By Heflin H.B. No. 2939
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to appraisal review boards.
1-3 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-4 SECTION 1. Section 1.111, Tax Code, is amended by adding a
1-5 new subsection (i) to read as follows:
1-6 (i) Upon the written request of the owner of property
1-7 subject to appraisal by an appraisal district, the comptroller
1-8 shall conduct a preliminary investigation to determine whether
1-9 there is reasonable cause to believe that the appraisal review
1-10 board is in violation of Section 41.01 of this code. If the
1-11 comptroller determines that reasonable cause exists, the
1-12 comptroller shall appoint a special master who may exercise
1-13 supervision and control over operations of the appraisal review
1-14 board until the appraisal review board is in compliance with this
1-15 code. The appraisal district shall bear the costs related to the
1-16 master's supervision and control.
1-17 SECTION 2. Subsection (c), Section 25.25, Tax Code, is
1-18 amended to read as follows:
1-19 (c) At any time before the end of five years after January 1
1-20 of a tax year, the appraisal review board, on motion of the chief
1-21 appraiser or of a property owner, may direct by written order
1-22 changes in the appraisal roll to correct:
1-23 (1) clerical errors that affect a property owner's
2-1 liability for a tax imposed in that tax year;
2-2 (2) multiple appraisals of a property in that tax
2-3 year; <or>
2-4 (3) the inclusion of property that does not exist in
2-5 the form or at the location described in the appraisal roll, or
2-6 (4) the listing of a person as the property owner if
2-7 the person does not own the property.
2-8 SECTION 3. Subsection (e), Section 41.45, Tax Code, is
2-9 amended to read as follows:
2-10 (e) The board shall postpone the hearing to a later date if
2-11 the property owner or the owner's agent shows good cause for the
2-12 postponement or if the chief appraiser consents to the
2-13 postponement. A hearing set on the same date as a hearing
2-14 previously set by another appraisal district involving the same
2-15 property owner or the owner's agent shall be good cause for a
2-16 postponement. The hearing may not be postponed to a date less than
2-17 five or more than 15 days after the date scheduled for the original
2-18 hearing unless the date and time of the hearing as postponed are
2-19 agreed to by the appraisal review board, the property owner, and
2-20 the chief appraiser. Postponement under this subsection does not
2-21 require the delivery of additional written notice to the property
2-22 owner.
2-23 SECTION 4. Chapter 41, Tax Code, is amended by adding a new
2-24 Section 41.48 to read as follows:
2-25 Section 41.48. Settlement Agreements. The appraisal review board
3-1 must change the appraisal records or the appraisal roll to reflect
3-2 any agreement between a property owner or the owner's agent and the
3-3 chief appraiser that is final pursuant to Section 1.111(e) of this
3-4 Code. A property owner or the owner's agent may file suit in a
3-5 court having jurisdiction to compel the appraisal review board to
3-6 comply with this section.
3-7 SECTION 5. Subsection (c), Section 41.61, Tax Code, is
3-8 amended to read as follows:
3-9 (c) An appraisal review board may not issue a subpoena under
3-10 this section unless the board holds a hearing at which the board
3-11 determines that good cause exists for the issuance of the subpoena.
3-12 The appraisal review board shall notify all parties to the protest
3-13 and the person to whom the subpoena is to be addressed of the date,
3-14 time, and place of the hearing. All parties to the protest and the
3-15 person to whom the subpoena is to be addressed may participate in
3-16 the hearing.
3-17 SECTION 6. Section 41.66, Tax Code, is amended by adding a
3-18 new Subsection (i) to read as follows:
3-19 (i) A violation of Subsection (f) of this section is a class
3-20 B misdemeanor.
3-21 SECTION 7. Section 42.07, Tax Code, is amended to read as
3-22 follows:
3-23 Section 42.07. Costs of Appeal. (a) The reviewing court in its
3-24 discretion may charge all or part of the costs of an appeal taken
3-25 as provided by this chapter against any of the parties.
4-1 (b) If an appraisal review board is found to have violated
4-2 the provisions of Section 25.25 or Chapter 41 of this Code relating
4-3 to procedures for hearings, the reviewing court shall charge all of
4-4 the costs of an appeal taken as provided by this chapter and the
4-5 reasonable attorneys fees of the parties against the appraisal
4-6 district.
4-7 SECTION 8. The importance of this legislation and the
4-8 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
4-9 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
4-10 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
4-11 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.