By Uher H.B. No. 1414
76R5110 PAM-F
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to assessment of damages in a condemnation proceeding.
1-3 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-4 SECTION 1. Section 21.041, Property Code, is amended to read
1-5 as follows:
1-6 Sec. 21.041. EVIDENCE. As the basis for assessing actual
1-7 damages to a property owner from a condemnation, the special
1-8 commissioners shall admit evidence on:
1-9 (1) the market value of the property being condemned;
1-10 (2) the injury to the property owner;
1-11 (3) the benefit to the property owner's remaining
1-12 property; [and]
1-13 (4) the use of the property for the purpose of the
1-14 condemnation, including any injury or benefit that the construction
1-15 or operation of the condemnor's project has on the market value of
1-16 the property owner's remaining property; and
1-17 (5) any change in the relative location of the
1-18 remaining property caused by the condemnor's project that affects
1-19 the remaining property's market value, including visibility to and
1-20 from the remaining property and access to and from the remaining
1-21 property.
1-22 SECTION 2. Section 21.042, Property Code, is amended by
1-23 amending Subsections (b), (c), and (d) and adding Subsection (f) to
1-24 read as follows:
2-1 (b) Unless otherwise provided by this chapter, if all or a
2-2 portion of a [If an entire] tract or parcel of real property is
2-3 condemned, the amount of the award for damage to the property
2-4 owner is determined as of the date the tract or parcel is condemned
2-5 and is equal to the [local] market value of:
2-6 (1) the tract or parcel [property] condemned; and
2-7 (2) any personal property damaged or destroyed as a
2-8 result of the condemnation [at the time of the special
2-9 commissioners' hearing].
2-10 (c) If a portion of a tract or parcel of real property is
2-11 condemned and the property owner seeks an award for damages caused
2-12 by the condemnation to the remaining property, the amount of the
2-13 award for damage to the remaining property is based on the
2-14 difference in the market value of the remaining property
2-15 immediately before the condemnation and the market value of the
2-16 remaining property immediately after the condemnation, considering
2-17 any injury or benefit that the construction or operation of the
2-18 condemnor's project has on the remaining property[, the special
2-19 commissioners shall determine the damage to the property owner
2-20 after estimating the extent of the injury and benefit to the
2-21 property owner, including the effect of the condemnation on the
2-22 value of the property owner's remaining property].
2-23 (d) In determining the market value of the property
2-24 condemned and any remaining property if a portion of a tract or
2-25 parcel of real property is condemned [estimating injury or benefit
2-26 under Subsection (c)], the special commissioners shall consider all
2-27 factors considered in the marketplace that may affect the
3-1 property's market value, including:
3-2 (1) vehicular and pedestrian access to and from and on
3-3 and off the property;
3-4 (2) traffic circulation and count in and around the
3-5 property;
3-6 (3) visibility to and from the property; and
3-7 (4) any [an] injury or benefit that the construction,
3-8 location, or use of the condemnor's project has on the market value
3-9 of the property owner's remaining property [is peculiar to the
3-10 property owner and that relates to the property owner's ownership,
3-11 use, or enjoyment of the particular parcel of real property, but
3-12 they may not consider an injury or benefit that the property owner
3-13 experiences in common with the general community].
3-14 (f) Notwithstanding any other provision of this section, if
3-15 the property condemned is owned by a public entity or by a person
3-16 organized and operated on a nonprofit basis and the property is
3-17 devoted to and needed by the property owner in good faith to
3-18 perform a public function or to provide nonprofit educational,
3-19 charitable, or eleemosynary services, the damage award may not be
3-20 less than the financial cost of replacing the property.
3-21 SECTION 3. The changes in law made by this Act apply only to
3-22 assessment of damages in a condemnation proceeding for which a
3-23 special commissioners' hearing begins on or after the effective
3-24 date of this Act. Assessment of damages in a condemnation
3-25 proceeding for which a special commissioners' hearing began before
3-26 the effective date of this Act is governed by the law as it existed
3-27 at the time the hearing began, and the former law is continued in
4-1 effect for that purpose.
4-2 SECTION 4. The importance of this legislation and the
4-3 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
4-4 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
4-5 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
4-6 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended,
4-7 and that this Act take effect and be in force from and after its
4-8 passage, and it is so enacted.