SB 532 West Virginia Senate · 2025 Regular Session

Making ad valorem taxes on property payable only to county in which property is located

SB 532 clarifies that ad valorem taxes on property must be paid to the county where the property itself is located, not the county where a well's physical location (well seat) is situated. This directly affects property owners and local governments in counties where wells are drilled in one county but draw from property in another. The bill mandates that tax payments follow the property's location, resolving potential confusion about jurisdiction. It does not change tax rates or create new obligations, only specifies the correct county for tax remittance. This is a procedural clarification under West Virginia's property tax rules.
Bill status passed 3 of 5 stages cleared
Introduction
Feb 2025
Committee Review
Mar 2025
Senate Passage
Mar 2025
House of Delegates Passage
Governor
Introduced Feb 19, 2025 Last action Mar 13, 2025
Maddy AI version diff · 1 comparison

What changed between versions

Introduced Version Committee Substitute · 3 edits
MINOR
The bill was revised from an Introduced Version to a Committee Substitute version, adding a formal definition of 'well seat' and expanding the bill's language to include term definitions. The core policy regarding which county receives ad valorem taxes when a well seat and property location differ remains unchanged.
Scope change
The bill's scope was slightly expanded by adding explicit definitions for key terms, particularly 'well seat', to clarify application of the tax rule.
DEFINITION

Added a new subsection (b) defining 'well seat' as the designated point within a drilled wellbore where casing is cemented in place, providing technical clarity on the term used in the tax provision.

TECHNICAL

Changed the bill title from 'Introduced' to 'Committee Substitute' and updated the report date to March 7, 2025, reflecting committee review and amendment.

Expanded the bill's purpose statement to explicitly mention defining terms in addition to clarifying tax payment counties.

Floor votes · Senate Mar 12, 2025

How they voted

330
Passed
Total votes 33
Mar 12, 2025
D Democratic2
2 Yea
100% Yea
R Republican31
31 Yea
100% Yea
Vote distribution
All Yea All Nay Mixed No data
Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions
16
Key actions
2
Committee
4
Mar 13, 2025
Committee
To House Finance
lower
Mar 13, 2025
Committee
To Finance
lower
Mar 13, 2025
Introduced
Introduced in House
lower
Mar 12, 2025
Upper · Passed
Passed Senate (Roll No. 99)
upper
Mar 7, 2025
Upper · Passed
Committee substitute reported
upper
Feb 19, 2025
Introduced
Introduced in Senate
upper
Feb 19, 2025
Committee
To Finance
upper
1 primary · 2 co-sponsors

Sponsors