management Relations Act;
(21) Federal laws, regulations, or standards that would affect the state’s required compliance or jeopardize federal funding;
(22) Laws or rules governing procurement of architectural and engineering services;
(23) The provisions of chapter 17C of this code; or
(24) Laws, rules, or regulations governing communication technologies or telecommunications carriers, as the term “telecommunications carrier” is defined by the Federal Communications Commission in 47 U.S.C. § 153 or as determined by the Public Service Commission of West Virginia.
(j) Municipalities The municipalities participating in the Municipal Home Rule Program may not pass an ordinance, act, resolution, rule or regulation under the provisions of this section that:
(1) Affects persons or property outside the boundaries of the municipality: Provided, That this prohibition under the Municipal Home Rule Pilot Program does not limit a municipality's powers outside its boundary lines to the extent permitted under other provisions of this section, other sections of this chapter, other chapters of this code or court decisions; or
(2) Enacts an occupation tax, fee or assessment payable by a nonresident of a municipality;
(3) Imposes duties on another governmental entity, unless the performance of the duties is part of a legally executed agreement between the municipality and the other governmental entity, or is otherwise permitted by state law; or
(4) Prohibits or effectively limits the rental of a property, in while or in part, or regulates the duration, frequency, or location of such rental in whole or in part. A municipality may regulate activities that arise when a property is used as a rental: Provided, That such regulation applies uniformly to all properties, without regard to whether such properties are used as a rental: Provided, however, That nothing in this subdivision may be construed to prohibit a municipality from imposing a hotel occupancy tax as prescribe in §7-18-1 et seq of this code.
(k) Amendments to written plans. -- A municipality participating in the Municipal Home Rule Pilot Program may amend its written plan at any time subject to the requirements of this section.
(l) Amendments to ordinances, acts, resolutions, rules or regulations. -- A municipality participating in the Municipal Home Rule Pilot Program may amend any ordinance, act, resolution, rule or regulation enacted pursuant to the municipality's approved written plan at any time so as long as any the amendment is consistent with the municipality's approved written plan, as modified by any amendment adopted pursuant to this section, complies with the provisions of subsections (i) and (j) of this section, and the municipality complies with all applicable state law procedures for enacting municipal legislation.
(m) Reporting requirements. -- Commencing On or before December 1, 2015, and of each year thereafter, each participating municipality shall give a written progress report to the Municipal Home Rule Board and commencing on or before January 1, 2016, and of each year, thereafter the Municipal Home Rule Board shall give a summary report of all the participating municipalities to the Joint Committee on Government and Finance.
(n) Termination of the pilot program. -- The Municipal Home Rule Pilot Program terminates on July 1, 2019. An ordinance, act, resolution, rule or regulation enacted by a participating municipality under the provisions of this section during the period of the Municipal Home Rule Pilot Program shall continue in full force and effect until repealed In the event 30 percent of the qualified voters of the municipality who voted in the previous municipal election, by petition duly signed by them in their own handwriting and filed with the recorder of the municipality within 45 days after the enactment or amendment of an ordinance, act, resolution, rule, or regulation, protest against the ordinance, act, resolution, rule, or regulation, as amended, the ordinance, act, resolution, rule, or regulation shall not be issued or become effective until it is ratified by a majority of the legal votes cast by the qualified voters of the municipality at a regular municipal election or special municipal election, as the governing body directs. Voting shall not take place until after notice of the submission is given by publication as a Class II legal advertisement in compliance with the provisions of §59-3-1 et seq of this code.
(o) Each bond for which the proceeds from a sales and use tax enacted under this section are specifically pledges to pay the debt services must be ratified by a majority of the legal votes cast by the qualified voters of the municipality at a regular municipal election or special municipal election, as the governing body directs, before it may become effective. Voting shall not take place until after notice of the submission is give by publication as a Class II legal advertisement in compliance with the provisions of §59-3-1 et seq of this code: Provided, That this subsection shall not apply retroactively to existing bonds and: Provided, however That bonds may be refunded without being ratified by election.
