Attorney General Opinions

TAXATION: GENERAL PROVISIONS OF TITLE 58.1.

COUNTIES, CITIES AND TOWNS: VIRGINIA COALFIELD AUTHORITY.

Treasurers in Southwest Virginia coalfield region may share with Virginia Coalfield Economic Development Authority names of coal and oil and gas producers and dollar amount of their contribution to Virginia Coalfield Economic Development Fund, to enable Authority to determine constitution of its board of directors, without violating prohibition against disclosure of taxpayer information.

The Honorable Rita Holbrook
Treasurer for Wise County
January 3, 1997

You ask whether treasurers in the Southwest Virginia coalfield region¹ may report to the Virginia Coalfield Economic Development Authority² (the "Authority") both the names of coal and oil and gas producers (collectively, "producers") and the dollar amount of their contributions to the Virginia Coalfield Economic Development Fund ("Coalfield Fund") for the third quarter of the fiscal year, as well as at the end of the fiscal year, without violating the prohibition against disclosure of taxpayer information in § 58.1­3 of the Code of Virginia.³

You state that the Authority has requested the treasurers in the Southwest Virginia coalfield region to report to the Authority the amount of contributions producers make to their respective county coal and gas road improvement funds ("county funds"). The Authority intends to determine from these reports the three largest contributing coal producers and the largest contributing oil and gas producer that will provide representatives to serve on the Authority's Board of Directors.

Section 15.1­1638 provides that, beginning with the fiscal year immediately preceding July 1, 1988, three members on the Authority's current sixteen-member Board shall consist of representatives named by the three largest coal producers, as determined by the local treasurers from such producers' contributions to their county funds. Representation on the Board shall continue every four years thereafter, as determined by the three largest coal producers' monetary contributions to the Coalfield Fund for the fiscal year immediately preceding July 1 in the year new membership terms begin.⁴ A fourth member shall be a representative of the largest oil and gas producer as determined by its contributions to the Coalfield Fund for the same time period.⁵

Section 58.1­3 establishes a general principle that constitutional officers and other local tax and revenue officials should refrain from disclosing information about the transactions, property, income or business of any taxpayer. That general rule originally was enacted by the 1926 Session of the General Assembly,⁶ and its application continues, "[e]xcept in accordance with proper judicial order or as otherwise provided by law."⁷ Both §§ 58.1­3 and 58.1­3.1 specify certain limited instances in which a treasurer may share taxpayer information with other officials of his or her locality. Prior opinions of the Attorney General, however, have construed these exceptions narrowly and consistently have concluded that most information concerning individual taxpayers may not be disclosed to other officials of the locality for purposes unrelated to the collection of taxes.⁸

The 1988 Session of the General Assembly enacted legislation creating the Authority⁹ as a body politic to assist the Southwest Virginia coalfield region in achieving some degree of economic stability.¹⁰ The powers, rights and duties of the Authority are exercised by its sixteen-member Board.¹¹ Three of the Board members "shall be representatives named by the three largest coal producers determined by the dollar value of their contribution to the respective county coal and gas road improvement funds."¹²

Section 58.1­3713(A) permits any county or city to impose a "license tax on every person engaging in the business of severing coal or gases from the earth." The tax is based on the producers' gross receipts from the sale of the coal and gas.¹³ The monies collected from this tax are paid into the county funds.¹⁴ Three-fourths of the revenue from such license tax must be paid to the county fund and spent only for improvements to public roads in the Southwest Virginia coalfield region, and the remaining one-fourth of the revenue must be paid to the Coalfield Fund.¹⁵

