By: Henderson S.B. No. 548
73R5705 JD-F
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to judicial review of ad valorem tax appraisals of oil and
1-3 gas pipelines.
1-4 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-5 SECTION 1. Section 42.22, Tax Code, is amended to read as
1-6 follows:
1-7 Sec. 42.22. VENUE. Venue is in the county in which the
1-8 appraisal review board that issued the order appealed is located,
1-9 except as provided by Section 42.223. Venue is in Travis County if
1-10 the order appealed was issued by the comptroller.
1-11 SECTION 2. Subchapter B, Chapter 42, Tax Code, is amended by
1-12 adding Section 42.223 to read as follows:
1-13 Sec. 42.223. CONSOLIDATED APPEALS FOR MULTICOUNTY PIPELINE.
1-14 (a) The owner of an oil or gas pipeline that runs through more
1-15 than one county and is appraised by more than one appraisal
1-16 district may appeal an order of an appraisal review board relating
1-17 to the pipeline, to property attached to or used in connection with
1-18 the pipeline, or to an easement or other real property on which the
1-19 pipeline is located to the district court of:
1-20 (1) the county in which the owner resides;
1-21 (2) the county in which the principal place of
1-22 business of the owner is located; or
1-23 (3) any county in which a portion of the pipeline is
1-24 located.
2-1 (b) A petition for review of each appraisal review board
2-2 order under this section must be filed with the court as provided
2-3 by Section 42.21. The fee for filing each additional petition for
2-4 review relating to a pipeline after the first petition for review
2-5 relating to the same pipeline is filed for a tax year is $5.
2-6 (c) If only one appeal by the owner of an oil or gas
2-7 pipeline is pending before the court in an appeal from the decision
2-8 of an appraisal review board of a district other than the appraisal
2-9 district for that county, any party to the suit may, not earlier
2-10 than the 30th day before and not later than the 10th day before the
2-11 date set for the hearing, make a motion to transfer the suit to a
2-12 district court of the county in which the appraisal review board
2-13 from which the appeal is taken is located. In the absence of a
2-14 showing that further appeals under this section will be filed, the
2-15 court shall transfer the suit.
2-16 (d) When the owner files the first petition for review under
2-17 this section for a pipeline for a tax year, the owner shall include
2-18 with the petition a list of each appraisal district in which the
2-19 pipeline is appraised for taxation in that tax year.
2-20 (e) The court shall consolidate all the appeals for a tax
2-21 year relating to a single pipeline for which a petition for review
2-22 is filed with the court and may consolidate other appeals relating
2-23 to other pipelines of the same owner if the court considers it
2-24 appropriate to do so. On the motion of the pipeline owner, the
2-25 court shall grant a continuance to provide the owner with an
2-26 opportunity to include in the proceeding appeals of appraisal
2-27 review board orders from additional appraisal districts.
3-1 (f) This section does not affect the property owner's right
3-2 to file a petition for review of an individual appraisal district's
3-3 order relating to a pipeline in the district court in the county in
3-4 which the appraisal review board is located.
3-5 SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 1993. The
3-6 changes in law made by this Act apply to any petition for review
3-7 filed under Chapter 42, Tax Code, as amended by this Act, on or
3-8 after that date and to any petition for review filed under that
3-9 chapter that is pending before a district court on that date.
3-10 SECTION 4. The importance of this legislation and the
3-11 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
3-12 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
3-13 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
3-14 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.