By Gray H.B. No. 3347
77R5448 GJH-F
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. Sections 25.25(b) and (c), Tax Code, are amended
2-7 to read as follows:
2-8 (b) The chief appraiser may change the appraisal roll at any
2-9 time to correct a name or address, a determination of ownership, a
2-10 description of property, multiple appraisals of a property, or a
2-11 clerical error or other inaccuracy as prescribed by board rule that
2-12 does not increase the amount of tax liability. Before the 10th day
2-13 after the end of each calendar quarter, the chief appraiser shall
2-14 submit to the appraisal review board and to the board of directors
2-15 of the appraisal district a written report of each change made
2-16 under this subsection that decreases the tax liability of the owner
2-17 of the property. The report must include:
2-18 (1) a description of each property; and
2-19 (2) the name of the owner of that property.
2-20 (c) At any time [before the end of five years after January
2-21 1 of a tax year], the appraisal review board, on motion of the
2-22 chief appraiser or of a property owner, may direct by written order
2-23 changes in the appraisal roll to correct multiple appraisals of a
2-24 property in a tax year. At any time before the end of five years
2-25 after January 1 of the tax year for which the change is sought, the
2-26 appraisal review board, on motion of the chief appraiser or of a
2-27 property owner, may direct by written order changes in the
3-1 appraisal roll to correct:
3-2 (1) clerical errors that affect a property owner's
3-3 liability for a tax [imposed in that tax year]; or
3-4 (2) [multiple appraisals of a property in that tax
3-5 year; or]
3-6 [(3)] the inclusion of property that does not exist in
3-7 the form or at the location described in the appraisal roll.
3-8 SECTION 3. Subchapter B, Chapter 33, Tax Code, is amended by
3-9 adding Section 33.215 to read as follows:
3-10 Sec. 33.215. DEFINITION. In this subchapter, "personal
3-11 property" includes:
3-12 (1) cash;
3-13 (2) notes or accounts receivable, including rents and
3-14 royalties;
3-15 (3) demand or time deposits; and
3-16 (4) certificates of deposit.
3-17 SECTION 4. Section 33.23, Tax Code, is amended by amending
3-18 Subsection (c) and adding Subsection (d) to read as follows:
3-19 (c) After a tax warrant is issued, the collector or the
3-20 peace officer shall take possession of and secure the property
3-21 pending its sale. The property may be secured at the premises
3-22 where it is seized or be removed to a more convenient location.
3-23 (d) The person against whom a tax warrant is issued or
3-24 another person having possession of property of the person against
3-25 whom a tax warrant is issued shall surrender the property on
3-26 demand. Any person who surrenders property under this subsection
3-27 is not liable for surrendering the property. On surrender, the
4-1 collector shall provide to the person surrendering property a sworn
4-2 receipt with a description of the property surrendered. This
4-3 subsection does not create an obligation on the part of a person
4-4 having possession of property of a person against whom a tax
4-5 warrant is issued that exceeds or materially differs from the
4-6 person's obligation to the person against whom the tax warrant is
4-7 issued.
4-8 SECTION 5. Section 33.41, Tax Code, is amended by adding
4-9 Subsections (d), (e), (f), and (g) to read as follows:
4-10 (d) In a suit brought under this section, a court shall
4-11 grant a taxing unit injunctive relief on a showing that the
4-12 personal property on which the taxing unit seeks to foreclose a tax
4-13 lien is about to be:
4-14 (1) removed from the county in which the tax was
4-15 imposed; or
4-16 (2) transferred to another person and the other person
4-17 is not a buyer in the ordinary course of business, as defined by
4-18 Section 1.201, Business & Commerce Code.
4-19 (e) Injunctive relief granted under Subsection (d) must:
4-20 (1) prohibit alienation or dissipation of the
4-21 property;
4-22 (2) order that proceeds from the sale of the property
4-23 in an amount equal to the taxes claimed to be due be paid into the
4-24 court registry; or
4-25 (3) order any other relief to ensure the payment of
4-26 the taxes owed.
4-27 (f) In a petition for relief under Subsection (d), the
5-1 taxing unit may also seek to secure the payment of taxes for a
5-2 current tax year that are not delinquent and shall estimate the
5-3 amount due if those taxes are not yet assessed.
5-4 (g) The tax lien attaches to any amounts paid into the
5-5 court's registry with the same priority as for the property on
5-6 which taxes are owed.
5-7 SECTION 6. Section 33.47(a), Tax Code, is amended to read as
5-8 follows:
5-9 (a) In a suit to collect a delinquent tax, any of the
5-10 following [the taxing unit's current tax roll and delinquent tax
5-11 roll or certified copies of the entries] showing the property and
5-12 the amount of the tax and penalties imposed and interest accrued
5-13 constitutes [constitute] prima facie evidence that each person
5-14 charged with a duty relating to the imposition of the tax has
5-15 complied with all requirements of law and that the amount of tax
5-16 alleged to be delinquent against the property and the amount of
5-17 penalties and interest due on that tax as listed are the correct
5-18 amounts:
5-19 (1) the taxing unit's delinquent tax roll;
5-20 (2) the applicable portion of the taxing unit's
5-21 delinquent tax roll, or a compilation of that portion; or
5-22 (3) a copy of the applicable entries on the taxing
5-23 unit's delinquent tax roll certified by the collector or the
5-24 collector's deputy.
5-25 SECTION 7. Section 17.091(a), Civil Practice and Remedies
5-26 Code, is amended to read as follows:
5-27 (a) In a suit to collect delinquent [growing out of]
6-1 property taxes [taxation] by the state or a [legal] subdivision of
6-2 the state in which a person who is a defendant is a nonresident,
6-3 the secretary of state is an agent for service of process on that
6-4 defendant if the defendant owns [owned], has [had], or claims an
6-5 [claimed a taxable] interest in property in this state that is the
6-6 subject of the suit [on the first day of a tax year for which taxes
6-7 have not been paid].
6-8 SECTION 8. Section 33.23, Tax Code, as amended by this Act,
6-9 applies only to property that is the subject of a tax warrant that
6-10 is issued on or after the effective date of this Act. Property
6-11 that is the subject of a tax warrant that is issued before the
6-12 effective date of this Act is governed by the law in effect
6-13 immediately before the effective date of this Act, and the former
6-14 law is continued in effect for that purpose.
6-15 SECTION 9. Section 33.41 and Section 33.47(a), Tax Code, and
6-16 Section 17.091(a), Civil Practice and Remedies Code, as amended by
6-17 this Act, apply only to a suit that is filed on or after the
6-18 effective date of this Act. A suit filed before the effective date
6-19 of this Act is governed by the law in effect immediately before the
6-20 effective date of this Act, and the former law is continued in
6-21 effect for that purpose.
6-22 SECTION 10. This Act takes effect September 1, 2001.