By: Brown S.B. No. 1926
Line and page numbers may not match official copy.
Bill not drafted by TLC or Senate E&E.
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
1-1 relating to the assessment of damages in a condemnation proceeding.
1-2 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-3 SECTION 1. Section 21.042, Property Code, is amended by
1-4 amending Subsections (c) - (e) and adding Subsections (f) and (g)
1-5 to read as follows:
1-6 (c) If a portion of a tract or parcel of real property is
1-7 condemned and the property owner seeks an award for damage caused
1-8 by the condemnation to the property owner's remaining property, the
1-9 total amount of the award for damage to the property condemned and
1-10 to the remaining property is based on the difference in the local
1-11 market value of the entire property immediately before the
1-12 condemnation and the local market value of the remaining property
1-13 immediately after the condemnation, considering any benefit or
1-14 injury that the construction or operation of the condemnor's
1-15 project has on the market value of the remaining property [, the
1-16 special commissioners shall determine the damage to the property
1-17 owner after estimating the extent of the injury and benefit to the
1-18 property owner, including the effect of the condemnation on the
1-19 value of the property owner's remaining property].
1-20 (d) Any increase or decrease in the market value of an
1-21 entire tract or parcel of real property caused by the condemnors
2-1 proposed project before the condemnation may not be considered in
2-2 estimating the market value of that property before condemnation.
2-3 Any increase or decrease in the market value of any remaining real
2-4 property caused by the condemnor's proposed project after the
2-5 condemnation shall be considered in estimating the market value of
2-6 that property after the condemnation [In estimating injury or
2-7 benefit under Subsection (c), the special commissioners shall
2-8 consider an injury or benefit that is peculiar to the property
2-9 owner and that relates to the property owner's ownership, use, or
2-10 enjoyment of the particular parcel of real property, but they may
2-11 not consider an injury or benefit that the property owner
2-12 experiences in common with the general community].
2-13 (e) In estimating the market value of the property condemned
2-14 and of any remaining property if [If] a portion of a tract or
2-15 parcel of real property is condemned, the special commissioners
2-16 shall consider all factors considered in the marketplace that may
2-17 affect the property's market value, including:
2-18 (1) vehicular and pedestrian access to and from and on
2-19 and off the property;
2-20 (2) traffic circulation and count in and around the
2-21 property;
2-22 (3) visibility and appearance of and from the
2-23 property;
2-24 (4) productivity and convenience of use of the
2-25 property, including its highest and best use; and
3-1 (5) the property's access to utilities and drainage
3-2 [for the use, construction, operation, or maintenance of the state
3-3 highway system or of a county toll project described by Chapter
3-4 304, Acts of the 50th Legislature, Regular Session, 1947 (Article
3-5 6795b-1, Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes), that is eligible for
3-6 designation as part of the state highway system, or for the use,
3-7 construction, development, operation, or maintenance of any
3-8 improvement or project by a metropolitan rapid transit authority
3-9 created before January 1, 1990, with a principal city having a
3-10 population of less than 1,200,000 and established under Chapter
3-11 141, Acts of the 63rd Legislature, Regular Session, 1973 (Article
3-12 1118x, Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes), the special commissioners
3-13 shall determine the damage to the property owner regardless of
3-14 whether the property owner makes a claim for damages to the
3-15 remaining property. In awarding compensation or assessing the
3-16 damages, the special commissioners shall consider any special and
3-17 direct benefits that arise from the highway improvement or the
3-18 transit authority improvement or project that are peculiar to the
3-19 property owner and that relate to the property owner's ownership,
3-20 use, or enjoyment of the particular parcel of remaining real
3-21 property].
3-22 (f) The effect that the condemnation has on any of the
3-23 market value characteristics required to be considered under
3-24 Subsection (e) shall be considered in estimating the market value
3-25 of any remaining portion of a tract or parcel of real property that
4-1 is condemned regardless of whether any other property in the area
4-2 is similarly affected by the condemnation.
4-3 (g) Notwithstanding any other provision of this section, if
4-4 the property condemned is owned by a public entity or by a person
4-5 organized and operated on a non-profit basis and the property is
4-6 devoted to and needed by the property owner in good faith to
4-7 perform a public function or to provide a non-profit educational,
4-8 charitable, eleemosynary service, the damage award may not be less
4-9 than the financial cost of replacing the property.
4-10 SECTION 2. The change in law made by this Act applies to any
4-11 pending suit on the effective date of this Act and any suit filed
4-12 after the effective date of this Act.
4-13 SECTION 3. The importance of this legislation and the
4-14 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
4-15 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
4-16 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
4-17 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended,
4-18 and that this Act take effect and be in force from and after its
4-19 passage, and it is so enacted.