The owner, keeper or person having in his possession or allowing to remain on any premises under his control a dog above the age of six months, shall have such dog assessed by the Wood County Assessor, shall pay the head tax, shall require such dog to wear a valid registration tag at all times, and do and perform all other duties and obligations imposed by West Virginia Code Article 19-20 as amended.
The failure to have displayed or worn on any dog, at any time, such valid tag shall be prima-facie evidence that such dog is not registered and such dog shall be subject to be, and shall be, impounded, sold, destroyed or otherwise disposed of as herein provided. (6-10-82)
There is hereby levied an annual head tax of three dollars ($3.00) on each dog, male or female, within the City. It shall be the duty of the County Assessor and his deputies, at the time they are making assessment of the personal property within the City, to assess and collect the head tax.
In the event that the owner, keeper or person having in his possession or allowing to remain on any premises under his control any dog above the age of six months, shall refuse or fail to pay such tax, when the same is assessed or within fifteen days thereafter, to the Assessor or Deputy Assessor, then such Assessor or Deputy Assessor shall certify such tax to the County Dog Warden; if there is no County Dog Warden he shall certify such tax to the County Sheriff, who shall take charge of the dog for which the tax is delinquent and impound the same for a period of fifteen days, for which service he shall be allowed a fee of one dollar and fifty cents ($1.50) to be charged against such delinquent taxpayer in addition to the taxes herein provided for. In case the tax and impounding charge herein provided for have not been paid within the period of fifteen days, then the Sheriff may sell the impounded dog and deduct the impounding charge and the delinquent tax from the amount received therefor, and return the balance, if any, to the delinquent taxpayer. Should the Sheriff fail to sell the dog so impounded within the time specified herein, he shall kill such dog and dispose of its body.
At the same time as the head tax is assessed, the Assessor and his deputies, on the forms prescribed under West Virginia Code 19-20-4 shall take down the age, sex, color, character of hair, long or short, and breed, if known, and the name and address of the owner, keeper or harborer thereof. When the head tax, and extra charges, if any, are paid, the officer to whom payment is made shall issue a certificate of registration and a registration tag for such dog.
In addition to the assessment and registration above provided for, whenever a dog either is acquired or becomes six months of age after the assessment of the personal property of the owner, keeper or harborer thereof, the owner, keeper or harborer of the dog shall, within ten days after the acquisition or maturation, register the dog with the Assessor, and pay the head tax thereon unless the prior owner, keeper or harborer paid the head tax.
All certificates of registration and registration tags issued pursuant to the provisions of this section shall be issued for the fiscal year and shall be valid from the date on which issued until the thirtieth day of June of that fiscal year, or until reissued by the Assessor or his Deputy in the regular performance of his duties, but in no case shall previous registration tags be valid after September 30 of the next ensuing fiscal year.
The Assessor collecting the head tax on dogs shall be allowed a commission of ten percent (10%) upon all such taxes collected by him, and shall turn over to the Treasurer or other proper officer of the City ninety percent (90%) of such taxes levied by this section. All such dog taxes shall be deposited in the General Fund of the City and shall be expended in such manner as the City may hereafter provide. All dog taxes not collected as aforesaid shall be collected by the Treasurer of the City. (6-25-81)