BILL ANALYSIS
H.B. 2941
By: Heflin (Armbrister)
Finance
5-25-95
Senate Committee Report (Amended)
BACKGROUND
Throughout the Tax Code are various sections relating to the
valuation of property and assessment of taxes upon such property.
Among those sections are provisions related to the rights, powers,
and duties of appraisal review boards and appraisal districts.
Also included are provisions related to the interaction between
taxpayers (or their designate representative) and the appraisal
entities and taxation matters regarding their property.
PURPOSE
As proposed, C.S.H.B. 2941 amends certain property tax provisions
of the Tax Code to enhance efficiency and taxpayer service in the
appraisal system.
RULEMAKING AUTHORITY
It is the committee's opinion that rulemaking authority is granted
to the comptroller of public accounts in SECTION 2 (Chapter 6C, Tax
Code) of this bill.
SECTION BY SECTION ANALYSIS
SECTION 1. Amends Section 1.07, Tax Code, by adding Subsection (d),
to require a notice required by Section 11.45, 23.44(d), 23.57(d),
23.79(d), 23.85, or 23.95(e) to be delivered by certified mail.
SECTION 2. Amends Chapter 6C, Tax Code, by adding Section 6.414,
as follows:
Sec. 6.414. TRAINING. (a) Requires the comptroller to
establish minimum standards for training all members of
appraisal review boards.
(b) Provides that a person appointed as a member of an
appraisal review board is required to attend and receive
certification of participation in a local training program
in the community where the member serves that is approved by
the comptroller in accordance with rules adopted by the
comptroller as a prerequisite to participation in hearings.
SECTION 3. Amends Chapter 6C, Tax Code, by adding Section 6.415,
as follows:
Sec. 6.415. ELIGIBILITY OF FORMER OFFICERS AND DIRECTORS OF
TAX ENTITIES IN COUNTIES OF MORE THAN 50,000 POPULATION.
Provides that any person who has been an elected or appointed
officer, director, employee in a tax collection office, or
employee in a budgetary or fiscal planning office of a taxing
unit or an appraisal district in a county of more than 50,000
population is not eligible to serve on an appraisal review
board that reviews appraisals of property within such taxing
entity or appraisal district.
SECTION 4. Amends Section 11.251(h), Tax Code, to provide that the
property owner forfeits the right to claim or receive the exemption
for that year, if the property owner fails to deliver the
information requested in the notice before approval of the
appraisal records by the appraisal review board.
SECTION 5. Amends Chapter 11C, Tax Code, by adding Section 11.437,
as follows:
Sec. 11.437. LATE APPLICATION FOR FREEPORT EXEMPTION. (a)
Requires the chief appraiser to accept and approve or deny an
application for exemption under Section 11.251 of this code
after the deadline for filing it has passed if it is filed
before approval of the appraisal records by the appraisal
review board.
(b) Provides that an owner is liable for a penalty of 10
percent of the difference between the amount of tax imposed
on the property and the amount that would be imposed if the
property were taxed at market value, if an exemption under
Section 11.251 of this code is approved when the application
is filed late.
(c) Requires the tax assessor for a taxing unit that taxes
property subject to exemption under Section 11.251 of this
code after a late application to add the amount of the
penalty to the owner's tax bill, and the tax collector for
the unit to collect the penalty at the time and in the
manner he collects the tax. Provides that the amount of the
penalty constitutes a lien against the property against
which the penalty is imposed, as if it were a tax, and
accrues penalty and interest in the same manner as a
delinquent tax.
SECTION 6. Amends Section 22.23(a), Tax Code, to provide that
rendition statements and property reports must be delivered to the
chief appraiser after January 1 and not later than April 15, with
an exception.
SECTION 7. Amends Section 23.55(f), Tax Code, to provide that the
sanctions provided by Subsection (a) of this section do not apply
if the change of use occurs as a result of the transfer by sale,
gift, or otherwise, for right-of-way or other public purpose, or a
condemnation.
SECTION 8. Amends Sections 33.01(a) and (c), Tax Code, as follows:
(a) Provides that a delinquent tax continues to incur the
penalty provided by this subsection as long as the tax remains
unpaid, regardless of whether a judgment for the delinquent
tax has been rendered.
(c) Provides that a delinquent tax continues to accrue
interest under this subsection as long as the tax remains
unpaid, regardless of whether a judgment for the delinquent
tax has been rendered.