"[T]he primary objective of statutory construction is to ascertain and give effect to legislative intent."¹⁶ Under applicable rules of statutory construction, the General Assembly is presumed to be aware of the law existing at the time it adopts a statute.¹⁷ The General Assembly is also presumed to be aware of the construction of statutes, both by the Attorney General and by the courts.¹⁸ Likewise, the General Assembly is presumed to be aware of its own previous enactments.¹⁹ Consequently, when it created the Authority and the Board at its 1988 Session,²⁰ the General Assembly is presumed to have known of the broad prohibition on the disclosure of information obtained by a local revenue official that had been in existence since 1926. In addition, the General Assembly is presumed to have known of the consistently narrow construction by the Attorney General regarding the limited instances in which such information may be shared with other local officials. In fact, the General Assembly clearly and unambiguously has provided that such tax information may be disclosed to other officials for purposes unrelated to the collection of taxes in very limited situations.²¹

To determine legislative intent in this instance, statutes dealing with the same subject matter should be construed together to achieve a harmonious result, resolving conflicts to give effect to each statute, to the maximum extent possible.²² Four members of the Authority's Board must be representatives named by the three largest coal producers and the largest oil and gas producer as determined from their monetary contributions to the county funds for the preceding fiscal year, "as reported by the treasurers of the affected counties and city."²³ "The purpose for which a statute is enacted is of primary importance in its interpretation or construction. `A statute often speaks as plainly by inference, and by means of the purpose that underlies it, as in any other manner.'"²⁴ The General Assembly clearly does not provide that the treasurers for the Southwest Virginia coalfield region report to the Authority each processor's monetary contribution to the county fund; therefore, such an intent would have to be inferred. It must be assumed that the legislature did not intend to do a vain and useless thing.25

Section 15.1­1638 provides that the chapter,26 "being necessary for the welfare of the Commonwealth and its inhabitants, shall be liberally construed to effect the purposes thereof." Section 15.1­1649 provides that "[a]ll other general or special laws inconsistent with any provision of this chapter are hereby declared to be inapplicable to the provisions of this chapter."27 Considering these broad policy statements, I am of the opinion that the phrase "as reported by the treasurers" in § 15.1­1638 authorizes the treasurers in the Southwest Virginia coalfield region to provide the Authority the information that is necessary to enable the Authority to make the Board appointments.28 Unless the Authority is able to determine the largest producers within the region, it will be unable to constitute a Board to effect its purposes.

