78R2326 RCJ-F

By:  Wong                                                         H.B. No. 474



A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to the limitation on the maximum average annual percentage 
increase in the appraised value of a residence homestead for ad 
valorem tax purposes.
	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:                        
	SECTION 1.  Sections 23.23(a) and (e), Tax Code, are amended 
to read as follows:
	(a)  The appraised value of a residence homestead for a tax 
year may not exceed the lesser of:
		(1)  the market value of the property; or                                     
		(2)  the sum of:                                                              
			(A)  five [10] percent of the appraised value of 
the property for the last year in which the property was appraised 
for taxation times the number of years since the property was last 
appraised;
			(B)  the appraised value of the property for the 
last year in which the property was appraised; and
			(C)  the market value of all new improvements to 
the property.             
	(e)  In this section, "new improvement" means an improvement 
to a residence homestead that is made after the appraisal of the 
property for the preceding year and that increases the market value 
of the property.  The term does not include repairs to or ordinary 
maintenance of an existing structure or the grounds or another 
feature of the property.
	SECTION 2.  This Act takes effect January 1, 2004, and 
applies only to the appraisal for ad valorem tax purposes of a 
residence homestead for a tax year that begins on or after that 
date, but only if the constitutional amendment proposed by the 78th 
Legislature, Regular Session, 2003, to authorize the legislature to 
set a lower limit on the maximum average annual percentage increase 
in the appraised value of a residence homestead for ad valorem tax 
purposes is approved by the voters.  If that amendment is not 
approved by the voters, this Act has no effect.