CS H.B. 1879 75(R)BILL ANALYSIS WAYS & MEANS H.B. 1879 By: Thompson 4-3-97 Committee Report (Unamended) BACKGROUND Chapter 22, Tax Code (Renditions and Other Reports), requires owners of business personal property to file annual renditions of that property. A property owner who files a false rendition may be prosecuted for tampering with a government document. A potential defense to prosecution has been raised when an agent who represents the property owner files a rendition or report and claims not to have signed the document. Requiring renditions to be sworn before a notary public may eliminate this defense. Section 22.27, Tax Code (Confidential Information), provides that rendition statements are confidential and not subject to disclosure under the open records act. Many properties are complex in nature and require the property owner to supply other information to the appraiser. The confidentiality of this other information is not clearly established in the Tax Code. PURPOSE This bill requires that rendition statements or reports of property that are filed with the chief appraiser for ad valorem tax purposes be sworn to before a notary public; also provides that all information that a property owner files in conjunction with a rendition statement are afforded the same confidentially as rendition statements. RULEMAKING AUTHORITY It is the committee's opinion that this bill does not expressly grant any additional rulemaking authority to a state officer, department, agency or institution. SECTION BY SECTION ANALYSIS SECTION 1.Amends Section 22.24, Tax Code (Rendition and Report Forms), by adding subsection (e), requiring a rendition or report of property that is filed with the chief appraiser for ad valorem tax purposes, must be sworn to before a notary public. Also provides that the comptroller may not prescribe or approve a rendition or report unless the form provides for the person filing the form to swear to the truth and accuracy of the information provided. SECTION 2.Amends Section 22.27(a), Tax Code (Confidential Information), to make attachments and other information provided to the chief appraiser by a property owner for the purpose of appraising the owner's property, confidential to the same extent as the rendition itself. SECTION 3.Effective date: September 1, 1997. SECTION 4.Emergency clause.