By Gray H.B. No. 3347
77R14557 E
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to the administration and collection of ad valorem taxes.
1-3 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-4 SECTION 1. Section 22.27(b), Tax Code, is amended to read as
1-5 follows:
1-6 (b) Information made confidential by this section may be
1-7 disclosed:
1-8 (1) in a judicial or administrative proceeding
1-9 pursuant to a lawful subpoena;
1-10 (2) to the person who filed the statement or report or
1-11 the owner of property subject to the statement, report, or
1-12 information or to a representative of either authorized in writing
1-13 to receive the information;
1-14 (3) to the comptroller and the comptroller's [his]
1-15 employees authorized by the comptroller [him] in writing to receive
1-16 the information or to an assessor or a chief appraiser if requested
1-17 in writing;
1-18 (4) in a judicial or administrative proceeding
1-19 relating to property taxation to which the person who filed the
1-20 statement or report or the owner of the property that is a subject
1-21 of the statement, report, or information is a party;
1-22 (5) for statistical purposes if in a form that does
1-23 not identify specific property or a specific property owner; [or]
1-24 (6) if and to the extent the information is required
2-1 to be included in a public document or record that the appraisal
2-2 office is required to prepare or maintain; or
2-3 (7) to a taxing unit or its legal representative that
2-4 is engaged in the collection of delinquent taxes on the property
2-5 that is the subject of the information.
2-6 SECTION 2. Section 33.41, Tax Code, is amended by adding
2-7 Subsections (d), (e), (f), (g), and (h) to read as follows:
2-8 (d) In a suit brought under this section, a court shall
2-9 grant a taxing unit injunctive relief on a showing that the
2-10 personal property on which the taxing unit seeks to foreclose a tax
2-11 lien is about to be:
2-12 (1) removed from the county in which the tax was
2-13 imposed; or
2-14 (2) transferred to another person and the other person
2-15 is not a buyer in the ordinary course of business, as defined by
2-16 Section 1.201, Business & Commerce Code.
2-17 (e) Injunctive relief granted under Subsection (d) must:
2-18 (1) prohibit alienation or dissipation of the
2-19 property;
2-20 (2) order that proceeds from the sale of the property
2-21 in an amount equal to the taxes claimed to be due be paid into the
2-22 court registry; or
2-23 (3) order any other relief to ensure the payment of
2-24 the taxes owed.
2-25 (f) In a petition for relief under Subsection (d), the
2-26 taxing unit may also seek to secure the payment of taxes for a
2-27 current tax year that are not delinquent and shall estimate the
3-1 amount due if those taxes are not yet assessed.
3-2 (g) The tax lien attaches to any amounts paid into the
3-3 court's registry with the same priority as for the property on
3-4 which taxes are owed.
3-5 (h) A bond shall not be required of a taxing unit seeking
3-6 injunctive relief under this section.
3-7 SECTION 3. Section 17.091(a), Civil Practice and Remedies
3-8 Code, is amended to read as follows:
3-9 (a) In a suit to collect delinquent [growing out of]
3-10 property taxes [taxation] by the state or a [legal] subdivision of
3-11 the state in which a person who is a defendant is a nonresident,
3-12 the secretary of state is an agent for service of process on that
3-13 defendant if the defendant owns [owned], has [had], or claims an
3-14 [claimed a taxable] interest in property in this state that is the
3-15 subject of the suit [on the first day of a tax year for which taxes
3-16 have not been paid].
3-17 SECTION 4. Section 33.41, Tax Code, and Section 17.091(a),
3-18 Civil Practice and Remedies Code, as amended by this Act, apply
3-19 only to a suit that is filed on or after the effective date of this
3-20 Act. A suit filed before the effective date of this Act is
3-21 governed by the law in effect immediately before the effective date
3-22 of this Act, and the former law is continued in effect for that
3-23 purpose.
3-24 SECTION 5. This Act takes effect September 1, 2001.