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78R5497 JD-D
By: Wilson H.B. No. 2120
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the appraisal of property for ad valorem taxation by the
Comptroller of Public Accounts.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 1.10, Tax Code, is amended to read as
follows:
Sec. 1.10. ROLLS IN ELECTRONIC DATA-PROCESSING RECORDS.
The appraisal roll for an appraisal office [district] and the
appraisal roll or the tax roll for the unit may be retained in
electronic data-processing equipment. However, a physical
document for each must be prepared and made readily available to the
public.
SECTION 2. Sections 1.111(c), (f), (g), and (h), Tax Code,
are amended to read as follows:
(c) The designation of an agent under this section remains
in effect until revoked in a written revocation filed with the
appraisal office [district] by the property owner. A designation
may be made to expire according to its own terms but is still
subject to prior revocation by the property owner.
(f) A property owner in writing filed with the appraisal
office [district] may direct the appraisal office [district],
appraisal review board, and each taxing unit participating in the
appraisal office [district] to deliver all notices, tax bills,
orders, and other communications relating to one or more specified
items of the owner's property to a specified person instead of to
the property owner. The instrument must clearly identify the
person by name and give the person's address to which all notices,
tax bills, orders, and other communications are to be delivered.
The property owner may but is not required to designate the person's
agent for other tax matters designated under Subsection (a) as the
person to receive all notices, tax bills, orders, and other
communications. The designation of an agent for other tax matters
under Subsection (a) may also provide that the agent is the person
to whom notices, tax bills, orders, and other communications are to
be delivered under this subsection.
(g) An appraisal office [district], appraisal review board,
or taxing unit may not require a person to designate an agent to
represent the person in a property tax matter other than as provided
by this section.
(h) The comptroller shall prescribe forms and adopt rules to
facilitate compliance with this section. The comptroller shall
include on any form used for designation of an agent for a
single-family residential property in which the property owner
resides the following statement in boldfaced type:
"In some cases, you may want to contact your appraisal office
[district] or other local taxing units for free information and/or
forms concerning your case before designating an agent."
SECTION 3. Sections 1.12(a) and (d), Tax Code, are amended
to read as follows:
(a) For purposes of this title, the median level of
appraisal is the median appraisal ratio of a reasonable and
representative sample of properties in the territory of an
appraisal office [district] or, for purposes of Section 41.43 or
42.26, of a sample of properties specified by that section.
(d) For purposes of this section, the appraisal ratio of a
homestead to which Section 23.23 applies is the ratio of the
property's market value as determined by the appraisal office
[district] or appraisal review board, as applicable, to the market
value of the property according to law. The appraisal ratio is not
calculated according to the appraised value of the property as
limited by Section 23.23.
SECTION 4. Sections 5.03(a) and (b), Tax Code, are amended
to read as follows:
(a) The comptroller shall adopt rules establishing minimum
standards for the administration and operation of an appraisal
office [district]. The minimum standards may vary according to the
number of parcels and the kinds of property the appraisal office
[district] is responsible for appraising.
(b) The comptroller may require from each appraisal office
[district engaged in appraising property for taxation] an annual
report on a form prescribed by the comptroller on the
administration and operation of the appraisal office.
SECTION 5. Section 5.04(b), Tax Code, is amended to read as
follows:
(b) An appraisal office [district] shall reimburse an
employee of the appraisal office for all actual and necessary
expenses, tuition and other fees, and costs of materials incurred
in attending, with approval of the chief appraiser, a course or
training program sponsored or approved by the Board of Tax
Professional Examiners.
SECTION 6. Sections 5.041(b), (c), and (f), Tax Code, are
amended to read as follows:
(b) A member of the appraisal review board established for
an appraisal office [district] must complete the course established
under Subsection (a). A member of the appraisal review board may
not participate in a hearing conducted by the board unless the
person has completed the course established under Subsection (a)
and received a certificate of course completion.
