By:  Armbrister                                       S.B. No. 1324
                                 A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
                                        AN ACT
    1-1  relating to central appraisal districts.
    1-2        BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
    1-3        SECTION 1.  Section 1.07, Tax Code, is amended by adding a
    1-4  new Subsection (d) to read as follows:
    1-5        (d)  Notices relating to omitted property, rollbacks,
    1-6  exemption denials, special valuation denials, and correction of
    1-7  appraisal rolls pursuant to Section 25.25 of this Code, shall be
    1-8  delivered by certified mail.
    1-9        SECTION 2.  Chapter 11, Tax Code, is amended by adding a new
   1-10  Section 11.437 to read as follows:
   1-11        Section 11.437.  Late Application for Freeport Exemption.
   1-12  (a)  The chief appraiser shall accept and approve or deny an
   1-13  application for exemption under Section 11.251 of this Code after
   1-14  the deadline for filing it has passed if it is filed before
   1-15  approval of the appraisal records by the appraisal review board.
   1-16        (b)  If an exemption under Section 11.251 of this Code is
   1-17  approved when the application is filed late, the owner is liable
   1-18  for a penalty of 10 percent of the difference between the amount of
   1-19  tax imposed on the property and the amount that would be imposed if
   1-20  the property were taxed at market value.
   1-21        (c)  The chief appraiser shall make an entry on the appraisal
   1-22  records indicating the person's liability for the penalty and shall
   1-23  deliver written notice of imposition of the penalty, explaining the
    2-1  reason for its imposition, to the person.
    2-2        (d)  The tax assessor for a taxing unit that taxes property
    2-3  subject to exemption under Section 11.251 of this Code after a late
    2-4  application shall add the amount of the penalty to the owner's tax
    2-5  bill, and the tax collector for the unit shall collect the penalty
    2-6  at the time and in the manner he collects the tax.  The amount of
    2-7  the penalty constitutes a lien against the property against which
    2-8  the penalty is imposed, as if it were a tax, and accrues penalty
    2-9  and interest in the same manner as a delinquent tax.
   2-10        SECTION 3.  Subsection (d), Section 41.67, Tax Code, is
   2-11  amended to read as follows:
   2-12        (d)  Information that was previously requested under Section
   2-13  41.461 by the protesting party <or the chief appraiser> that was
   2-14  not made available to the protesting party <or the chief appraiser>
   2-15  at least 14 days before the scheduled or postponed hearing may not
   2-16  be used as evidence in the hearing.
   2-17        SECTION 4.  Section 43.01, Tax Code, is amended to read as
   2-18  follows:
   2-19        Section 43.01.  Authority to Bring Suit.  A taxing unit may
   2-20  sue the appraisal district that appraises property for the unit and
   2-21  a property owner may sue the appraisal district that appraises
   2-22  property owned by the property owner to compel the appraisal
   2-23  district to comply with the provisions of this title, rules of the
   2-24  comptroller, or other applicable law.
   2-25        SECTION 5.  The importance of this legislation and the
    3-1  crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
    3-2  emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
    3-3  constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
    3-4  days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.