By Glaze                                              H.B. No. 1468
       74R1446 JD-D
                                 A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
    1-1                                AN ACT
    1-2  relating to the penalties and interest incurred by a delinquent ad
    1-3  valorem tax.
    1-4        BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
    1-5        SECTION 1.  Sections 33.01(a) and (c), Tax Code, are amended
    1-6  to read as follows:
    1-7        (a)  A delinquent tax incurs a penalty of six percent of the
    1-8  amount of the tax for the first calendar month it is delinquent
    1-9  plus one percent for each additional month or portion of a month
   1-10  the tax remains unpaid prior to July 1 of the year in which it
   1-11  becomes delinquent.  However, a tax delinquent on July 1 incurs a
   1-12  total penalty of twelve percent of the amount of the delinquent tax
   1-13  without regard to the number of months the tax has been delinquent.
   1-14  A delinquent tax continues to incur the penalty provided by this
   1-15  subsection as long as the tax remains unpaid, regardless of whether
   1-16  a judgment for the delinquent tax has been rendered.
   1-17        (c)  A delinquent tax accrues interest at a rate of one
   1-18  percent for each month or portion of a month the tax remains
   1-19  unpaid.  Interest payable under this section is to compensate the
   1-20  taxing unit for revenue lost because of the delinquency.  A
   1-21  delinquent tax continues to accrue interest under this subsection
   1-22  as long as the tax remains unpaid, regardless of whether a judgment
   1-23  for the delinquent tax has been rendered.
   1-24        SECTION 2.  Section 33.07(a), Tax Code, is amended to read as
    2-1  follows:
    2-2        (a)  A taxing unit or appraisal district may provide, in the
    2-3  manner required by law for official action by the body, that taxes
    2-4  that remain delinquent on July 1 of the year in which they become
    2-5  delinquent incur an additional penalty to defray costs of
    2-6  collection, if the unit or district or another unit that collects
    2-7  taxes for the unit has contracted with an attorney pursuant to
    2-8  Section 6.30 of this code.  The amount of the penalty may not
    2-9  exceed 15 percent of the amount of taxes, penalty, and interest
   2-10  due.  A delinquent tax incurs the penalty provided by this
   2-11  subsection regardless of whether a judgment for the delinquent tax
   2-12  has been rendered.
   2-13        SECTION 3.  Section 4, Article 1.05, Title 79, Revised
   2-14  Statutes (Article 5069-1.05, Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes), is
   2-15  amended to read as follows:
   2-16        Sec. 4.  This article does not apply to a judgment:
   2-17              (1)  in favor of a taxing unit in a suit to collect a
   2-18  delinquent tax under Subchapter C, Chapter 33, Tax Code; or
   2-19              (2)  that earns interest that is set by Title 2, Tax
   2-20  Code.
   2-21        SECTION 4.  This Act takes effect September 1, 1995.  The
   2-22  changes in law made by this Act apply only to a judgment rendered
   2-23  in favor of a taxing unit on or after that date.
   2-24        SECTION 5.  The importance of this legislation and the
   2-25  crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
   2-26  emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
   2-27  constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
    3-1  days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.