(c) The comptroller may contract with service providers to
assist with the duties imposed under Subsection (a), but the course
required may not be provided by an appraisal office [district] or a
taxing unit. The comptroller may assess a fee to recover a portion
of the costs incurred for the training course, but the fee may not
exceed $50 per person trained.
(f) The comptroller may not advise a property owner, a
property owner's agent, an appraisal office [district], or an
appraisal review board on a matter that the comptroller knows is the
subject of a protest to the appraisal review board.
SECTION 7. Section 5.09(a), Tax Code, is amended to read as
follows:
(a) The comptroller shall publish an annual report of the
operations of the appraisal offices [districts]. The report shall
include for each appraisal office [district], each county, and each
school district and may include for other taxing units the total
appraised values, assessed values, and taxable values of taxable
property by class of property, the assessment ratio, and the tax
rate.
SECTION 8. Sections 5.10(a) and (b), Tax Code, are amended
to read as follows:
(a) The comptroller shall conduct an annual study in each
appraisal office [district] to determine the degree of uniformity
of and the median level of appraisals by the appraisal office
[district] within each major category of property. The comptroller
shall publish a report of the findings of the study, including in
the report the median levels of appraisal for each major category of
property, the coefficient of dispersion around the median level of
appraisal for each major category of property, and any other
standard statistical measures that the comptroller considers
appropriate. In conducting the study, the comptroller shall apply
appropriate standard statistical analysis techniques to data
collected as part of the annual study of school district taxable
values required by Section 403.302, Government Code.
(b) The published findings of a ratio study conducted by the
comptroller shall be distributed to all members of the legislature
and to all appraisal offices [districts].
SECTION 9. Section 5.102, Tax Code, is amended to read as
follows:
Sec. 5.102. REVIEW OF APPRAISAL STANDARDS. (a) The
comptroller shall review the appraisal standards, procedures, and
methodology used by each appraisal office [district] to determine
compliance with generally accepted appraisal standards and
practices.
(b) If the review results in a finding that an appraisal
office [district] is not in compliance with generally accepted
appraisal standards and practices, the comptroller shall deliver a
report that details the comptroller's findings and recommendations
for improvement to the appraisal office's [district's] chief
appraiser [and board of directors].
(c) If noncompliance with generally accepted appraisal
standards and practices is found in two consecutive reviews and if
an affected appraisal office's [district's] chief appraiser fails
[and board of directors fail] to take effective remedial action as
determined by the comptroller, the comptroller may appoint a
special master who may exercise supervision and control over the
operations of the office [district] until full compliance with
generally accepted appraisal standards and practices is achieved.
The appraisal office [district] shall bear the costs related to the
master's supervision and control.
SECTION 10. Section 5.12, Tax Code, is amended to read as
follows:
Sec. 5.12. PERFORMANCE AUDIT OF APPRAISAL OFFICE
[DISTRICT]. (a) The comptroller shall audit the performance of an
appraisal office [district] if one or more of the following
conditions exist according to each of two consecutive annual
studies conducted by the comptroller under Section 5.10 [of this
code], regardless of whether the prescribed condition or conditions
that exist are the same for each of those studies:
(1) the overall median level of appraisal for all
property in the county for which the appraisal office is
established [district] for which the comptroller determines a
median level of appraisal is less than 0.75;
(2) the coefficient of dispersion around the overall
median level of appraisal of the properties used to determine the
overall median level of appraisal for all property in the county for
which the appraisal office is established [district] for which the
comptroller determines a median level of appraisal exceeds 0.30;
or
(3) the difference between the median levels of
appraisal for any two classes of property in the county for which
the appraisal office is established [district] for which the
comptroller determines a median level of appraisal is more than
0.45.
(b) At the written request of the governing bodies of a
majority of the taxing units participating in an appraisal office
[district or of a majority of the taxing units entitled to vote on
the appointment of appraisal district directors], the comptroller
shall audit the performance of the appraisal office [district].
The governing bodies may request a general audit of the performance
of the appraisal office [district] or may request an audit of only
one or more particular duties, practices, functions, departments,
or other appraisal office [district] matters.