¹The Southwest Virginia coalfield region is comprised of seven counties-Lee, Wise, Scott, Buchanan, Russell, Tazewell and Dickenson-and the City of Norton. See § 15.1­1637. Section 15.1­1650 states that "the City of Norton shall be deemed a contributing jurisdiction of Wise County and moneys collected from Wise County may be used in the City of Norton."
²The Virginia Coalfield Economic Development Authority is created pursuant to Chapter 40, Title 15.1, §§ 15.1­1635 to 15.1­1650.
³Section 58.1­3 contains a broad prohibition on the disclosure of information obtained by a treasurer in the course of his public duty. Unless there is an express statutory exception, a treasurer may not disclose information about the transactions, property, income or business affairs of any taxpayer. See § 58.1­3(A). That general rule applies, "[e]xcept in accordance with proper judicial order or as otherwise provided by law." Id.
⁴"Three initial members shall be representatives named by the three largest coal producers determined by the dollar value of their contribution to the respective county coal and gas road improvement funds for the fiscal year immediately preceding July 1, 1988, as reported by the treasurers of the affected counties and city. Every four years thereafter, the three members shall be representatives named by the three largest coal producers determined by the dollar value of their contributions to the Virginia Coalfield Economic Development Fund for the fiscal year immediately preceding July 1 of the year in which new terms of members are to begin." Section 15.1­1638.
⁵Section 15.1­1638.
⁶See Ch. 147, 1926 Va. Acts 252, 255.
⁷Section 58.1­3(A).
⁸See, e.g., Op. Va. Att'y Gen.: 1993 at 59, 64 (§ 15.1­163, requiring commissioner of revenue to provide information requested by governing body, is not in conflict with § 58.1­3; if conflict exists, superseding language in second enactment clause of 1993 act amending § 15.1­163 would cause that section to prevail); 1987-1988 at 506, 507­08 (commissioner of revenue is prohibited from granting local department of social services direct access to computer data files to verify information on applications for public assistance); 1985-1986 at 311 (commissioner of revenue may not grant county administrator or employees in administrator's office access to property and income data in commissioner's files); 1973-1974 at 412 (county assessor and finance director may not give county public utilities commission information about taxpayers' property except information entered on assessment public rolls or books); 1970-1971 at 18, 19 (despite charter provision authorizing city council to investigate conduct of any city office or department, neither council nor city manager has right to examine records of city assessor made confidential by repealed § 58­46, recodified as § 58.1­3); 1963-1964 at 17 (commissioner of revenue may not divulge to board of supervisors information reported on individual personal property tax returns).
⁹Ch. 833, 1988 Va. Acts 1658.
¹⁰See id. at 1659 (enacting §§ 15.1­1635, 15.1­1636).
¹¹Section 15.1­1638.
¹²Id.
¹³See § 58.1­3713(A) (methodology of measuring gross receipts in § 58.1­1712 applies to tax).
¹⁴See § 58.1­3713(A).
¹⁵See id. Section 15.1­1644 provides that "[on] September 1, 1988, and on the first day of each month thereafter, each county and city shall remit to the Virginia Coalfield Economic Development Fund twenty-five percent of the revenues collected during the next to last calendar month from the coal and gas road improvement tax pursuant to § 58.1­3713."
¹⁶Turner v. Commonwealth, 226 Va. 456, 459, 309 S.E.2d 337, 338 (1983).
¹⁷See Cape Henry v. Natl. Gypsum, 229 Va. 596, 600, 331 S.E.2d 476, 479 (1985).
¹⁸See Browning-Ferris v. Commonwealth, 225 Va. 157, 161, 300 S.E.2d 603, 605­06 (1983); Deal v. Commonwealth, 224 Va. 618, 622, 299 S.E.2d 346, 348 (1983) (Attorney General's interpretation of motor vehicle laws and arbitration statutes, respectively); see also Mace v. Merchants Delivery, 221 Va. 401, 270 S.E.2d 717 (1980); Jones Construction Co. v. Martin, 198 Va. 370, 378, 94 S.E.2d 202, 207­08 (1956) (legislative response to interpretation by Supreme Court and Industrial Commission of Workmen's Compensation Act).
¹⁹17 M.J. Statutes § 46 (Repl. Vol. 1994 & Supp. 1995); 1994 Op. Va. Att'y Gen. 60, 62.
²⁰Ch. 1988 Va. Acts, supra note 9, at 1659 (enacting §§ 15.1­1635, 15.1­1638).
²¹See, e.g., § 58.1­3934 (commissioner of revenue may disclose confidential tax information to local tax collector employed by county board of supervisors); § 58.1­3379 (requiring local commissioners to call inequalities in real estate assessments to attention of local board of equalization); § 63.1­274.6 (requiring commissioners of revenue to provide, upon request, to Division of Child Support Enforcement, Department of Social Services, names, social security account numbers, addresses and types of licenses of all individuals who have business licenses on file in commissioners' offices).
²²VEPCO v. Prince William Co., 226 Va. 382, 387­88, 309 S.E.2d 308, 311 (1983); 1991 Op. Va. Att'y Gen.7, 8; id. at 159, 160; see also Prillaman v. Commonwealth, 199 Va. 401, 405, 100 S.E.2d 4, 7 (1957) (statutes relating to same subject are not to be considered in isolation but must be construed together to produce harmonious result that gives effect to all provisions if possible).
²³Section 15.1­1638.
²⁴Norfolk So. Ry. Co. v. Lassiter, 193 Va. 360, 364, 68 S.E.2d 641, 643 (1952) (citation omitted).
²⁵Williams v. Commonwealth, 190 Va. 280, 293, 56 S.E.2d 537, 543 (1949).
²⁶See supra note 2.
²⁷See 1993 Op. Va. Att'y Gen., supra note 8.
²⁸While the information disclosed should not exceed that which is necessary, I express no opinion on the extent or format of the disclosure, since that determination will depend on the particular facts and circumstances.