(o)(p) Notwithstanding any other provision of this code to the contrary, on and after the effective date of the enactment of this provision in 2015, no a distributee under the provisions of this section may not seek from the Tax Division of the Department of Revenue a refund of revenues or moneys collected by, or remitted to, the Tax Division of the Department of Revenue, nor seek a change in past amounts distributed, or any other retrospective adjustment relating to any amount distributed, to the extent that the moneys in question have been distributed by the Tax Division to another distributee, regardless of whether those distributions were miscalculated, mistaken, erroneous, misdirected or otherwise inaccurate or incorrect. For purposes of this section, the term "distributee" means any municipality that has enacted a sales and use tax under this section or as otherwise permitted by law that receives or is authorized to receive a specific distribution of revenues or moneys collected by, or remitted to, the Tax Division of the Department of Revenue pursuant to this section.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to establish the Municipal Home Rule Pilot Program as a permanent program identified as the Municipal Home Rule Program. The bill provides for continuation of plans and amendments approved during Municipal Home Rule Pilot Program. The bill provide that any ordinance, act, resolution, rule, or regulation enacted pursuant to the Municipal Home Rule Pilot Program shall continue until repealed. The bill expands eligibility to participate in home rule to additional municipalities. The bill establishes annual assessment for participants in Municipal Home Rule Program. The bill established penalties for failing to timely pay annual assessment. The bill creates special revenue account for Municipal Home Rule Board. The bill authorizes certain expenditures from the special revenue fund. The bill provides suspension of annual assessment when certain conditions are met. The bill clarifies the authority of the Municipal Home Rule Board. The bill requires Municipal Home Rule Board to reject any application or amendment that does not reasonably demonstrate municipalities’ ability to manage related costs or liabilities. The bill requires publication of administrative rules of Municipal Home Rule Board on its website and made available to the public in print upon request. The bill clarifies procedures relating to submitting an amendment to approved plan. The bill requires certain notice prior proposing or amending a plan. The bill requires public hearing and notice of hearing prior to municipality proposing a plan or amendment. The bill amends certain prohibitions on the powers and duties of municipalities under home rule. The bill prohibits municipalities participating in the Municipal Home Rule Program from passing an ordinance, act, resolution, rule, or regulation contrary to laws governing professional licensing or certification of employees. The bill prohibits municipalities participating in the Municipal Home Rule Program from passing an ordinance, act, resolution, rule, or regulation contract to laws, rules, or regulations governing enforcement of building codes or fire codes. The bill prohibits municipalities participating in the Municipal Home Rule Program from passing an ordinance, act, resolution rule, or regulation contrary to the West Virginia Workplace Freedom Act and Labor-Management Relations Act. The bill prohibits municipalities participating in Municipal Home Rule Program from passing an ordinance, act, resolution, rule, or regulation contrary to federal laws regulations, or standards relating to transportation that would affect state’s required compliance or jeopardize federal funding. The bill prohibits municipalities from passing an ordinance, act, resolution, rule, or regulation contrary to law or rules governing procurement of architectural and engineering services. The bill prohibits municipalities from passing an ordinance, act, resolution, rule, or regulation contrary to Chapter 17C of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended. The bill prohibits municipalities from enacting any ordinance, act, resolution, rule, or regulations that imposes duties on another governmental entity. The bill provide certain exceptions to that prohibition. The bill prohibits municipalities from passing an ordinance, act, resolution, rule, or regulation that prohibits or limits rental of a property or regulations the duration, frequency, or location of such rental. The bill provides certain exceptions to that prohibition and limitation. The bill provides procedures for protesting enactment of amendment of ordinances, acts, resolution, rules, or regulations through a petition process. The bill provides procedures for the petition process. The bill provides that duly protested enactments shall not take effect until ratified by a majority of voters and prescribes the voting procedures. The bill provides that each bond must be ratified by a majority of voters and prescribes the voting procedure for bond ratification. The bill modifies reporting requirements. The bill eliminates automatic termination of the Municipal Home Rule Pilot Program on July 1, 2019.