73R4530 SMH-F
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 taxing unit or appraisal district by the
1-17 property owner for the tax bill before September 1 of the year in
1-18 which the tax is assessed; or
1-19 (2) the tax bill was returned because:
1-20 (A) the mailing address of the property owner
1-21 was changed by the appraisal district or taxing unit without the
1-22 knowledge of the property owner from the address that appeared on
1-23 the tax roll in the preceding year;
1-24 (B) the tax assessed on that property in the
2-1 preceding year was paid before the delinquency date; and
2-2 (C) the taxing unit or appraisal district did
2-3 not send another tax bill on the property in question at least 21
2-4 days before the delinquency to the proper mailing address.
2-5 (b) For the purposes of this section, a property owner is
2-6 considered to have furnished a current mailing address to the
2-7 taxing unit or to the appraisal district if the current address is
2-8 expressly communicated to either the taxing unit or the appraisal
2-9 district in writing or if the appraisal district or the taxing unit
2-10 received a copy of a recorded instrument transferring ownership of
2-11 real property and the current mailing address of the new owner is
2-12 included in the instrument or in accompanying communications or
2-13 letters of transmittal.
2-14 (c) Penalties and interest do not accrue during the period
2-15 that a bill is not sent under Section 31.01(f).
2-16 SECTION 2. Sections 31.01(a) and (f), Tax Code, are amended
2-17 to read as follows:
2-18 (a) Except as provided by Subsection (f) of this section,
2-19 the assessor for each taxing unit shall prepare and mail a tax bill
2-20 to each person in whose name the property is listed on the tax roll
2-21 or to his authorized agent. The assessor shall mail tax bills by
2-22 October 1 or as soon thereafter as practicable. The assessor shall
2-23 mail to the state agency or institution the tax bill for any
2-24 taxable property owned by the agency or institution. The agency or
2-25 institution shall pay the taxes from funds appropriated for payment
2-26 of the taxes or, if there are none, from funds appropriated for the
2-27 administration of the agency or institution. The outside of the
3-1 envelope in which a tax bill is sent must show the return address
3-2 of the taxing unit.
3-3 (f) A collector may provide that a tax bill not be sent
3-4 until the total amount of unpaid taxes the collector collects on
3-5 the property for all taxing units the collector serves is $15 or
3-6 more. A collector may not send a tax bill for an amount of taxes
3-7 less than $15 if before the tax bill is prepared the property owner
3-8 files a written request with the collector that a tax bill not be
3-9 sent until the total amount of unpaid taxes the collector collects
3-10 on the property is $15 or more. The request applies to all
3-11 subsequent taxes the collector collects on the property until the
3-12 property owner in writing revokes the request or the person no
3-13 longer owns the property. <Penalties and interest do not accrue
3-14 during a period when a bill is not sent under this subsection.>
3-15 SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 1993, and
3-16 applies to a tax bill sent on or after that date. The application
3-17 of penalties and interest on property taxes for tax bills sent
3-18 before the effective date of this Act is governed by the law in
3-19 effect at the time the tax bill was sent, and that law is continued
3-20 in effect for that purpose.
3-21 SECTION 4. The importance of this legislation and the
3-22 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
3-23 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
3-24 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
3-25 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.