(c) At the written request of the owners of not less than 10
percent of the number of accounts or parcels of property in an
appraisal office [district] belonging to a single class of
property, if the class constitutes at least five percent of the
appraised value of taxable property within the county for which the
appraisal office is established [district] in the preceding year,
or at the written request of the owners of property representing not
less than 10 percent of the appraised value of all property in the
county [district] belonging to a single class of property, if the
class constitutes at least five percent of the appraised value of
taxable property in the office [district] in the preceding year,
the comptroller shall audit the performance of the appraisal office
[district]. The property owners may request a general audit of the
performance of the appraisal office [district] or may request an
audit of only one or more particular duties, practices, functions,
departments, or other appraisal office [district] matters. A
property owner may authorize an agent to sign a request for an audit
under this subsection on the property owner's behalf. The
comptroller may require a person signing a request for an audit to
provide proof that the person is entitled to sign the request as a
property owner or as the agent of a property owner.
(d) A request for a performance audit of an appraisal office
[district] may not be made under Subsection (b) or (c) [of this
section] if according to each of the two most recently published
annual studies conducted by the comptroller under Section 5.10 of
this code:
(1) the overall median level of appraisal for all
property in the county for which the appraisal office is
established [district] for which the comptroller determines a
median level of appraisal is more than 0.90 and less than 1.10;
(2) the coefficient of dispersion around the overall
median level of appraisal of the properties used to determine the
overall median level of appraisal for all property in the county
[district] for which the comptroller determines a median level of
appraisal is less than 0.15; and
(3) the difference between the highest and lowest
median levels of appraisal in the county [district] for the classes
of property for which the comptroller determines a median level of
appraisal is less than 0.20.
(e) A request for a performance audit of an appraisal office
[district] may not be made under Subsection (b) or (c) [of this
section]:
(1) during the two years immediately following the
publication of the second of two consecutive annual studies
according to which the comptroller is required to conduct an audit
of the office [district] under Subsection (a) [of this section]; or
(2) during the year immediately following the date the
results of an audit of the office [district] conducted by the
comptroller under Subsection (a) [of this section] are reported to
the chief appraiser of the office [district].
(f) For purposes of this section, "class of property" means
a major kind of property for which the comptroller determines a
median level of appraisal under Section 5.10 [of this code].
(g) The results of an annual study conducted by the
comptroller for a tax year before 1989 may not be considered for
purposes of determining whether an audit is required under
Subsection (a) [of this section].
SECTION 11. SECTION 5.13, Tax Code, is amended to read as
follows:
Sec. 5.13. ADMINISTRATION OF PERFORMANCE AUDITS. (a) The
comptroller shall complete an audit required by Section 5.12(a) [of
this code] within two years after the date of the publication of the
second of the two annual studies the results of which required the
audit to be conducted. The comptroller shall complete an audit
requested under Section 5.12(b) or (c) [of this code] as soon as
practicable after the request is made.
(b) The comptroller may not audit the financial condition of
an appraisal office [district or a district's tax collections]. If
the request is for an audit limited to one or more particular
matters, the comptroller's audit must be limited to those matters.
(c) The comptroller must approve the specific plan for the
performance audit of an appraisal office [district]. Before
approving an audit plan, the comptroller must provide any
interested person an opportunity to appear before the comptroller
and to comment on the proposed plan. Not later than the 20th day
before the date the comptroller considers the plan for an appraisal
office [district] performance audit, the comptroller must notify
the presiding officer of the governing body of each taxing unit for
which the appraisal office appraises property [appraisal district
board of directors] that the comptroller intends to consider the
plan. The notice must include the time, date, and place of the
meeting to consider the plan. [Immediately after receiving the
notice, the presiding officer shall deliver a copy of the notice to
the other members of the appraisal district board of directors.]
