HBA-GUM H.B. 3051 76(R)    BILL ANALYSIS


Office of House Bill AnalysisH.B. 3051
By: King, Tracy
Ways & Means
4/7/1999
Introduced



BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE 

This bill addresses a number of issues concerning the Tax Code.

Current law requires a property owner's representative to certify that the
information provided on a rendition statement is "true and accurate."  A
property owner is required to certify that the information on the rendition
is true and accurate "to the best of the person's knowledge and belief."
Thus, current law places a higher standard of accuracy on a property
owner's representative than it does on the property owner.   

The law does not currently specify what is required to be in an affidavit
filed by a property owner to protest an appraisal of their property, for
the affidavit to be sufficient..  Property owners protesting to an
appraisal review board by affidavit have had their protest declined for
presenting an insufficient affidavit.   

Section 41.67(d), Tax Code, excludes certain evidence from consideration by
an appraisal review board, if requested by the protesting party or the
chief appraiser under certain specified conditions. Also, while current law
requires a chief appraiser to disclose certain information to a protesting
party, it does not require a protesting party to disclose information to a
chief appraiser. 

H.B. 3051 makes the certification requirement for rendition statements
uniform by amending Section 22.24(e), Tax Code, to incorporate standard
attestation language.  This bill also specifies the requirements of a
sufficient affidavit and requires the comptroller to develop a standard
form for an affidavit.  H.B. 3051 also provides consistency in disclosure
requirements by deleting "or the chief appraiser" from Section 41.67(d),
Tax Code. 

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 22.24(e), Tax Code, to require a person making a
rendition or report under this section to swear that the report is true and
accurate to the best of the person's knowledge and belief, rather than true
and accurate. 

SECTION 2.  Amends Section 41.45, Tax Code, by amending Subsection (b), to
require an affidavit offering evidence or argument to identify the
protesting property owner, the property being protested, and include a
statement by the property owner stating dissatisfaction with some
determination of the appraisal district relevant to the property being
protested.  Requires the comptroller to provide a standard form for an
affidavit.  Requires appraisal districts to provide property owners with
standard affidavit forms. 

SECTION 3.  Amends Section 41.67(d), Tax Code, to delete the chief
appraiser from this section, thus making this section applicable only to
information requested by the protesting party. 

SECTION 4.  Emergency clause.
   Effective date: upon passage.