1-1 By: Shields, et al. (Senate Sponsor - Nelson) H.B. No. 670
1-2 (In the Senate - Received from the House April 1, 1997;
1-3 April 2, 1997, read first time and referred to Committee on State
1-4 Affairs; May 9, 1997, reported adversely, with favorable Committee
1-5 Substitute by the following vote: Yeas 12, Nays 0; May 9, 1997,
1-6 sent to printer.)
1-7 COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR H.B. No. 670 By: Nelson
1-8 A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-9 AN ACT
1-10 relating to the appraisal of property for ad valorem tax purposes.
1-11 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-12 SECTION 1. Section 6.02, Tax Code, is amended to read as
1-13 follows:
1-14 Sec. 6.02. DISTRICT BOUNDARIES. The [(a) Except as
1-15 otherwise provided by this section, the] appraisal district's
1-16 boundaries are the same as the county's boundaries.
1-17 [(b) A taxing unit that has boundaries extending into two or
1-18 more counties may choose to participate in only one of the
1-19 appraisal districts. In that event, the boundaries of the district
1-20 chosen extend outside the county to the extent of the unit's
1-21 boundaries. To be effective, the choice must be approved by
1-22 resolution of the board of directors of the district chosen. The
1-23 choice of a school district to participate in a single appraisal
1-24 district does not apply to property annexed to the school district
1-25 under Subchapter C or G, Chapter 36, Education Code, unless:]
1-26 [(1) the school district taxes property other than
1-27 property annexed to the district under Subchapter C or G, Chapter
1-28 36, Education Code, in the same county as the annexed property; or]
1-29 [(2) the annexed property is contiguous to property in
1-30 the school district other than property annexed to the district
1-31 under Subchapter C or G, Chapter 36, Education Code.]
1-32 [(c) A taxing unit that has chosen to participate in a
1-33 single appraisal district under Subsection (b) of this section may
1-34 revoke that choice and, if permitted to do so by Subsection (b),
1-35 choose to participate in a single appraisal district other than the
1-36 one previously chosen. A taxing unit that has withdrawn from an
1-37 appraisal district under this subsection and chosen to participate
1-38 in another single appraisal district may not under this subsection
1-39 withdraw from that district.]
1-40 [(d) A taxing unit that makes a choice under this section
1-41 must do so by an official action of its governing body in the
1-42 manner required by law for official action by the body. A choice
1-43 made by a taxing unit under this section takes effect beginning on
1-44 the next January 1 that is at least 90 days from the date on which
1-45 the choice is made.]
1-46 [(e) If a taxing unit ceases to have territory in the county
1-47 for which the appraisal district in which the unit participates is
1-48 established, but still has territory in two or more counties, the
1-49 unit may choose to participate in only one district in the manner
1-50 prescribed by this section.]
1-51 [(f) All costs of operating an appraisal district in
1-52 territory outside the county for which the appraisal district is
1-53 established are allocated to the taxing unit for which the
1-54 appraisal district appraises property in that territory. If the
1-55 appraisal district appraises property in the same territory for two
1-56 or more taxing units, costs of operating the district in that
1-57 territory are allocated to the units in the proportion the total
1-58 dollar amount of taxes each unit imposes in that territory bears to
1-59 the total dollar amount of taxes all taxing units participating in
1-60 the appraisal district impose in that territory.]
1-61 [(g) If property is annexed to a school district under
1-62 Subchapter C or G, Chapter 36, Education Code, the appraisal
1-63 district established for the county in which the property is
1-64 located shall appraise the property for the school district, and
2-1 the school district participates in that appraisal district for
2-2 purposes of the appraisal of that property, except as otherwise
2-3 permitted by Subsection (b).]
2-4 SECTION 2. Section 41.097(a), Education Code, is amended to
2-5 read as follows:
2-6 (a) The total amount required under Section 41.093 for a
2-7 district to purchase attendance credits under this subchapter for
2-8 any school year is reduced by an amount equal to the product of the
2-9 district's costs under Section 6.06, Tax Code, for each [the
2-10 central] appraisal district in which it participates multiplied by
2-11 a percentage that is computed by dividing the total amount required
2-12 under Section 41.093 by the total amount of taxes imposed in the
2-13 district for that year.