(d) In conducting a general audit, the comptroller shall
consider and report on:
(1) the extent to which the office [district] complies
with applicable law or generally accepted standards of appraisal or
other relevant practice;
(2) the uniformity and level of appraisal of major
kinds of property and the cause of any significant deviations from
ideal uniformity and equality of appraisal of major kinds of
property;
(3) duplication of effort and efficiency of operation;
(4) the general efficiency, quality of service, and
qualification of appraisal office [district] personnel; and
(5) except as otherwise provided by Subsection (b) [of
this section], any other matter included in the request for the
audit.
(e) In conducting the audit, the comptroller is entitled to
have access at all times to the books, appraisal and other records,
reports, vouchers, and other information, whether confidential or
not, of the appraisal office [district]. The comptroller may
require the assistance of appraisal office [district] officers or
employees that does not interfere significantly with the ordinary
functions of the appraisal office [district]. The comptroller may
rely on any analysis it has made previously relating to the
appraisal office [district] if the previous analysis is useful or
relevant to the audit.
(f) The comptroller shall report the results of its audit in
writing to the governing body of each taxing unit that participates
in the appraisal office and [district,] to the chief appraiser[,
and to the presiding officer of the appraisal district board of
directors]. If the audit was requested under Section 5.12(c) [of
this code], the comptroller shall also provide a report to a
representative of the property owners who requested the audit.
(g) If the audit is required or requested under Section
5.12(a) or (b) [of this code], the appraisal office [district]
shall reimburse the comptroller for the costs incurred in
conducting the audit and making its report of the audit. The costs
shall be allocated among the taxing units participating in the
office [district] in the same manner as an operating expense of the
office [district]. If the audit is requested under Section 5.12(c)
[of this code], the property owners who requested the audit shall
reimburse the comptroller for the costs incurred in conducting the
audit and making its report of the audit and shall allocate the
costs among those property owners in proportion to the appraised
value of each property owner's property in the county in which the
appraisal office is established [district] or on such other basis
as the property owners may agree. If the audit confirms that the
median level of appraisal for a class of property exceeds 1.10 or
that the median level of appraisal for a class of property varies at
least 10 percent from the overall median level of appraisal for all
property appraised by [in] the office [district] for which the
comptroller determines a median level of appraisal, within 90 days
after the date a request is made by the property owners for
reimbursement the appraisal office [district] shall reimburse the
property owners who requested the audit for the amount paid to the
comptroller for the costs incurred in conducting the audit and
making the report. Before conducting an audit under Section
5.12(c), the comptroller may require the requesting taxing units or
property owners to provide the comptroller with a bond, deposit, or
other financial security sufficient to cover the expected costs of
conducting the audit and making the report. For purposes of this
subsection, "costs" include expenses related to salaries,
professional fees, travel, reproduction or other printing
services, and consumable supplies that are directly attributable to
conducting the audit.
(h) At any time after the request for an audit is made, the
comptroller may discontinue the audit in whole or in part if
requested to do so by:
(1) the governing bodies of a majority of the taxing
units participating in the office [district], if the audit was
requested by a majority of those units; or
(2) [the governing bodies of a majority of the taxing
units entitled to vote on the appointment of appraisal district
directors, if the audit was requested by a majority of those units;
or
[(3)] if the audit was requested under Section 5.12(c)
[of this code], by the taxpayers who requested the audit.
(i) The comptroller by rule may adopt procedures, audit
standards, and forms for the administration of the performance
audits.
SECTION 12. The heading to Subchapter A, Chapter 6, Tax
Code, is amended to read as follows:
SUBCHAPTER A. APPRAISAL OFFICES [DISTRICTS]
SECTION 13. Section 6.01, Tax Code, is amended to read as
follows:
Sec. 6.01. COUNTY APPRAISAL OFFICE; CHIEF APPRAISER
[DISTRICTS ESTABLISHED]. (a) The comptroller shall operate an
[An] appraisal office [district is established] in each county.
(b) The appraisal office [district] is responsible for
appraising property in the county [district] for ad valorem tax
purposes of each taxing unit that imposes ad valorem taxes on
property in the county [district].
