HB 4977 West Virginia House of Delegates · 2026 Regular Session

Relating to authorizing municipalities to adopt an ordinance to recover demolition costs as special tax assessments

HB 4977 allows West Virginia municipalities to recover costs for demolishing unsafe structures by imposing special tax assessments on the property owners. It applies to properties deemed unsafe, unsanitary, dangerous, or detrimental to public safety - such as those with structural damage, fire hazards, or abandonment - after a code enforcement agency determines they require demolition. Municipalities must formally adopt ordinances designating an enforcement agency (like building inspectors or health officials) to manage this process. The bill clarifies that these special taxes are separate from regular property taxes and apply only to properties ordered demolished for public safety reasons. It does not create new demolition requirements but streamlines cost recovery for existing code enforcement actions.
Bill status passed 3 of 5 stages cleared
Introduction
Jan 2026
Committee Review
Mar 2026
House of Delegates Passage
Mar 2026
Senate Passage
Governor
Introduced Jan 29, 2026 Last action Mar 5, 2026
Maddy AI version diff · 2 comparisons

What changed between versions

Committee Substitute Engrossed Committee Substitute · 2 edits · Mar 4, 2026
MINOR
This bill version updates the official title to reflect its current status as an 'Engrossed' version rather than a 'Committee Substitute'. It also standardizes the capitalization of 'reported' in the committee report date. No substantive policy changes, new laws, or operational requirements were added or removed in this update.
TECHNICAL

Updated the document title from 'Committee Substitute' to 'Engrossed Version' to reflect the bill's legislative status.

Changed the capitalization of 'reported' in the committee report date from 'Reported' to 'reported'.

Floor votes · House of Delegates Mar 4, 2026

How they voted

920
Passed · 7 other
Total votes 99
Mar 4, 2026
D Democratic9
9 Yea
100% Yea
R Republican90
83 Yea 7
92% Yea
Vote distribution
All Yea All Nay Mixed No data
Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions
16
Key actions
2
Committee
5
Mar 5, 2026
Committee
To Judiciary
upper
Mar 5, 2026
Introduced
Introduced in Senate
upper
Mar 4, 2026
Lower · Passed
Passed House (Roll No. 291)
lower
Mar 2, 2026
Lower · Passed
By substitute, do pass
lower
Jan 30, 2026
Committee
To House Local Governments
lower
Jan 29, 2026
Committee
To House Government Organization
lower
Jan 29, 2026
Introduced
Introduced in House
lower
Jan 29, 2026
Committee
To Government Organization
lower
1 primary · 10 co-sponsors

Sponsors