78R8700 SMH-D


By:  Casteel                                                      H.B. No. 1519

Substitute the following for H.B. No. 1519:                                   

By:  Hegar                                                    C.S.H.B. No. 1519



A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to the payment of ad valorem taxes on property erroneously 
omitted from a tax roll and to the waiver of penalties and interest 
on an ad valorem tax that becomes delinquent due to the error of a 
taxing unit or appraisal district.
	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:                        
	SECTION 1.  Section 31.04, Tax Code, is amended by adding 
Subsection (a-1) and amending Subsection (e) to read as follows:
	(a-1)  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)  If the delinquency date for a tax is postponed under 
Subsection (a) or (a-1) [of this section], that postponed 
delinquency date is the date on which penalties and interest begin 
to be incurred on the tax as provided by Section 33.01 [of this 
code].
	SECTION 2.  Section 33.011(a), Tax Code, is amended to read 
as follows:      
	(a)  The governing body of a taxing unit:                                      
		(1)  shall waive penalties and may provide for the 
waiver of interest on a delinquent tax if an act or omission of an 
officer, employee, or agent of the taxing unit or the appraisal 
district in which the taxing unit participates caused or resulted 
in the taxpayer's failure to pay the tax before delinquency and if 
the tax is paid not later than the 21st day after [third anniversary 
of] the date the taxpayer knows or should know of the delinquency; 
and
		(2)  may waive penalties and provide for the waiver of 
interest on a delinquent tax if the property for which the tax is 
owed is acquired by a religious organization that qualifies the 
property for exemption under Section 11.20 before the first 
anniversary of the date the religious organization acquires the 
property.
	SECTION 3.  The change in law made by this Act to Section 
31.04, Tax Code, applies only to a tax bill mailed on or after the 
effective date of this Act.  A tax bill mailed before the effective 
date of this Act is covered by Section 31.04, Tax Code, as it exists 
when the tax bill is mailed, and the former law is continued in 
effect for that purpose.
	SECTION 4.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2003.