By Ramsay H.B. No. 1931
75R7829 E
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to corrections of appraisal rolls and to refunds resulting
1-3 from such corrections.
1-4 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-5 SECTION 1. Section 25.25, Tax Code, is amended to read as
1-6 follows:
1-7 Sec. 25.25. CORRECTION OF APPRAISAL ROLL. (a) Except as
1-8 provided by Chapters 41 and 42 of this code and by this section,
1-9 the appraisal roll may not be changed.
1-10 (b) The chief appraiser may change the appraisal roll at any
1-11 time to correct a name or address, a description of property, or a
1-12 clerical error that does not affect the amount of tax liability.
1-13 (c) The chief appraiser, upon the written request of a
1-14 property owner, or [At any time before the end of five years after
1-15 January 1 of a tax year,] the appraisal review board, on motion of
1-16 the chief appraiser or of a property owner, may direct by written
1-17 order changes in the appraisal roll for any year to correct:
1-18 (1) clerical errors that affect a property owner's
1-19 liability for a tax imposed in that tax year;
1-20 (2) multiple appraisals of a property in that tax
1-21 year; [or]
1-22 (3) the inclusion of property that does not exist in
1-23 the form or at the location described in the appraisal roll; or
1-24 (4) an error in appraisal judgment that resulted in an
2-1 appraised value that exceeds by more than one-third the correct
2-2 appraised value.
2-3 (d) The chief appraiser, pursuant to a written agreement
2-4 with a property owner, may at any time change the appraisal roll
2-5 for any year to correct an incorrect appraisal. [At any time prior
2-6 to the date the taxes become delinquent, a property owner or the
2-7 chief appraiser may file a motion with the appraisal review board
2-8 to change the appraisal roll to correct an error that resulted in
2-9 an incorrect appraised value for the owner's property. However,
2-10 the error may not be corrected unless it resulted in an appraised
2-11 value that exceeds by more than one-third the correct appraised
2-12 value. If the appraisal roll is changed under this subsection, the
2-13 property owner must pay to each affected taxing unit a
2-14 late-correction penalty equal to 10 percent of the amount of taxes
2-15 as calculated on the basis of the corrected appraised value. The
2-16 roll may not be changed under this subsection if the property was
2-17 the subject of a protest brought by the property owner under
2-18 Chapter 41 or if the appraised value of the property was
2-19 established as a result of a written agreement between the property
2-20 owner or his agent and the appraisal district.]
2-21 (e) The chief appraiser's failure to act upon a written
2-22 request under Subsection (c) or to enter a written agreement with a
2-23 property owner under Subsection (d) may not be protested to the
2-24 appraisal review board and may not be appealed to the district
2-25 court. [A party bringing a motion under Subsection (d) of this
2-26 section is entitled to a hearing on and a determination of the
2-27 motion by the appraisal review board. Not later than 15 days
3-1 before the hearing, the board must deliver written notice of the
3-2 date, time, and place of the hearing to the chief appraiser, the
3-3 property owner, and the presiding officer of the governing body of
3-4 each taxing unit in which the property is located. The chief
3-5 appraiser, the property owner, and each taxing unit are entitled to
3-6 present evidence and argument at the hearing and to receive written
3-7 notice of the board's determination of the motion. A property
3-8 owner who files the motion must comply with the payment
3-9 requirements of Section 42.08 of this code or he forfeits his right
3-10 to a final determination of the motion.]
3-11 (f) The chief appraiser shall certify each change made as
3-12 provided by this section to the assessor for each unit affected by
3-13 the change within five days after the date the change is entered.
3-14 (g) The appraisal review board shall determine any motion
3-15 that is filed with it under this section by written order unless
3-16 the chief appraiser files with the board an order or written
3-17 agreement disposing of the motion prior to the time the appraisal
3-18 review board rules on the motion. Within 45 days after receiving
3-19 notice of the appraisal review board's determination of a motion
3-20 under this section, the property owner or the chief appraiser may
3-21 file suit to compel the board to order a change in the appraisal
3-22 roll as required by this section.
3-23 (h) [The appraisal review board, on the joint motion of the
3-24 property owner and the chief appraiser filed at any time prior to
3-25 the date the taxes become delinquent, shall by written order
3-26 correct an error that resulted in an incorrect appraised value for
3-27 the owner's property.]
4-1 [(i)] A person who acquires property after January 1 of the
4-2 tax year at issue is entitled to file any motion that this section
4-3 authorizes the person who owned the property on January 1 of that
4-4 year to file, if the deadline for filing the motion has not passed.
4-5 (i) [(j)] If during the pendency of a motion under this
4-6 section the ownership of property subject to the motion changes,
4-7 the new owner of the property is entitled to proceed with the
4-8 motion in the same manner as the property owner who filed the
4-9 motion.
4-10 (j) [(k)] The chief appraiser shall change the appraisal
4-11 records and school district appraisal rolls promptly to reflect the
4-12 detachment and annexation of property among school districts under
4-13 Subchapter C or G, Chapter 36, Education Code.
4-14 SECTION 2. Chapter 31, Tax Code, is amended by adding
4-15 Section 31.121 to read as follows:
4-16 Sec. 31.121. REFUNDS RESULTING FROM CORRECTIONS TO THE
4-17 APPRAISAL ROLL UNDER SECTION 25.25. (a) After a correction
4-18 certified by the chief appraiser under Section 25.25 has been
4-19 entered in the tax roll, the assessor shall promptly compute the
4-20 change in the property owner's tax liability and issue revised or
4-21 supplemental bills as required by Section 26.09.
4-22 (b) If the property owner has paid more than the amount of
4-23 tax that would be due as a result of the correction, the collector
4-24 shall refund the difference as follows:
4-25 (1) for a correction certified before January 1 of the
4-26 year following the year to which the correction applies, the
4-27 collector shall refund 100 percent of the difference;
5-1 (2) for a correction certified during the first year
5-2 following the year to which the correction applies, the collector
5-3 shall refund 90 percent of the difference;
5-4 (3) for a correction certified during the second year
5-5 following the year to which the correction applies, the collector
5-6 shall refund 75 percent of the difference; and
5-7 (4) for a correction certified during the third year
5-8 following the year to which the correction applies, the collector
5-9 shall refund 50 percent of the difference.
5-10 (c) The collector is not required to refund any portion of
5-11 taxes paid on the difference for corrections certified after the
5-12 third year following the year to which the correction applies.
5-13 (d) If the amount of tax due is reduced as a result of a
5-14 correction and the property owner has not paid all of the taxes due
5-15 for the year to which a correction applies, the assessor shall
5-16 remove from the owner's tax bill the amount of unpaid taxes
5-17 applicable to the difference, if any, together with any unpaid
5-18 penalties and interest applicable to the difference.
5-19 SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 1997, and
5-20 applies to corrections to appraisal rolls certified on or after
5-21 July 20, 1984.
5-22 SECTION 4. The importance of this legislation and the
5-23 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
5-24 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
5-25 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
5-26 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.