BILL ANALYSIS

H.B. 4979

By: Muñoz

Ways & Means

Committee Report (Unamended)

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE

The bill author has informed the committee that the South Texas College (STC) governing board holds significant taxing authority in the region. H.B. 4979 seeks to ensure taxpayer oversight of any significant potential increases in maintenance and operations taxes by lowering the STC threshold rate that triggers a voter election.

CRIMINAL JUSTICE IMPACT

It is the committee's opinion that this bill does not expressly create a criminal offense, increase the punishment for an existing criminal offense or category of offenses, or change the eligibility of a person for community supervision, parole, or mandatory supervision.

RULEMAKING AUTHORITY

It is the committee's opinion that this bill does not expressly grant any additional rulemaking authority to a state officer, department, agency, or institution.

ANALYSIS

H.B. 4979 amends the Tax Code to establish a special junior college district as a special taxing unit for purposes of calculating the district's voter-approval tax rate and to establish a separate formula for such a district to use in calculating its voter‑approval property tax rate. In the separate formula, the bill sets the allowable year-over-year percentage increase in the amount of revenue the special junior college district raises at 3.5 percent, whereas current law sets the allowable increase at 8 percent for all other special taxing districts, which includes other junior college districts that are not a special junior college district. The bill defines a "special junior college district" as a junior college district whose service area boundaries and taxing district boundaries are identical and that is located in at least one county adjacent to an international border.

H.B. 4979 makes the special junior college district's voter-approval tax rate formula inapplicable to the calculation and adoption of certain tax rates in a declared disaster area using the formula applicable to other special taxing units. The bill also makes that formula inapplicable with respect to calculation of the tax rate that, under current law, triggers the applicability of the provision authorizing qualified voters of a taxing unit to petition for an election to reduce the tax rate of taxing units other than school districts.

H.B. 4979 applies only to property taxes imposed for a property tax year that begins on or after the bill's effective date.

EFFECTIVE DATE

January 1, 2026.