1-1     By:  Barrientos                                       S.B. No. 1880

 1-2           (In the Senate - Filed March 14, 1997; March 24, 1997, read

 1-3     first time and referred to Committee on Finance; April 25, 1997,

 1-4     reported favorably by the following vote:  Yeas 13, Nays 0;

 1-5     April 25, 1997, sent to printer.)

 1-6                            A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

 1-7                                   AN ACT

 1-8     relating to exempting from ad valorem taxation property used to

 1-9     provide transitional shelter or housing to homeless persons who are

1-10     military veterans or the dependents or survivors of military

1-11     veterans.

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

1-13           SECTION 1.  Subchapter B, Chapter 11, Tax Code, is amended by

1-14     adding Section 11.183 to read as follows:

1-15           Sec. 11.183.  PROPERTY USED TO PROVIDE TRANSITIONAL SHELTER

1-16     OR  HOUSING FOR MILITARY VETERANS OR THEIR DEPENDENTS AND

1-17     SURVIVORS.  (a)  An organization is entitled to an exemption from

1-18     taxation of a building or other structure that the organization

1-19     owns and uses exclusively to provide transitional shelter or

1-20     housing to homeless persons who are veterans of the armed forces of

1-21     the United States or the dependents or survivors of those veterans.

1-22           (b)  The exemption under Subsection (a) applies to land and

1-23     tangible personal property used in connection with the use of the

1-24     building or structure for a purpose authorized by Subsection (a) if

1-25     the use of the land or tangible personal property is reasonably

1-26     necessary to carry out that purpose.

1-27           (c)  To be eligible for an exemption under Subsection (a),

1-28     the organization must:

1-29                 (1)  be composed primarily of veterans of the armed

1-30     forces of the United States; or

1-31                 (2)  meet the requirements for a charitable

1-32     organization under Sections 11.18(e) and (f).

1-33           SECTION 2.  Subsection (a), Section 11.436, Tax Code, is

1-34     amended to read as follows:

1-35           (a)  An organization that acquires property that qualifies

1-36     for an exemption under Section 11.181(a) or 11.183(a) may apply for

1-37     the exemption for the year of acquisition not later than the 30th

1-38     day after the date the organization acquires the property, and the

1-39     deadline provided by Section 11.43(d) does not apply to the

1-40     application for that year.

1-41           SECTION 3.  Subsection (a), Section 26.111, Tax Code, is

1-42     amended to read as follows:

1-43           (a)  If an organization acquires taxable property that

1-44     qualifies for and is granted an exemption under Section 11.181(a)

1-45     or 11.183(a) for the year in which the property was acquired, the

1-46     amount of tax due on the property for that year is calculated by

1-47     multiplying the amount of taxes imposed on the property for the

1-48     entire year as provided by Section 26.09 by a fraction, the

1-49     denominator of which is 365 and the numerator of which is the

1-50     number of days in that year before the date the charitable

1-51     organization acquired the property.

1-52           SECTION 4.  This Act takes effect January 1, 1998.

1-53           SECTION 5.  The importance of this legislation and the

1-54     crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an

1-55     emergency and an imperative public necessity that the

1-56     constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several

1-57     days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.

1-58                                  * * * * *