SRC-VRA S.B. 725 78(R)BILL ANALYSIS


Senate Research CenterS.B. 725
By: Wentworth
Intergovernmental Relations
6/26/2003
Enrolled


DIGEST AND PURPOSE 

Current Texas law requires a chief appraiser, if the chief appraiser
discovers that real property was omitted from an appraisal roll in any one
of the five preceding years or personal property was omitted in one of the
two preceding years, to appraise the property as of January of each year
it was omitted and to enter the property and its value in the appraisal
records.  Subsequently, a tax assessor-collector is required to calculate
the tax for each year and then a taxpayer would have 21 days to pay the
back taxes.  However, a taxpayer could be faced with a situation where he
or she is forced to pay five years of back taxes in 21 days.  S.B. 725
addresses the issue of omitted property by extending the 21-day deadline
for payment of taxes.    

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 31.04, Tax Code, by adding Subsection (a-1) and
amending Subsection (e), as follows: 

(a-1)  Provides that if a tax bill is mailed that includes taxes for one
or more preceding tax years because the property was erroneously omitted
from the tax roll in those tax years, the delinquency date provided by
Section 31.02 is postponed to February 1 of the first year that will
provide a period of at least 180 days after the date the tax bill is
mailed in which to pay the taxes before they become delinquent. 
 
 (e) Makes a conforming and nonsubstantive change. 

SECTION 2.  Amends Section 33.011(a), Tax Code, to require the governing
body of a taxing unit to waive penalties and to authorize it to provide
for the waiver of interest on a delinquent tax if the tax is paid not
later than the 21st day after, rather than the third anniversary of, the
date the taxpayer knows or should know of the delinquency.  

SECTION 3.  Makes application of Section 31.04, Tax Code, of this Act
prospective. 

SECTION 4.  Effective date:  September 1, 2003.