(a) Officers Responsible. The Director of Finance is hereby authorized to publish a list of delinquent business and occupation taxpayers as provided herein. The Director of Finance shall be ultimately responsible for overseeing and publishing the list of delinquent business and occupation taxpayers as provided herein.
(b) Preparation of List. A list of delinquent business and occupation taxpayers shall be prepared of all taxpayers who have had a delinquency that has lasted for at least the four consecutive quarters preceding the publication of the list. The list shall include only the name of the delinquent taxpayer and the year(s) in which the delinquency arises. The Director of Finance shall adopt policies and procedures to verify each delinquency prior to publication.
(c) Notice Prior to Publication. At least thirty (30) days prior to publication of the delinquent business and occupation taxpayer list, the Director of Finance shall cause to be published a general notice of the forthcoming publication by publishing a Class II-0 legal advertisement in compliance with the provisions of article three, chapter fifty-nine of the W.Va.Code, and the publication area for such publication shall be the Municipality or the Director of Finance shall send a letter to each delinquent business and occupation taxpayer by mail advising of the upcoming publication.
(d) Oath Required. Prior to publication of the delinquent business and occupation taxpayer list, the Director of Finance shall take an oath, to be included in or attached to the delinquent list, certified by the City Clerk or some other person duly authorized to administer oaths, in form and effect as follows:
“I, the Director of Finance of the City of Princeton, do swear, to the best of may knowledge and belief, that the foregoing list of delinquent business and occupation taxes to be published on , is complete and accurate, and, as of the date of this oath, that I have not received payment from any of the entities listed for the delinquent amounts included in the list.”
(e) Publication. Upon compliance with all the conditions provided herein, and if the taxpayer continues to have a delinquency that has lasted for at least the four consecutive quarters preceding the publication of the list, the Director of Finance is hereby authorized, at or near the conclusion of any fiscal quarter, to post a copy of list in City Hall or other municipal buildings used to conduct municipal business, and to publish said list as a Class I-0 legal advertisement in the newspaper or other media in compliance with the provisions of article three, chapter fifty-nine of the W.Va. Code, on the City’s website or in such other reasonable manner as determined by the Director of Finance to provide notice of the delinquency without incurring unnecessary costs related to the publication.
(f) Costs. To cover the costs of preparing, publishing and posting a delinquent list, a reasonable charge may be added to the amount owed by a taxpayer included in any such list, in addition to the tax, interest and penalty already owned by the taxpayer.
(g) Notice of Delinquent Lists to City Council and Retention of List by City. A copy of each published delinquent list shall be provided to the City Council not later than the first regular meeting of the City Council after the publication. A copy of the delinquent list shall be retained by the Director of Finance for a period of not less than three years.
(Passed 8-15-16.)