By: Hill, et al. H.B. No. 1951
Substitute the following for H.B. No. 1951:
By: Hegar C.S.H.B. No. 1951
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the collection of and the penalties incurred on
delinquent ad valorem taxes.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 6.24(d), Tax Code, is amended to read as
follows:
(d) A contract under this section may provide for the entity
that collects taxes to contract with an attorney or other person, as
provided by Section 6.30 [of this code], for collection of
delinquent taxes.
SECTION 2. Section 6.30, Tax Code, is amended to read as
follows:
Sec. 6.30. PERSON RESPONSIBLE FOR DELINQUENT TAX COLLECTION
[ATTORNEYS REPRESENTING TAXING UNITS]. (a) The county attorney
or, if there is no county attorney, the district attorney shall
represent the county to enforce the collection of delinquent taxes
if the commissioners court does not contract with another person [a
private attorney] as provided by Subsection (c) [of this section].
(b) The governing body of a taxing unit other than a county
may determine who represents the unit to enforce the collection of
delinquent taxes. If a taxing unit collects taxes for another
taxing unit, the person [attorney] representing the unit to enforce
the collection of delinquent taxes may represent the other unit
with consent of its governing body.
(c) The governing body of a taxing unit may contract with
any competent person, including an attorney, to represent the unit
to enforce the collection of delinquent taxes. The person's
[attorney's] compensation shall be [is] set in the contract, but
the total amount of compensation provided may not exceed 20 percent
of the amount of delinquent tax, penalty, and interest collected.
(d) A person other than an attorney that enters into a
contract with the governing body of a taxing unit under Subsection
(c) may engage an attorney to enforce the collection of delinquent
taxes on behalf of the taxing unit if the contract authorizes the
person to do so.
(e) A contract with a person to collect delinquent taxes on
behalf of a taxing unit [an attorney] that does not conform to the
requirements of this section is void.
(f) A person that enters into a contract with the governing
body of a taxing unit under Subsection (c) must enforce the
collection of the delinquent taxes in the same manner as, and
subject to the same restrictions applicable to, a debt collector
engaging in the collection of consumer debt, including the
restrictions on a debt collector provided by Subchapter D, Chapter
392, Finance Code.
SECTION 3. Section 33.07(a), Tax Code, is amended to read as
follows:
(a) The governing body of a [A] taxing unit or appraisal
district may provide, in the manner required by law for official
action by the body, that taxes that become delinquent on or after
February 1 of a year but not later than May 1 of that year and that
remain delinquent on July 1 of the year in which they become
delinquent incur an additional penalty to defray costs of
collection[, if the unit or district or another unit that collects
taxes for the unit has contracted with an attorney pursuant to
Section 6.30]. The amount of the penalty may not exceed 20 percent
of the amount of the delinquent taxes, penalty, and interest.
Revenue from the penalty, less any [may not exceed the] amount
retained as [of the] compensation by a person under a [specified in
the] contract under Section 6.30 [with the attorney to be paid] in
connection with the collection of the delinquent taxes, shall be
retained by the unit or district.
SECTION 4. Sections 33.08(a) and (b), Tax Code, are amended
to read as follows:
(a) This section applies to a taxing unit or appraisal
district only if[:
[(1)] the governing body of the taxing unit or
appraisal district has imposed the additional penalty for
collection costs under Section 33.07[; and
[(2) the taxing unit or appraisal district, or another
taxing unit that collects taxes for the unit, has entered into a
contract with an attorney under Section 6.30 for the collection of
the unit's delinquent taxes].
(b) The governing body of the taxing unit or appraisal
district, in the manner required by law for official action, may
provide that taxes that become delinquent on or after June 1 under
Section 26.07(f), 26.15(e), 31.03, 31.031, 31.032, or 31.04 incur
an additional penalty to defray costs of collection. The amount of
the penalty may not exceed 20 percent of the delinquent taxes,
penalty, and interest. Revenue from the penalty, less any [may not
exceed the] amount retained as [of the] compensation by a person
under a [specified in the applicable] contract [with an attorney]
under Section 6.30 [to be paid] in connection with the collection of
the delinquent taxes, shall be retained by the unit or district.
SECTION 5. (a) This Act takes effect September 1, 2003.
(b) Sections 6.24 and 6.30, Tax Code, as amended by this
Act, apply only to a contract for the collection of delinquent taxes
that is entered into on or after the effective date of this Act. A
contract for the collection of delinquent taxes entered into before
the effective date of this Act is governed by the law in effect on
the date the contract was entered into, and the former law is
continued in effect for that purpose.
(c) Sections 33.07 and 33.08, Tax Code, as amended by this
Act, apply only to the additional penalty on taxes that become
delinquent on or after the effective date of this Act. The
additional penalty on taxes that become delinquent before the
effective date of this Act is governed by the law in effect when the
taxes become delinquent, and the former law is continued in effect
for that purpose.