1-1     By:  Staples                                           S.B. No. 862
 1-2           (In the Senate - Filed February 22, 2001; February 26, 2001,
 1-3     read first time and referred to Committee on Intergovernmental
 1-4     Relations; April 9, 2001, reported favorably by the following vote:
 1-5     Yeas 6, Nays 0; April 9, 2001, sent to printer.)
 1-6                            A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 1-7                                   AN ACT
 1-8     relating to the exemption from ad valorem taxation for freeport
 1-9     goods.
1-10           BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-11           SECTION 1.  Subsection (h), Section 11.251, Tax Code, is
1-12     amended to read as follows:
1-13           (h)  The chief appraiser by written notice delivered to a
1-14     property owner who claims an exemption under this section may
1-15     require the property owner to provide copies of inventory or
1-16     property records in order to determine the amount and value of
1-17     freeport goods.  If the property owner fails to deliver the
1-18     information requested in the notice before the 31st day after the
1-19     date the notice is delivered to the property owner or before the
1-20     date the appraisal review board approves the appraisal records
1-21     under Section 41.12, whichever is later, the property owner
1-22     forfeits the right to claim or receive the exemption for that year.
1-23     If the property owner delivers the information requested in the
1-24     notice before the date the appraisal review board approves the
1-25     appraisal records but not before the 31st day after the date the
1-26     notice is delivered to the property owner and the exemption is
1-27     allowed, the property owner is liable to each taxing unit for a
1-28     penalty in an amount equal to 10 percent of the difference between
1-29     the amount of tax imposed by the taxing unit on the inventory or
1-30     property and the amount that would otherwise have been imposed.
1-31     The chief appraiser shall make an entry on the appraisal records
1-32     for the inventory or property indicating the property owner's
1-33     liability for the penalty and shall deliver a written notice of
1-34     imposition of the penalty, explaining the reason for its
1-35     imposition, to the property owner.  The assessor for a taxing unit
1-36     that taxes the inventory or property shall add the amount of the
1-37     penalty to the property owner's tax bill, and the tax collector for
1-38     the unit shall collect the penalty at the time and in the manner
1-39     the collector collects the tax.  The amount of the penalty
1-40     constitutes a lien against the inventory or property against which
1-41     the penalty is imposed, as if it were a tax, and accrues penalty
1-42     and interest in the same manner as a delinquent tax.
1-43           SECTION 2.  Subsection (e), Section 11.43, Tax Code, is
1-44     amended to read as follows:
1-45           (e)  Except as provided by Section 11.422, 11.431, 11.433,
1-46     11.434, [or] 11.435, or 11.439 [of this code], if a person required
1-47     to apply for an exemption in a given year fails to file timely a
1-48     completed application form, the person may not receive the
1-49     exemption for that year.
1-50           SECTION 3.  Subchapter C, Chapter 11, Tax Code, is amended by
1-51     adding Section 11.439 to read as follows:
1-52           Sec. 11.439.  LATE APPLICATION FOR FREEPORT EXEMPTION.
1-53     (a)  The chief appraiser shall accept and approve or deny an
1-54     application for an exemption for freeport goods under Section
1-55     11.251 after the deadline for filing it has passed if it is filed
1-56     before the date the appraisal review board approves the appraisal
1-57     records.
1-58           (b)  If the application is approved, the property owner is
1-59     liable to each taxing unit for a penalty in an amount equal to 10
1-60     percent of the difference between the amount of tax imposed by the
1-61     taxing unit on the inventory or property, a portion of which
1-62     consists of freeport goods, and the amount that would otherwise
1-63     have been imposed.
1-64           (c)  The chief appraiser shall make an entry on the appraisal
 2-1     records for the inventory or property indicating the property
 2-2     owner's liability for the penalty and shall deliver a written
 2-3     notice of imposition of the penalty, explaining the reason for its
 2-4     imposition, to the property owner.
 2-5           (d)  The tax assessor for a taxing unit that taxes the
 2-6     inventory or property shall add the amount of the penalty to the
 2-7     property owner's tax bill, and the tax collector for the unit shall
 2-8     collect the penalty at the time and in the manner the collector
 2-9     collects the tax.  The amount of the penalty constitutes a lien
2-10     against the inventory or property against which the penalty is
2-11     imposed, as if it were a tax, and accrues penalty and interest in
2-12     the same manner as a delinquent tax.
2-13           SECTION 4.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2001.
2-14                                  * * * * *