(c) For purposes of this title, each taxing unit with
territory in the county is considered to participate in the
appraisal office established for that county [An appraisal district
is a political subdivision of the state].
SECTION 14. Section 6.035, Tax Code, is amended to read as
follows:
Sec. 6.035. RESTRICTIONS ON ELIGIBILITY AND CONDUCT OF
[BOARD MEMBERS AND] CHIEF APPRAISERS AND THEIR RELATIVES. (a) An
individual is [ineligible to serve on an appraisal district board
of directors and is] disqualified from employment as chief
appraiser if the individual:
(1) is related within the second degree by
consanguinity or affinity, as determined under Chapter 573,
Government Code, to an individual who is engaged in the business of
appraising property for compensation for use in proceedings under
this title or of representing property owners for compensation in
proceedings under this title in the appraisal office [district]; or
(2) owns property on which delinquent taxes have been
owed to a taxing unit for more than 60 days after the date the
individual knew or should have known of the delinquency unless:
(A) the delinquent taxes and any penalties and
interest are being paid under an installment payment agreement
under Section 33.02; or
(B) a suit to collect the delinquent taxes is
deferred or abated under Section 33.06 or 33.065.
(b) A [member of an appraisal district board of directors or
a] chief appraiser commits an offense if the [board member
continues to hold office or the] chief appraiser remains employed
knowing that an individual related within the second degree by
consanguinity or affinity, as determined under Chapter 573,
Government Code, to the [board member or] chief appraiser is
engaged in the business of appraising property for compensation for
use in proceedings under this title or of representing property
owners for compensation in proceedings under this title in the
appraisal office [district] in which the [member serves or the]
chief appraiser is employed. An offense under this subsection is a
Class B misdemeanor.
(c) A chief appraiser commits an offense if the chief
appraiser refers a person, whether gratuitously or for
compensation, to another person for the purpose of obtaining an
appraisal of property, whether or not the appraisal is for ad
valorem tax purposes. An offense under this subsection is a Class B
misdemeanor.
(d) An appraisal performed by a chief appraiser in a private
capacity or by an individual related within the second degree by
consanguinity or affinity, as determined under Chapter 573,
Government Code, to the chief appraiser may not be used as evidence
in a protest or challenge under Chapter 41 or an appeal under
Chapter 42 concerning property that is taxable in the appraisal
office [district] in which the chief appraiser is employed.
SECTION 15. Section 6.05, Tax Code, is amended to read as
follows:
Sec. 6.05. CHIEF APPRAISER; APPRAISAL OFFICE STAFF. (a)
[Except as authorized by Subsection (b) of this section, each
appraisal district shall establish an appraisal office. The
appraisal office must be located in the county for which the
district is established. An appraisal district may establish
branch appraisal offices outside the county for which the district
is established.
[(b) The board of directors of an appraisal district may
contract with an appraisal office in another district or with a
taxing unit in the district to perform the duties of the appraisal
office for the district.
[(c)] The chief appraiser is the chief administrator of the
appraisal office. The chief appraiser is appointed by and serves at
the pleasure of the comptroller [appraisal district board of
directors. If a taxing unit performs the duties of the appraisal
office pursuant to a contract, the assessor for the unit is the
chief appraiser].
(b) [(d)] The chief appraiser is entitled to compensation
as provided by the budget proposed by the chief appraiser and
approved by the comptroller [adopted by the board of directors].
The chief appraiser [He] may employ and compensate professional,
clerical, and other personnel for the appraisal office as provided
by the budget.
(c) [(e)] The chief appraiser may delegate authority to
[his] employees of the appraisal office.
(d) [(f)] The chief appraiser may not employ any individual
related to the comptroller [a member of the board of directors]
within the second degree by affinity or within the third degree by
consanguinity, as determined under Chapter 573, Government Code. A
person commits an offense if the person intentionally or knowingly
violates this subsection. An offense under this subsection is a
misdemeanor punishable by a fine of not less than $100 or more than
$1,000.
