By Wilson                                             H.B. No. 1527
         76R6355 SMH-D                           
                                A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 1-1                                   AN ACT
 1-2     relating to the award of attorney's fees to a property owner in
 1-3     certain ad valorem tax appeals.
 1-4           BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
 1-5           SECTION 1.  Section 42.29, Tax Code, is amended to read as
 1-6     follows:
 1-7           Sec. 42.29.  ATTORNEY'S FEES.  (a)  A property owner who
 1-8     prevails in an appeal to the court under Section 42.25 or 42.26:
 1-9                 (1)  is entitled to be awarded reasonable attorney's
1-10     fees if the incorrect appraised value of the property as determined
1-11     by the appraisal review board exceeds by at least 10 percent the
1-12     correct appraised value of the property as determined by the court;
1-13     or
1-14                 (2)  may be awarded reasonable attorney's fees in an
1-15     appeal to which Subdivision (1) does not apply and in which the
1-16     property owner's  tax liability is reduced as a result of the
1-17     appeal.
1-18           (b)  The amount of attorney's fees awarded under this section
1-19     [the award] may not exceed the greater of:
1-20                 (1)  [$15,000; or]
1-21                 [(2)]  20 percent of the total amount by which the
1-22     property owner's tax liability is reduced as a result of the
1-23     appeal; or
1-24                 (2)[.]
 2-1           [(b)  Notwithstanding Subsection (a), the amount of an award
 2-2     of attorney's fees may not exceed] the lesser of $15,000 or[:]
 2-3                 [(1)  $100,000; or]
 2-4                 [(2)]  the total amount by which the property owner's
 2-5     tax liability is reduced as a result of the appeal.
 2-6           SECTION 2.  This Act takes effect September 1, 1999.  The
 2-7     change in law made by this Act applies to any appeal filed under
 2-8     Section 42.25 or 42.26, Tax Code, on or after that date and to any
 2-9     appeal under those sections that is pending before a court on that
2-10     date.
2-11           SECTION 3.  The importance of this legislation and the
2-12     crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
2-13     emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
2-14     constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
2-15     days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.