By:  Brown                                            S.B. No. 1393
         Line and page numbers may not match official copy.
         Bill not drafted by TLC or Senate E&E.
                                A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
                                       AN ACT
 1-1     relating to refunds of overpayments or erroneous payments of ad
 1-2     valorem taxes.
 1-3           BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
 1-4           SECTION 1.  Section 31.11(a), Tax Code, is amended to read as
 1-5     follows:
 1-6           (a)  If a taxpayer applies to the tax collector of a taxing
 1-7     unit for a refund of an overpayment or erroneous payment of taxes
 1-8     and the auditor for the unit determines that the payment was
 1-9     erroneous or excessive, the tax collector shall refund the amount
1-10     of the excessive or erroneous payment from available current tax
1-11     collections or from funds appropriated by the unit for making
1-12     refunds.  However, [if the amount of the refund exceeds $500,] the
1-13     collector may not make the refund unless the governing body of the
1-14     taxing unit also determines that the payment was erroneous or
1-15     excessive and approves the refund if the amount of the refund
1-16     exceeds:
1-17                 (1)  $2,500 for a refund to be paid by a county with a
1-18     population of 2.8 million or more; or
1-19                 (2)  $500 for a refund to be paid by any other taxing
1-20     unit.
1-21           SECTION 2.  Section 31.12(b), Tax Code, is amended to read as
1-22     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
 3-1     application for a refund of an overpayment or erroneous payment of
 3-2     ad valorem taxes filed with the tax collector of a taxing unit
 3-3     before the effective date of this Act is governed by the law as it
 3-4     existed on the date the refund application was filed, and that law
 3-5     is continued in effect for that purpose.
 3-6           SECTION 4.  The importance of this legislation and the
 3-7     crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
 3-8     emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
 3-9     constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
3-10     days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.