1-1     By:  Hodge (Senate Sponsor - Cain)                    H.B. No. 1393
 1-2           (In the Senate - Received from the House April 9, 2001;
 1-3     April 9, 2001, read first time and referred to Committee on
 1-4     Intergovernmental Relations; May 9, 2001, reported favorably by the
 1-5     following vote:  Yeas 6, Nays 0; May 9, 2001, sent to printer.)
 1-6                            A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 1-7                                   AN ACT
 1-8     relating to the procedure for a refund of an overpayment or
 1-9     erroneous payment of ad valorem taxes.
1-10           BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-11           SECTION 1. Section 31.11(a), Tax Code, is amended to read as
1-12     follows:
1-13           (a)  If a taxpayer applies to the tax collector of a taxing
1-14     unit for a refund of an overpayment or erroneous payment of taxes
1-15     and the auditor for the unit determines that the payment was
1-16     erroneous or excessive, the tax collector shall refund the amount
1-17     of the excessive or erroneous payment from available current tax
1-18     collections or from funds appropriated by the unit for making
1-19     refunds.  However, the collector may not make the refund unless the
1-20     governing body of the taxing unit or the governing body of a taxing
1-21     unit that collects another unit's taxes also determines that the
1-22     payment was erroneous or excessive and approves the refund if the
1-23     amount of the refund exceeds:
1-24                 (1)  $2,500 for a refund to be paid by a county with a
1-25     population of 1.5 [2.8] million or more; or
1-26                 (2)  $500 for a refund to be paid by any other taxing
1-27     unit.
1-28           SECTION 2. (a)  This Act takes effect September 1, 2001.
1-29           (b)  Section 31.11(a), Tax Code, as amended by this Act,
1-30     applies only to an application for a refund of an overpayment or
1-31     erroneous payment of ad valorem taxes filed with the tax collector
1-32     of a taxing unit on or after the effective date of this Act.  An
1-33     application for a refund of an overpayment or erroneous payment of
1-34     ad valorem taxes filed with the tax collector of a taxing unit
1-35     before the effective date of this Act is governed by Section
1-36     31.11(a), Tax Code, as it existed immediately before the effective
1-37     date of this Act, and that law is continued in effect for that
1-38     purpose.
1-39                                  * * * * *