SRC-SEW S.B. 865 77(R)BILL ANALYSIS


Senate Research CenterS.B. 865
By: Staples
Intergovernmental Relations
6/14/2001
Enrolled


DIGEST AND PURPOSE 

Under current law, if a chief appraiser discovers that property has been
erroneously omitted from the tax roll in any of the five prior years, the
chief appraiser is authorized to appraise the property and add it to the
appraisal roll.  This means that, for the 2000 tax year, the last day that
a chief appraiser can add omitted property to the appraisal roll is
December 31, 2005.  Current law also allows the chief appraiser or a
property owner to file a motion with an appraisal review board to correct
certain errors in the appraisal roll for any of the prior five years, but
this must be done before the end of five years from January 1 of the tax
year.  This means that, for the 2000 tax year, the last day that a chief
appraiser or a property owner can file a motion to correct the appraisal
roll is January 1, 2005.  Thus, the chief appraiser time window for adding
omitted property is almost one year longer than the time window for
correcting the appraisal roll.  S.B. 865 changes the deadline for a
property owner's motion to correct the appraisal roll to coincide with the
deadline for a chief appraiser's addition of omitted property to the
appraisal roll. 

Also under current law, property owners or chief appraisers are authorized
to file motions with the appraisal review board to correct an erroneous
appraised value on the appraisal roll.  The law clearly states that such a
motion cannot be filed if the appraised value is the result of a written
agreement between the appraisal district and the property owner or the
owner's agent.  However, the law is silent as to whether a motion can be
filed if the appraised value is the result of a hearing on a property
owner's protest and a determination of that protest by the appraisal review
board.  Also, the ability of a chief appraiser to change the appraised
value of property for the prior five years, a value which the chief
appraiser originally established, detracts from the finality that property
owners seek in their property tax liability.  S.B. 865 limits the authority
of a chief appraiser to change the appraisal roll and clarifies that a
property owner cannot file a motion with the appraisal review board to
correct an erroneous appraised value on the appraisal roll if the value
resulted from an appraisal review board hearing or an agreement between the
appraisal district and the property owner or owner's agent. 

RULEMAKING AUTHORITY

This bill does not expressly grant any additional rulemaking authority to a
state officer, institution, or agency. 

SECTION BY SECTION ANALYSIS

SECTION 1.  Amends Section 25.25, Tax Code, by amending Subsections (c) and
(d), as follows: 

(c) Authorizes the appraisal review board, on motion of the chief appraiser
or of a property owner, to direct by written order changes in the appraisal
roll for any of the five preceding years to correct certain errors.
Deletes text regarding the board directing changes at any time before the
end of five years after January 1 of a tax year.  

(d)  Provides that the roll may not be changed under this section given
certain conditions. 

 SECTION 2.  Provides that changes in law made by this Act to Section
25.25, Tax Code, apply only to a motion under Section 25.25, Tax Code, that
is pending before an appraisal review board on the effective date of this
Act or that is filed with an appraisal review board on or after that date. 

SECTION 3.  Effective date:  upon passage or September 1, 2001.