SECTION 9. Amends Section 33.07(a), Tax Code, to provide that a
delinquent tax incurs the penalty provided by this subsection
regardless of whether a judgment for the delinquent tax has been
rendered.
SECTION 10. Amends Section 4, Article 5069-1.05, V.T.C.S., as
follows:
Sec. 4. Provides that this article does not apply to a
judgment in favor of a taxing unit in a suit to collect a
delinquent tax under Chapter 33C, Tax Code, in addition to
another judgment.
SECTION 11. Amends Section 33.41, Tax Code, by adding Subsection
(d), to provide that a suit brought under Subsection (a) against
the personal representative of an estate who is acting under the
control and supervision of a probate court need not be filed in
that probate court, but may instead be brought in a court of
competent jurisdiction of the county in which the tax was imposed.
Prohibits all provisions relative to the presentment of a claim
against an estate as a prerequisite for judgment from being
construed as to apply to any claim for delinquent taxes owing to a
taxing unit.
SECTION 12. Amends Section 33.47(c), Tax Code, to provide that
a tax receipt issued under Section 31.075 of this code, or an
electronic replica of the receipt, that states that a tax has been
paid is prima facie evidence. Makes a conforming change.
SECTION 13. Amends Section 33.51, Tax Code, as follows:
Sec. 33.51. WRIT OF POSSESSION. Requires the judgment to
provide for the issuance by the clerk of said court of a writ
of possession to the purchaser at the sale or to the
purchaser's assigns no sooner than 20 days following the date
on which the purchaser's deed from the sheriff or constable is
filed of record.
SECTION 14. Amends Section 33.52, Tax Code, to require the
judgment, on motion of the taxing unit, to order that the taxing
unit recover from the proceeds of the sale the amount of tax on the
property for the current tax year. Provides that the real property
is subject to the taxes for the current tax year and to the lien
that secures those taxes, and any subsequent purchaser takes the
property subject to those taxes and the tax lien, if the judgment
does not provide for recovery of taxes imposed for the current tax
year, or for recovery of estimated taxes that cannot be calculated
for the current year. Makes a conforming change.
SECTION 15. Amends Section 34.05(a), Tax Code, to authorize the
taxing unit to use the procedures provided by Section 272.001,
Local Government Code, in selling the property.
SECTION 16. Amends Section 34.21, Tax Code, as follows:
Sec. 34.21. RIGHT OF REDEMPTION. (a) Authorizes the owner
of real property sold at a tax sale to a purchaser other than
a taxing unit and that was the residence homestead of the
owner or that was land designated for agricultural use when
the suit to collect the tax was filed to redeem the property
within two years after the date on which the purchasers's deed
is filed for record by paying certain fees, including a
redemption premium of 25 percent of the aggregate total if the
property is redeemed during the first year of the redemption
period.
(b) Authorizes an owner having a right of redemption to
redeem a property within two years after the date on which
the deed or the taxing unit is filed for record by paying
the taxing unit the amount of the judgment against the
property or the market value of the property as specified in
the judgment, whichever is less, plus the amount of the fee
for filing the taxing unit's deed and the amount expended by
the taxing unit as costs on the property, if property that
was the owner's residence homestead or was land designated
for agricultural use when the suit to collect the tax was
filed is bid off to a taxing unit under Section 34.01(c) and
has not been resold by the taxing unit.
(c) Authorizes the owner of a property having a right of
redemption to redeem the property within two years after the
date on which the taxing unit files for record the deed from
the sheriff or constable by paying the person who purchased
the property the taxing unit the amount the purchaser paid
for the property, the amount of fee for filing the
purchaser's deed for record, the amount paid by the
purchaser as taxes, penalties, interest, and costs on the
property, plus a redemption premium of 25 percent or 50
percent of the aggregate total if the property is redeemed
within certain periods, if real property that was the
owner's residence homestead or was land designated for
agricultural use when the suit to collect the tax was filed
has been resold by the taxing unit under Section 34.05.
(d) Sets forth exceptions to Subsections (a), (c), and (c).
Redesignates existing Subsection (b). Makes conforming
changes.
(e) Makes conforming changes. Redesignates existing
Subsection (c).
(f) and (g) Redesignate existing Subsections (d) and (e).
(h) Defines "agricultural use."
(i) Defines "costs."
