1-1     By:  Patterson                                        S.B. No. 1017

 1-2           (In the Senate - Filed March 7, 1997; March 11, 1997, read

 1-3     first time and referred to Committee on Intergovernmental

 1-4     Relations; April 18, 1997, reported adversely, with favorable

 1-5     Committee Substitute by the following vote:  Yeas 9, Nays 0;

 1-6     April 18, 1997, sent to printer.)

 1-7     COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR S.B. No. 1017                    By:  Cain

 1-8                            A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

 1-9                                   AN ACT

1-10     relating to training for members of appraisal review boards and to

1-11     the qualifications of the members of appraisal review boards.

1-12           BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:

1-13           SECTION 1.  Chapter 5, Tax Code, is amended by adding Section

1-14     5.041 to read as follows:

1-15           Sec. 5.041.  TRAINING OF APPRAISAL REVIEW BOARD MEMBERS.

1-16     (a)  The comptroller shall:

1-17                 (1)  approve curricula and provide materials for use in

1-18     training and educating members of an appraisal review board; and

1-19                 (2)  supervise a course for training and education of

1-20     appraisal review board members and issue certificates indicating

1-21     course completion.

1-22           (b)  A member of the appraisal review board established for

1-23     an appraisal district must complete the course established under

1-24     Subsection (a).  A member of the appraisal review board may not

1-25     participate in a hearing conducted by the board unless the person

1-26     has completed the course established under Subsection (a) and

1-27     received a certificate of course completion.

1-28           (c)  The comptroller may contract with service providers to

1-29     assist with the duties imposed under Subsection (a), but the course

1-30     required may not be provided by an appraisal district or a taxing

1-31     unit.  The comptroller may assess a fee to recover a portion of the

1-32     costs incurred for the training course, but the fee may not exceed

1-33     $50 per person trained.

1-34           (d)  The course material for the course required under

1-35     Subsection (a) is the comptroller's Appraisal Review Board Manual

1-36     in use on the effective date of this section.  The manual shall be

1-37     updated regularly.  It may be revised on request, in writing, to

1-38     the comptroller.  The revision language must be approved on the

1-39     unanimous agreement of a committee selected by the comptroller and

1-40     representing, equally, taxpayers and chief appraisers.  The person

1-41     requesting the revision shall pay the costs of mediation if the

1-42     comptroller determines that mediation is required.

1-43           (e)  Notwithstanding the provisions of Subsection (b), an

1-44     appraisal review board member appointed after a course offering may

1-45     continue to serve until the completion of the subsequent course

1-46     offering.

1-47           (f)  The comptroller may not give advice on or intervene in a

1-48     matter that may be protested before the appraisal review board.

1-49           SECTION 2.  Section 6.412, Tax Code, is amended by adding

1-50     Subsection (c) to read as follows:

1-51           (c)  A person is ineligible to serve on the appraisal review

1-52     board if the person is:

1-53                 (1)  a former officer or employee of the appraisal

1-54     district or a taxing unit for which the appraisal district

1-55     appraises property;

1-56                 (2)  a former member of the board of directors of the

1-57     appraisal district; or

1-58                 (3)  a former member of the governing body of a taxing

1-59     unit for which the appraisal district appraises property.

1-60           SECTION 3.  (a)  The changes in law made by this Act in the

1-61     qualifications of members of an appraisal review board do not

1-62     affect the entitlement of a member serving on a board immediately

1-63     before the effective date of this Act to continue to serve on the

1-64     board and to participate in board hearings for the remainder of the

 2-1     member's term.  The changes in law apply only to a member appointed

 2-2     on or after the effective date of this Act.  This Act does not

 2-3     prohibit a person who is a member of an appraisal review board on

 2-4     the effective date of this Act from being reappointed to the board

 2-5     if the person has the qualifications required for a member under

 2-6     the Tax Code as amended by this Act.

 2-7           (b)  The comptroller of public accounts shall implement

 2-8     Section 5.041, Tax Code, as added by this Act, before January 1,

 2-9     1998.

2-10           SECTION 4.  The importance of this legislation and the

2-11     crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an

2-12     emergency and an imperative public necessity that the

2-13     constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several

2-14     days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.

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