By Bailey H.B. No. 1807
76R5409 GJH-F
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to the eligibility of land for appraisal for ad valorem
1-3 tax purposes as recreational, park, or scenic land.
1-4 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-5 SECTION 1. Sections 23.83(a) and (d), Tax Code, are amended
1-6 to read as follows:
1-7 (a) A person is entitled to have land the person [he] owns
1-8 appraised under this subchapter if, on January 1:
1-9 (1) the land is restricted as provided by this
1-10 subchapter;
1-11 (2) the land is used in a way that does not result in
1-12 accrual of distributable profits, realization of private gain
1-13 resulting from payment of compensation in excess of a reasonable
1-14 allowance for salary or other compensation for services rendered,
1-15 or realization of any other form of private gain;
1-16 (3) the land has been devoted exclusively to
1-17 recreational, park, or scenic uses for the preceding year;
1-18 (4) the land is open to the public without charge; and
1-19 (5) the person [(4) he] is using and intends to use
1-20 the land exclusively for recreational, park, or scenic [those]
1-21 purposes in the current year.
1-22 (d) If land is appraised under this subchapter for a year,
1-23 the chief appraiser shall determine at the end of that year whether
1-24 the land was open to the public without charge and used exclusively
2-1 for recreational, park, or scenic uses during that year. If the
2-2 land was not open to the public without charge or was not used
2-3 exclusively for recreational, park, or scenic uses during that
2-4 year, the assessor for each taxing unit shall impose an additional
2-5 tax equal to the difference in the amount of tax imposed and the
2-6 amount that would have been imposed for that year if the land had
2-7 not been restricted to recreational, park, or scenic uses. The
2-8 assessor shall include the amount of additional tax plus interest
2-9 on the next bill for taxes on the land.
2-10 SECTION 2. Section 23.84(f), Tax Code, is amended to read as
2-11 follows:
2-12 (f) The comptroller in prescribing the contents of the
2-13 application forms shall ensure that each form requires a claimant
2-14 to furnish the information necessary to determine the validity of
2-15 the claim and that the form requires the claimant to state that the
2-16 land for which the person [he] claims appraisal under this
2-17 subchapter will be open to the public without charge and be used
2-18 exclusively for recreational, park, or scenic uses in the current
2-19 year.
2-20 SECTION 3. Sections 23.86(a)-(c), Tax Code, are amended to
2-21 read as follows:
2-22 (a) If land that has been appraised under this subchapter is
2-23 no longer open to the public without charge or subject to a deed
2-24 restriction or is diverted to a use other than recreational, park,
2-25 or scenic uses, an additional tax is imposed on the land equal to
2-26 the difference between the taxes imposed on the land for each of
2-27 the five years preceding the year in which the change of use
3-1 occurs, the land ceases to be open to the public without charge, or
3-2 the deed restriction expires that the land was appraised as
3-3 provided by this subchapter and the tax that would have been
3-4 imposed had the land not been restricted to recreational, park, or
3-5 scenic uses in each of those years, plus interest at an annual rate
3-6 of seven percent calculated from the dates on which the differences
3-7 would have become due.
3-8 (b) A tax lien attaches to the land on the date the change
3-9 of use occurs, the land ceases to be open to the public without
3-10 charge, or the deed restriction expires to secure payment of the
3-11 additional tax and interest imposed by this section and any
3-12 penalties incurred. The lien exists in favor of all taxing units
3-13 for which the additional tax is imposed.
3-14 (c) The assessor shall prepare and deliver a statement for
3-15 the additional taxes as soon as praticable after the change of use
3-16 occurs, the land ceases to be open to the public without charge, or
3-17 the deed restriction expires. The taxes become delinquent and
3-18 incur penalties and interest as provided by law for ad valorem
3-19 taxes imposed by the taxing unit if not paid before the next date
3-20 on which the unit's taxes become delinquent that is more than 10
3-21 days after the date the statement is delivered.
3-22 SECTION 4. Notwithstanding Section 23.84(c), Tax Code, any
3-23 person whose land was appraised under Subchapter F, Chapter 23, Tax
3-24 Code, for the 1999 tax year and who claims the right to have the
3-25 person's land appraised under that subchapter for the 2000 tax year
3-26 must submit a new application for that appraisal under Section
3-27 23.84, Tax Code.
4-1 SECTION 5. Not later than February 15, 2000, the chief
4-2 appraiser of each appraisal district shall deliver to each person
4-3 in the appraisal district whose land was appraised under Subchapter
4-4 F, Chapter 23, Tax Code, for the 1999 tax year a written notice
4-5 stating that a new application is required for appraisal under that
4-6 subchapter and that for land to be eligible for appraisal under
4-7 that subchapter the land must be open to the public without charge.
4-8 The written notice shall be accompanied by an application form for
4-9 appraisal under that subchapter.
4-10 SECTION 6. This Act takes effect January 1, 2000.
4-11 SECTION 7. The importance of this legislation and the
4-12 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
4-13 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
4-14 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
4-15 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.