By Craddick H.B. No. 1158
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to penalties and interest on property taxes included in
1-3 certain tax bills returned undelivered to the tax collector by the
1-4 postal service.
1-5 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-6 SECTION 1. Chapter 31, Tax Code, is amended by adding
1-7 Section 31.015 to read as follows:
1-8 Sec. 31.015. CERTAIN TAX BILLS: PENALTY AND INTEREST
1-9 EXCLUDED. (a) If a tax bill is returned undelivered to the taxing
1-10 unit by the United States Postal Service, penalties and interest on
1-11 the amount of the tax to which the bill applies shall be waived if:
1-12 (1) the taxing unit does not send another tax bill on
1-13 the property in question at least 21 days before the delinquency
1-14 date to the current mailing address furnished by the property owner
1-15 and the property owner establishes that a current mailing address
1-16 was furnished to the appraisal district by the property owner for
1-17 the tax bill before September 1 of the year in which the tax is
1-18 assessed; or
1-19 (2) the tax bill was returned because of an act or
1-20 omission of an officer, employee, or agent of the taxing unit or
1-21 the appraisal district in which the taxing unit participates and
1-22 the taxing unit or appraisal district did not send another tax bill
1-23 on the property in question at least 21 days before the delinquency
1-24 date to the proper mailing address.
2-1 (b) For the purposes of this section, a property owner is
2-2 considered to have furnished a current mailing address to the
2-3 taxing unit or to the appraisal district if the current address is
2-4 expressly communicated to the appraisal district in writing or if
2-5 the appraisal district received a copy of a recorded instrument
2-6 transferring ownership of real property and the current mailing
2-7 address of the new owner is included in the instrument or in
2-8 accompanying communications or letters of transmittal.
2-9 (c) A request for a waiver of penalties and interest under
2-10 this section must be made within six months of the delinquency
2-11 date.
2-12 (d) Penalties and interest do not accrue during the period
2-13 that a bill is not sent under Section 31.01(f).
2-14 (e) A property owner is not entitled to relief under this
2-15 section if the property owner or the owner's agent furnished an
2-16 incorrect mailing address to the appraisal district or the taxing
2-17 unit or to an employee or agent of the district or unit. Taxes for
2-18 which penalties and interest have been waived under this section
2-19 must be paid within 21 days of the property owner having received a
2-20 bill for those taxes at the current mailing address.
2-21 SECTION 2. Sections 31.01(a) and (f), Tax Code, are amended
2-22 to read as follows:
2-23 (a) Except as provided by Subsection (f) of this section,
2-24 the assessor for each taxing unit shall prepare and mail a tax bill
2-25 to each person in whose name the property is listed on the tax roll
2-26 or to his authorized agent. The assessor shall mail tax bills by
2-27 October 1 or as soon thereafter as practicable. The assessor shall
3-1 mail to the state agency or institution the tax bill for any
3-2 taxable property owned by the agency or institution. The agency or
3-3 institution shall pay the taxes from funds appropriated for payment
3-4 of the taxes or, if there are none, from funds appropriated for the
3-5 administration of the agency or institution. The outside of the
3-6 envelope in which a tax bill is sent must show the return address
3-7 of the taxing unit and must contain, in all capital letters, the
3-8 words "ADDRESS CORRECTION REQUESTED".
3-9 (f) A collector may provide that a tax bill not be sent
3-10 until the total amount of unpaid taxes the collector collects on
3-11 the property for all taxing units the collector serves is $15 or
3-12 more. A collector may not send a tax bill for an amount of taxes
3-13 less than $15 if before the tax bill is prepared the property owner
3-14 files a written request with the collector that a tax bill not be
3-15 sent until the total amount of unpaid taxes the collector collects
3-16 on the property is $15 or more. The request applies to all
3-17 subsequent taxes the collector collects on the property until the
3-18 property owner in writing revokes the request or the person no
3-19 longer owns the property. <Penalties and interest do not accrue
3-20 during a period when a bill is not sent under this subsection.>
3-21 SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 1993, and
3-22 applies to a tax bill sent on or after that date. The application
3-23 of penalties and interest on property taxes for tax bills sent
3-24 before the effective date of this Act is governed by the law in
3-25 effect at the time the tax bill was sent, and that law is continued
3-26 in effect for that purpose.
3-27 SECTION 4. The importance of this legislation and the
4-1 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
4-2 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
4-3 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
4-4 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.