(e) [(g)] The chief appraiser is an officer [of the
appraisal district] for purposes of the nepotism law, Chapter 573,
Government Code. An appraisal office [district] may not employ or
contract with an individual or the spouse of an individual who is
related to the chief appraiser within the first degree by
consanguinity or affinity, as determined under Chapter 573,
Government Code.
(f) [(h)] The comptroller shall [board of directors of an
appraisal district by resolution may] prescribe that specified
actions of the chief appraiser relating to the finances or
administration of the appraisal office [district] are subject to
the approval of the comptroller [board].
SECTION 16. Section 6.051, Tax Code, is amended to read as
follows:
Sec. 6.051. OWNERSHIP OR LEASE OF REAL PROPERTY. (a) The
comptroller [board of directors of an appraisal district] may
purchase or lease real property and may construct improvements as
necessary to establish and operate the appraisal office or a branch
appraisal office in the county for which the appraisal office
appraises property.
(b) [The acquisition or conveyance of real property or the
construction or renovation of a building or other improvement by an
appraisal district must be approved by the governing bodies of
three-fourths of the taxing units entitled to vote on the
appointment of board members. The board of directors by resolution
may propose a property transaction or other action for which this
subsection requires approval of the taxing units. The chief
appraiser shall notify the presiding officer of each governing body
entitled to vote on the approval of the proposal by delivering a
copy of the board's resolution, together with information showing
the costs of other available alternatives to the proposal. On or
before the 30th day after the date the presiding officer receives
notice of the proposal, the governing body of a taxing unit by
resolution may approve or disapprove the proposal. If a governing
body fails to act on or before that 30th day or fails to file its
resolution with the chief appraiser on or before the 10th day after
that 30th day, the proposal is treated as if it were disapproved by
the governing body.
[(c)] The comptroller [board of directors] may convey real
property of the appraisal office [owned by the district, and the
proceeds shall be credited to each taxing unit that participates in
the district in proportion to the unit's allocation of the
appraisal district budget in the year in which the transaction
occurs. A conveyance must be approved as provided by Subsection (b)
of this section, and any proceeds shall be apportioned by an
amendment to the annual budget made as provided by Subsection (c) of
Section 6.06 of this code].
[(d) An acquisition of real property by an appraisal
district before January 1, 1988, may be validated before March 1,
1988, in the manner provided by Subsection (b) of this section for
the acquisition of real property.]
SECTION 17. Section 6.052(a), Tax Code, is amended to read
as follows:
(a) For [The board of directors for] an appraisal office
established [district created] for a county with a population of
more than 125,000 the comptroller shall appoint a taxpayer liaison
officer who shall serve at the pleasure of the comptroller [board].
The taxpayer liaison officer shall administer the public access
functions required by Sections 6.04(d), (e), and (f), and is
responsible for resolving disputes not involving matters that may
be protested under Section 41.41.
SECTION 18. Section 6.06, Tax Code, is amended to read as
follows:
Sec. 6.06. [APPRAISAL DISTRICT] BUDGET AND FINANCING. (a)
Each year the chief appraiser shall prepare a proposed budget for
the operations of the appraisal office [district] for the following
tax year and shall submit copies to the comptroller and to each
taxing unit for which the office appraises property [participating
in the district and to the district board of directors before June
15]. The chief appraiser [He] shall include in the budget a list
showing each proposed position, the proposed salary for the
position, all benefits proposed for the position, each proposed
capital expenditure, and an estimate of the amount of the budget
that will be allocated to each taxing unit. Each taxing unit
entitled to vote on the appointment of board members shall maintain
a copy of the proposed budget for public inspection at its principal
administrative office.
