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.