2-14 SECTION 3. Section 41.210(b), Education Code, is amended to
2-15 read as follows:
2-16 (b) As soon as practicable after the detachment and
2-17 annexation of property, the chief appraiser of the appraisal
2-18 district in which the property is located [for the school district
2-19 from which the property is detached] shall send a written notice of
2-20 the detachment and annexation to the owner of any property taxable
2-21 in a different school district as a result of the detachment and
2-22 annexation. The notice must include the name of the school
2-23 district by which the property is taxable after the detachment and
2-24 annexation.
2-25 SECTION 4. The following statutes are repealed:
2-26 (1) Section 13.007, Education Code;
2-27 (2) Section 6.025, Tax Code; and
2-28 (3) Section 6.03(m), Tax Code.
2-29 SECTION 5. (a) Except as provided by Subsection (b) of this
2-30 section, this Act takes effect January 1, 1998.
2-31 (b) This section takes effect September 1, 1997.
2-32 (c) The changes in law made by this Act relating to the
2-33 appraisal of property for ad valorem tax purposes apply to the
2-34 appraisal of property for a tax year that begins on or after
2-35 January 1, 1998.
2-36 (d) The term of each appraisal district director in an
2-37 appraisal district described by Section 6.025, Tax Code, as that
2-38 law existed immediately before September 1, 1997, serving a
2-39 staggered term that but for this subsection would expire after
2-40 January 1, 1998, expires on January 1, 1998. The appraisal
2-41 district board of directors shall fill the vacant directorships as
2-42 soon as practicable after January 1, 1998, as provided by Section
2-43 6.03(l), Tax Code.
2-44 (e) Notwithstanding Section 6.03, Tax Code, a taxing unit is
2-45 entitled to vote in 1997 for appraisal district directors for terms
2-46 beginning on January 1, 1998, in each appraisal district in which
2-47 the taxing unit will participate in 1998 under the law as amended
2-48 by this Act. The voting entitlement of each taxing unit entitled
2-49 to vote for directors in 1997 is determined by dividing the total
2-50 dollar amount of property taxes imposed by the taxing unit for the
2-51 1996 tax year in the county for which the appraisal district is
2-52 established by the sum of the total dollar amount of property taxes
2-53 imposed in that county for that year by each taxing unit that is
2-54 entitled to vote under this subsection in 1997, by multiplying the
2-55 quotient by 1,000, and by rounding the product to the nearest whole
2-56 number. That number is multiplied by the number of directorships
2-57 to be filled. A taxing unit located in two or more counties is
2-58 entitled to vote in the appraisal district established for each
2-59 county in which it is located, but only the taxes imposed in 1996
2-60 in the county for which a district is established are used to
2-61 calculate the 1997 voting entitlement in that district.
2-62 (f) Notwithstanding Section 6.06, Tax Code, not later than
2-63 September 15, 1997, the chief appraiser of each appraisal district
2-64 shall revise the proposed 1998 budget for the district, if
2-65 necessary, to account for the changes in law made by this Act.
2-66 (g) Notwithstanding Section 6.06, Tax Code, for the 1998 tax
2-67 year, each taxing unit participating in an appraisal district in
2-68 1998 is allocated a portion of the amount of the 1998 budget for
2-69 the district equal to the proportion that the total dollar amount
3-1 of property taxes imposed in the county for which the district is
3-2 established by the unit for the 1997 tax year bears to the sum of
3-3 the total dollar amount of property taxes imposed in the county by
3-4 each participating unit for that year. If a taxing unit
3-5 participates in two or more appraisal districts in 1998, only the
3-6 1997 taxes imposed in the county for which a district is
3-7 established are used to calculate the unit's cost allocations for
3-8 1998 in that district.
3-9 SECTION 6. The importance of this legislation and the
3-10 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
3-11 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
3-12 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
3-13 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.
3-14 * * * * *