LEGISLATIVE BUDGET BOARD Austin, Texas FISCAL NOTE 74th Regular Session April 24, 1995 TO: Honorable Tom Craddick, Chair IN RE: House Bill No. 627 Committee on Ways & Means By: Willis House of Representatives Austin, Texas FROM: John Keel, Director In response to your request for a Fiscal Note on House Bill No. 627 (Relating to the tax appraisal of certain land owned or formerly owned by disabled veterans and designated for agricultural use.) this office has determined the following: The bill would eliminate the additional ("rollback") tax imposed on land owned by a disabled veteran changing the land use, who purchased the land through the Veterans' Land Program and has owned the land at least 20 years before the change in use occurred. The rollback tax would also be eliminated on land purchased from a disabled veteran or surviving spouse, if the land was purchased by the veteran through the Veterans' Land Board Program at least 20 years before the current sale. Section 23.55, Tax Code, imposes a "rollback" tax on agricultural land appraised on its productivity value, when the owner changes the use of the land from agricultural purposes. The rollback tax equals the difference between the taxes the owner actually paid and the taxes the owner would have paid on the property's market value for the previous five years. If this bill passed there would be some loss of revenue to taxing units with agricultural land subject to rollback taxes under Section 25.25, Tax Code, however, the fiscal impact cannot be estimated. Passage of the bill would have no impact on the school district taxable values reported to the Commissioner of Education by the Comptroller. Therefore, there would be no impact on state funding for public education. Source: Comptroller of Public Accounts LBB Staff: JK, BR