HBA-ALS H.B. 1037 76(R) BILL ANALYSIS Office of House Bill AnalysisH.B. 1037 By: Junell Ways & Means 3/11/1999 Introduced BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Under Section 6.01, Tax Code, an appraisal district is established in each county and each of those districts is responsible for appraising property within that district for ad valorem tax purposes. However, sometimes property is located in overlapping districts, necessitating more than one appraisal by different appraisal districts. In a situation in which the chief appraisers of different districts do not agree on the appraised value of a piece of property, they are required to enter as the value of the property the average of the appraised values. Some appraisers have interpreted the law to require each appraiser to agree on one value, rather than requiring them to average the disparate values. H.B. 1037 allows chief appraisers to disagree as to the appraised value of a piece of real property. In the case that chief appraisers do disagree on the appraised value, a chief appraiser is prohibited from entering the other appraiser's value as the value of the property unless that chief appraiser finds that the other appraiser is correct. This bill also requires chief appraisers to coordinate their appraisal activities on the same property to the extent practicable so as to encourage an appraisal of the same value. RULEMAKING AUTHORITY It is the opinion of the Office of House Bill Analysis that this bill does not expressly delegate any additional rulemaking authority to a state officer, department, agency, or institution. SECTION BY SECTION ANALYSIS SECTION 1. Amends Section 6.025(c), Tax Code, to require the chief appraisers of the appraisal districts under Subsection (a) (relating two or more overlapping appraisal districts) to coordinate their appraisal activities so as to encourage and facilitate the appraisal of the same property appraised by each district at the same value. Provides that the chief appraisers are not required to agree as to the appraised property value. Establishes that if the chief appraisers initially disagree as to the appraised value of a parcel or item of property, a chief appraiser may not enter as the recorded property value the property value determined by another chief appraiser, unless the chief appraiser examines the information that the other chief appraiser used in the determination of value and finds that the determination is correct. SECTION 2.Effective date: January 1, 2000. SECTION 3.Emergency clause.