Task force on mineral taxes.

ORIGINAL
Senate
File No.
SF0042

ENROLLED ACT NO. 33,

SENATE

SIXTY-THIRD LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WYOMING
2015 General Session

AN ACT relating to the administration of government; creating a task force on mineral taxes; providing for a study on mineral taxes; requiring a report; providing appropriations; and providing for an effective date.

Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Wyoming:

Section 1.

(a)

There is created a task force on
mine
ral
taxes
consisting of the following members:

(
i
)

Two (2) members of the Wyoming senate appointed by the president of the senate
not later than March 31, 2015
, one (1) of
whom shall
be designated as cochairman;

(ii)

Two (2) members of the Wyoming house of representatives, appointed by the speaker of the house
not later than March 31, 2015
,

o
ne (1) of
whom
shall be designated as cochairman;

(
iii
)

Six
(
6
) members appointed by the governor
not later than March 31, 2015
. One (1) of the members shall be
employed in an industry related to oil or gas
, one (1) shall be a person employed in an industry related to
mining of solid minerals,

one (1) shall be a county assessor,
one (1) shall be
a county commissioner, one (1) shall be a
county treasurer
and one (1) shall be a member of the public
.

(b)

T
he task force shall be staffed by the legislative service office.
The
department of revenue

and the department of audit
shall
serve in an advisory capacity to the task force and shall provide technical and other relevant information as requested.
With the prior approval
of the management council, t
he task force may engage the services of research firms or consulting expertise as necessary to carry out the purposes of this act.
State agencies shall provide information and assistance t
o the task force as requested.
The task force shall hold
at least
four (
4
)

public meetings
each year and, to the extent practicable, shall meet in close proximity in time and location t
o meetings of the joint
revenue
interim
committee
.

(c)

The task force shall
study
and make recommendations for a fair, viable and simplified system of valuation and taxation for minerals. In making recommendations under this subsection
,
the task force shall:

(
i
)

Establish criteria for determining and evaluating state and local mineral valuation and taxation options;

(ii)

Establish a priority list for addressing the valuation and taxation of each mineral with the highest priority being minerals for which the administration of valuation and taxation is the most complex;

(iii)

Develop a fair, understandable valuation and taxation system which is as simple as possible to comply with and administer;

(iv)

Consider whether
proposed
changes
to the mineral
severance tax and the mineral gross
product tax
can be made revenue neutral to the state, local government and industry;

(v)

Consider any constitutional issues which may be raised
in relation to the
recommendations of the task force and recommend solutions to those issues if necessary.

(
d
)

The task force shall
regularly provide updates to the joint revenue interim committee on the activities of the task force. The task force shall
submit
a final report including
its
final
recommendations
and

any
proposed legislation with respect to the issues specified in subsection (c) of this
section, to
the joint revenue

interim
committee
and the governor
no later than
November 30, 2016
. The
joint revenue interim
committee
shall consider the recommendations and develop legislation it deems appropriate for consideration by the legislature.

(
e
)

The task force shall exist until December 31, 201
6
. Members of the task force who are not state employees or legislators shall not receive a salary but shall receive reimbursement for mileage and per diem expenses at the rate provided for le
gislators under W.S. 28
‑
5
‑
101.
Members of the task force who are legislators shall be paid salary, per diem and mileage as provided in W.S. 28
‑
5
‑
101 for their official duties as members of the task force.

(
f
)

There is appropriated from the general fund
for
the purposes of this act
:

(
i
)

T
hirty thousand dollars ($3
0,000.00) to the legislative service office for payment of salary, per diem and mileage for legislative task force members
and other expenses of the task force
.
The management council may use a portion of this appropriation to engage the services of research firms or consulting or other expertise determined necessary to carry out the purposes of this act;

(
ii
)

Fifteen
thousand dollars ($1
5
,000.00) to the governor's office for payment of authorized per diem and mileage for
nonlegislative
task force members.

(g)

Funds appropriated under subsection (f) of this section shall only be expended for the purposes of this act. Any unused and unobligated funds shall revert as provided by law on June 30, 2017.

Section 2.

This act is effective immediately upon completion of all acts necessary for a bill to become law as provided by Article 4, Section 8 of the Wyoming Constitution.

(END)

Speaker of the House

President of the Senate

Governor

TIME APPROVED: _________

DATE APPROVED: _________

I hereby certify that this act originated in the
Senate
.

Chief Clerk

1