1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to refunds of overpayments or erroneous payments of ad
1-3 valorem taxes.
1-4 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-5 SECTION 1. Section 31.11(a), Tax Code, is amended to read as
1-6 follows:
1-7 (a) If a taxpayer applies to the tax collector of a taxing
1-8 unit for a refund of an overpayment or erroneous payment of taxes
1-9 and the auditor for the unit determines that the payment was
1-10 erroneous or excessive, the tax collector shall refund the amount
1-11 of the excessive or erroneous payment from available current tax
1-12 collections or from funds appropriated by the unit for making
1-13 refunds. However, [if the amount of the refund exceeds $500,] the
1-14 collector may not make the refund unless the governing body of the
1-15 taxing unit or the governing body of a taxing unit that collects
1-16 another unit's taxes also determines that the payment was erroneous
1-17 or excessive and approves the refund if the amount of the refund
1-18 exceeds:
1-19 (1) $2,500 for a refund to be paid by a county with a
1-20 population of 2.8 million or more; or
1-21 (2) $500 for a refund to be paid by any other taxing
1-22 unit.
1-23 SECTION 2. Section 31.12(b), Tax Code, is amended to read as
1-24 follows:
2-1 (b) For purposes of this section, liability for a refund
2-2 arises:
2-3 (1) if the refund is required by Section 11.431(b), on
2-4 the date the chief appraiser notifies the collector for the unit of
2-5 the approval of the late homestead exemption;
2-6 (2) if the refund is required by Section 26.07(g), on
2-7 the date the results of the election to reduce the tax rate are
2-8 certified;
2-9 (3) if the refund is required by Section 26.15(f):
2-10 (A) for a correction to the tax roll made under
2-11 Section 26.15(b), on the date the change in the tax roll is
2-12 certified to the assessor for the taxing unit under Section 25.25;
2-13 or
2-14 (B) for a correction to the tax roll made under
2-15 Section 26.15(c), on the date the change in the tax roll is ordered
2-16 by the governing body of the taxing unit; or
2-17 (4) if the refund is required by Section 31.11, on the
2-18 date the auditor for the taxing unit determines that the payment
2-19 was erroneous or excessive or, if the amount of the refund exceeds
2-20 the applicable amount specified by Section 31.11(a) [$500], on the
2-21 date the governing body of the unit approves the refund [determines
2-22 that the payment was erroneous or excessive].
2-23 SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 1999, and
2-24 applies only to an application for a refund of an overpayment or
2-25 erroneous payment of ad valorem taxes filed with the tax collector
2-26 of a taxing unit on or after the effective date of this Act. An
2-27 application for a refund of an overpayment or erroneous payment of
3-1 ad valorem taxes filed with the tax collector of a taxing unit
3-2 before the effective date of this Act is governed by the law as it
3-3 existed on the date the refund application was filed, and that law
3-4 is continued in effect for that purpose.
3-5 SECTION 4. The importance of this legislation and the
3-6 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
3-7 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
3-8 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
3-9 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.
_______________________________ _______________________________
President of the Senate Speaker of the House
I certify that H.B. No. 2220 was passed by the House on April
30, 1999, by a non-record vote.
_______________________________
Chief Clerk of the House
I certify that H.B. No. 2220 was passed by the Senate on May
26, 1999, by the following vote: Yeas 30, Nays 0.
_______________________________
Secretary of the Senate
APPROVED: _____________________
Date
_____________________
Governor