SECTION 17. Amends Section 34.23, Tax Code, to delete certain
provisions relating to amounts to be paid by the owner of property
that is sold for taxes.
SECTION 18. Amends Section 41.01, Tax Code, to require the
appraisal review board to have the authority to take any other
action or make any other recommendation that this title
specifically authorizes or requires, among other powers. Prohibits
the appraisal review board from engaging in any activity or making
any determination not specifically authorized by this code.
Provides that no other authority is granted or implied.
SECTION 19. Amends Section 41.44, Tax Code, by adding Subsection
(e), to require the appraisal review board to accept and consider
a protest filed by an agent of a property owner if an agency
authorization is filed at or before the hearing on the protest.
SECTION 20. Amends Section 41.45, Tax Code, by amending
Subsections (b), (d), and (e) and adding Subsection (g), as
follows:
(a) Requires an affidavit to identify the protesting property
owner, the property that is the subject of the protest, and a
statement by the owner on a determination of the appraisal
district relevant to the property that is the subject of the
protest. Requires the comptroller to prescribe a standard
form for an affidavit that requires the property owner to
provide this information. Requires appraisal districts to
make copies of the form available to property owners.
(d) Authorizes the board to refer the matter for rehearing to
a panel composed of members who did not hear the original
hearing or, if there are not at least three members who did
not hear the original protest, to determine the protest, if
the determination of a panel is not accepted by the board.
Requires the board to deliver notice of the hearing or meeting
to determine the protest in accordance with the provisions of
this subchapter before determining a protest or conducting a
rehearing before a new panel or the board.
(e) Requires the board to postpone the hearing to a later
date if the property owner or the owner's agent provides a
copy of a notice for a hearing addressed to the property owner
or to the individual representing the property owner set by
another appraisal district for the same date and bearing a
postmark earlier than the date on which the appraisal review
board delivered its notice of the hearing, among other
conditions.
(g) Requires the chief appraiser and the property owner or
the owner's agent to exchange copies of all written materials
that will be provided to the appraisal review board during the
hearing, prior to or immediately upon opening a hearing on a
protest.
SECTION 21. Amends Chapter 41C, Tax Code, by adding Section
41.48, as follows:
Sec. 41.48. SETTLEMENT AGREEMENTS. Requires the chief
appraiser to change the appraisal records or the appraisal
roll to reflect any agreement between the property owner or
the owner's agent and the chief appraiser that is final
pursuant to Section 1.111(e) of this code. Authorizes a
property owner or the owner's agent to file a suit in a court
having jurisdiction to compel the chief appraiser to comply
with this section.
SECTION 22. Amends Section 41.61(c), Tax Code, to require the
board before which a good cause hearing is scheduled to deliver
written notice to the party being subpoenaed and parties to the
protest of the date, time, and place of the hearing. Requires the
board to deliver the notice not later than the 5th day before the
date of the good cause hearing. Requires the party being
subpoenaed to have an opportunity to be heard at the good cause
hearing.
SECTION 23. Amends Section 42.06, Tax Code, by amending
Subsections (b), (c), (d), and (e), as follows:
(b) Deletes existing Subsection (b) relating to a written
notice of appeal required to be filed by an owner of an item
of property having an appraised value in excess of $1 million
who appeals an order of the appraisal review board or
comptroller under this chapter. Makes a conforming change.
(c) and (d) Redesignate existing Subsections (d) and (e).
SECTION 24. Amends Section 6.035, Tax Code, by adding Subsection
(e), to prohibit an individual who has served as a chief appraiser
from representing a property owner before the appraisal review
board for the county in which that individual served as chief
appraiser in a protest or other proceeding related to an appraisal
record or appraisal roll created during the individual's service as
chief appraiser.
SECTION 25. Amends Section 6.03(a), Tax Code, to require an
individual to be a member of the governing body or an elected
officer of a taxing unit entitled to vote on the appointment of
board members under this section to be eligible to serve on the
board of an appraisal district established for a county having a
population of at least 100,000 but no more than 200,000 bordering
the United Mexican States.
SECTION 26. Amends Section 11.23(i), Tax Code, effective January
1, 1996, to make nonsubstantive changes.
SECTION 27. Provides that provisions of Section 2 and Section 3
of this Act apply to an appraisal review board member whose term
begins on or after January 1, 1996.
SECTION 28. Emergency clause.
Effective date: 90 days after adjournment.