(b) The chief appraiser [board of directors] shall hold a
public hearing to consider the budget. The chief appraiser
[secretary of the board] shall deliver to the presiding officer of
the governing body of each taxing unit for which the office
appraises property [participating in the district] not later than
the 10th day before the date of the hearing a written notice of the
date, time, and place fixed for the hearing. The chief appraiser
[board] shall complete the [its] hearings, make [any] amendments to
the proposed budget [it desires,] and finally approve a budget
before September 15. If governing bodies of a majority of the
taxing units [entitled to vote on the appointment of board members]
adopt resolutions disapproving a budget and file them with the
chief appraiser [secretary of the board] within 30 days after its
adoption, the budget does not take effect, and the chief appraiser
[board] shall adopt a new budget within 30 days of the disapproval.
(c) The chief appraiser [board] may amend the approved
budget at any time, but the chief appraiser [secretary of the board]
must deliver a written copy of a proposed amendment to the presiding
officer of the governing body of each taxing unit participating in
the office [district] not later than the 30th day before the date
the chief appraiser [board] acts on it.
(d) Each taxing unit for which the office appraises property
[participating in the district] is allocated a portion of the
amount of the budget equal to the proportion that the total dollar
amount of property taxes imposed in the county for which the
appraisal office is established [district] by the unit for the tax
year in which the budget proposal is prepared bears to the sum of
the total dollar amount of property taxes imposed in the county
[district] by each participating unit for that year. If a taxing
unit participates in two or more appraisal offices [districts],
only the taxes imposed in the appropriate county [a district] are
used to calculate the unit's cost allocations in that office
[district]. If the number of real property parcels in a taxing unit
is less than 5 percent of the total number of real property parcels
in the county [district] and the taxing unit imposes in excess of 25
percent of the total amount of the property taxes imposed in the
county [district] by all of the participating taxing units for a
year, the unit's allocation may not exceed a percentage of the
appraisal office's [district's] budget equal to three times the
unit's percentage of the total number of real property parcels
appraised by the appraisal office [district].
(e) Unless the governing body of a unit and the chief
appraiser agree to a different method of payment, each taxing unit
shall pay its allocation in four equal payments to be made at the
end of each calendar quarter, and the first payment shall be made
before January 1 of the year in which the budget takes effect. A
payment is delinquent if not paid on the date it is due. A
delinquent payment incurs a penalty of 5 percent of the amount of
the payment and accrues interest at an annual rate of 10 percent.
If the budget is amended, any change in the amount of a unit's
allocation is apportioned among the payments remaining.
(f) Payments shall be made to a depository designated by the
chief appraiser [district board of directors]. The office's
[district's] funds may be disbursed only by a written check, draft,
or order signed by the [chairman and secretary of the board or, if
authorized by resolution of the board, by the] chief appraiser.
(g) If a taxing unit decides not to impose taxes for any tax
year, the unit is not liable for any of the costs of operating the
appraisal office [district] in that year, and those costs are
allocated among the other taxing units as if that unit had not
imposed taxes in the year used to calculate allocations. However,
if that unit has made any payments, it is not entitled to a refund.
(h) If a newly formed taxing unit or a taxing unit that did
not impose taxes in the preceding year imposes taxes in any tax
year, that unit is allocated a portion of the amount budgeted to
operate the appraisal office [district] as if it had imposed taxes
in the preceding year, except that the amount of taxes the unit
imposes in the current year is used to calculate its allocation.
Before the amount of taxes to be imposed for the current year is
known, the allocation may be based on an estimate to which the chief
appraiser [district board of directors] and the governing body of
the unit agree, and the payments made after that amount is known
shall be adjusted to reflect the amount imposed. The payments of a
newly formed taxing unit that has no source of funds are postponed
until the unit has received adequate tax or other revenues.
