CHARLESTON, W.Va. — It’s time for West Virginia newspapers to file the Statement of Ownership form with the US Post Office and the Affidavit of Circulation form with the WV Secretary of State office.
The WVPA has attached a sample letter of “Notification of Legal Rates” that state code says you should provide to the following: “…the the clerk of the county commission and the board of education of the county in which the qualified newspaper is published. … If the qualified newspaper is published in a municipality, the publisher or proprietor shall at the same time also furnish the same notification to the clerk or recorder of the municipality.”
The “Notification of Legal Rates” form is attached below.
The rate/circulation classifications are based on this basic formula: The rates which a publisher or proprietor of a qualified newspaper in West Virginia may charge and receive for a single or first publication of any legal advertisement set solid depends on the bona fide circulation of the newspaper, as follows (These rates totals are adjusted and correct):
(1) 7 cents per word if the qualified newspaper has a bona fide circulation of less than 1,000, except as provided in subdivision (1), subsection (a) of this section;
(2) 11 and one-half cents per word if the qualified newspaper has a bona fide circulation of 1,000 to 5,000;
(3) 12 cents per word if the qualified newspaper has a bona fide circulation of more than 5,000 but less than 10,000;
(4) 13 cents per word if the qualified newspaper has a bona fide circulation of more than 10,000 and less than 30,000; or
(5) 14 cents per word if the qualified newspaper has a bona fide circulation of 30,000 or more: Provided, That on the first day of July in the year two thousand three and on the first day of July in the year two thousand four and on the first day of July in the year two thousand five the allowable rate per word in each of the classifications of qualified newspapers with reference to circulation as set forth in this subsection shall, for each classification, increase one cent per word over the prior year’s rate.
Please be sure your newspaper’s legal charges are based on those rates and that the circulation level is correct.
Key Dates:
US Postal – Newspaper Statement of Ownership
The WVSOS Affidavit of Circulation form is attached. Here is a link, also:
http://www.sos.wv.gov/elections/forms/Pages/default.aspx