Bill not drafted by TLC or Senate E&E.
Line and page numbers may not match official copy.
By Uher H.B. No. 2740
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to the preservation of the rights of property owners
1-3 through a uniform assessment of market value in condemnation
1-4 proceedings.
1-5 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-6 SECTION 1. Section 21.042, Property Tax Code, is amended to
1-7 read as follows:
1-8 Sec. 21.042. Assessment of Damages. (a) The special
1-9 commissioners shall assess damages in a condemnation proceeding
1-10 according to the evidence presented at the hearing which shall
1-11 comport with the valuation conditions described in this section.
1-12 (b) If an entire tract or parcel of real property is
1-13 condemned, the amount of compensation to which a property owner is
1-14 entitled shall be based on the market value of that property as of
1-15 the date of taking, except as provided for in Subsection (g).
1-16 (c) If less than the entire tract or parcel of real property
1-17 is condemned and the property owner seeks to recover damages to the
1-18 remaining property caused by the condemnation, the total amount of
1-19 compensation both for the property condemned and any damages to the
1-20 remaining property shall be based on the difference in the market
1-21 value of the entire property immediately before the taking and the
1-22 market value of the remaining property immediately after the
1-23 taking, considering any benefits or injuries that the construction
1-24 and operation of the condemnor's project may have on the remaining
2-1 property's market value.
2-2 (d) Any increase or decrease in the market value of an
2-3 entire tract or parcel or real property caused by the condemnor's
2-4 proposed project before the taking shall be disregarded in
2-5 estimating the market value of that property before the taking.
2-6 However, any increase or decrease in the market value of any
2-7 remaining property caused by the condemnor's proposed project after
2-8 the taking shall be considered in estimating the market value of
2-9 that property after the taking.
2-10 (e) The estimation of the market value of property taken,
2-11 and the remaining property if only part of an entire tract or
2-12 parcel of real property is taken, shall include consideration of
2-13 all factors considered in the marketplace that may affect the
2-14 property's market value including, but not limited to, the
2-15 following characteristics that affect a property's location:
2-16 (1) vehicular and pedestrian access to and from and on
2-17 and off the property;
2-18 (2) traffic circulation and count in and around the
2-19 property;
2-20 (3) visibility and appearance of and from the
2-21 property;
2-22 (4) productivity and convenience of use of the
2-23 property, including its highest and best use; and
2-24 (5) the property's access to utilities and drainage.
2-25 (f) The effect that the condemnation may have on any of the
2-26 market value characteristics considered within Subsection (e) of
2-27 this section shall be considered in estimating the market value of
2-28 any remainder property regardless of whether some or all other
2-29 properties in the neighborhood may be similarly impacted by the
2-30 condemnation.
3-1 (g) If the property condemned is owned by the public entity
3-2 or other person organized and operated on a non-profit basis, the
3-3 compensation measure shall be not less than the cost of financial
3-4 replacement if the property is devoted to and is needed by the
3-5 owner in good faith to perform a public function, or to render
3-6 non-profit educational, charitable or eleemosynary services.
3-7 (b) [If an entire tract or parcel of real property is
3-8 condemned, the damage to the property owner is the local market
3-9 value of the property at the time of the special commissioners'
3-10 hearing.]
3-11 [(c) If a portion of a tract or parcel of real property is
3-12 condemned, the special commissioners shall determine the damage to
3-13 the property owner after estimating the extent of the injury and
3-14 benefit to the property owner, including the effect of the
3-15 condemnation on the value of the property owner's remaining
3-16 property.]
3-17 [(d) In estimating injury or benefit under Subsection (c),
3-18 the special commissioners shall consider an injury or benefit that
3-19 is peculiar to the property owner and that relates to the property
3-20 owner's ownership, use, or enjoyment of the particular parcel of
3-21 real property, but they may not consider an injury or benefit that
3-22 the property owner experiences in common with the general
3-23 community.]
3-24 [(e) If a portion of a tract or parcel of real property is
3-25 condemned for the use, construction, operation, or maintenance of
3-26 the state highway system or of a county toll project described by
3-27 Chapter 304, Acts of the 50th Legislature, Regular Session, 1947
3-28 (Article 6795b-1, Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes), that is eligible
3-29 for designation as part of the state highway system, or for the
3-30 use, construction, development, operation, or maintenance of an
4-1 improvement or project by a metropolitan rapid transit authority
4-2 created before January 1, 1980, with a principal city having a
4-3 population of less than 1,200,000 and established under Chapter
4-4 141, Acts of the 63rd Legislature, Regular Session (Article 1118x,
4-5 Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes, the special commissioners shall
4-6 determine the damage to the property owner regardless of whether
4-7 the property owner makes a claim for damages to the remaining
4-8 property. In awarding compensation or assessing the damages, the
4-9 special commissioners shall consider any special and direct
4-10 benefits that arise from the highway improvement or the transit
4-11 authority improvement or project that are peculiar to the property
4-12 owner and that relate to the property owner and that relate to the
4-13 property owner's ownership, use, or enjoyment of the particular
4-14 parcel of remaining real property.]
4-15 SECTION 2. The importance of this legislation and the
4-16 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
4-17 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
4-18 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
4-19 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended,
4-20 and that this Act take effect and be in force from and after its
4-21 passage, and it is so enacted.