(i) The fiscal year of an appraisal office [district] is the
same as the fiscal year of this state [calendar year unless the
governing bodies of three-fourths of the taxing units entitled to
vote on the appointment of board members adopt resolutions
proposing a different fiscal year and file them with the secretary
of the board not more than 12 and not less than eight months before
the first day of the fiscal year proposed by the resolutions. If
the fiscal year of an appraisal district is changed under this
subsection, the chief appraiser shall prepare a proposed budget for
the fiscal year as provided by Subsection (a) of this section before
the 15th day of the seventh month preceding the first day of the
fiscal year established by the change, and the board of directors
shall adopt a budget for the fiscal year as provided by Subsection
(b) of this section before the 15th day of the fourth month
preceding the first day of the fiscal year established by the
change. Unless the appraisal district adopts a different method of
allocation under Section 6.061 of this code, the allocation of the
budget to each taxing unit shall be calculated as provided by
Subsection (d) of this section using the amount of property taxes
imposed by each participating taxing unit in the most recent tax
year preceding the fiscal year established by the change for which
the necessary information is available. Each taxing unit shall pay
its allocation as provided by Subsection (e) of this section,
except that the first payment shall be made before the first day of
the fiscal year established by the change and subsequent payments
shall be made quarterly. In the year in which a change in the fiscal
year occurs, the budget that takes effect on January 1 of that year
may be amended as necessary as provided by Subsection (c) of this
section in order to accomplish the change in fiscal years].
(j) If the total amount of the payments made or due to be
made by the taxing units participating in an appraisal office
[district] exceeds the amount actually spent or obligated to be
spent during the fiscal year for which the payments were made, the
chief appraiser shall credit the excess amount against each taxing
unit's allocated payments for the following year in proportion to
the amount of each unit's budget allocation for the fiscal year for
which the payments were made. If a taxing unit that paid its
allocated amount is not allocated a portion of the office's
[district's] budget for the following fiscal year, the chief
appraiser shall refund to the taxing unit its proportionate share
of the excess funds not later than the 150th day after the end of the
fiscal year for which the payments were made.
SECTION 19. Sections 6.062(a) and (c), Tax Code, are
amended to read as follows:
(a) Not later than the 10th day before the date of the public
hearing at which the chief appraiser [board of directors] considers
the appraisal office [district] budget, the chief appraiser shall
give notice of the public hearing by publishing the notice in a
newspaper having general circulation in the county for which the
appraisal office [district] is established. The notice may not be
smaller than one-quarter page of a standard-size or tabloid-size
newspaper and may not be published in the part of the paper in which
legal notices and classified advertisements appear.
(c) The notice must state that the appraisal office
[district] is supported solely by payments from the local taxing
units served by the appraisal office [district]. The notice must
also contain the following statement: "If approved by the chief
appraiser [appraisal district board of directors] at the public
hearing, this proposed budget will take effect automatically unless
disapproved by the governing bodies of the county, school
districts, cities, and towns served by the appraisal office
[district]. A copy of the proposed budget is available for public
inspection in the office of each of those governing bodies."
SECTION 20. Section 6.09, Tax Code, is amended to read as
follows:
Sec. 6.09. DESIGNATION OF OFFICE [DISTRICT] DEPOSITORY.
(a) The appraisal office [district] depository must be a banking
corporation incorporated under the laws of this state or the United
States or a savings and loan association in this state whose
deposits are insured by the Federal Savings and Loan Insurance
Corporation.
(b) The comptroller [appraisal district board of directors]
shall designate as the office [district] depository the financial
institution or institutions that offer the most favorable terms and
conditions for the handling of the office's [district's] funds.
(c) The comptroller [board] shall solicit bids to be
designated as depository for the office [district] at least once in
each two-year period.
(d) To the extent that funds in the depository are not
insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation or the Federal
Savings and Loan Insurance Corporation, they shall be secured in
the manner provided by law for the security of funds of counties.
SECTION 21. Sections 6.12(a), (b), (c), (e), and (g), Tax
Code, are amended to read as follows:
(a) The comptroller [chief appraiser of each appraisal
district] shall appoint[, with the advice and consent of the board
of directors,] an agricultural advisory board for each appraisal
office composed of three or more members as determined by the
comptroller [board].
(b) One of the agricultural advisory board members must be a
representative of the county agricultural stabilization and
conservation service, and the remainder of the members must be
landowners of the county for which the appraisal office is
established [district] whose land qualifies for appraisal under
Subchapter C, D, E, or H, Chapter 23, and who have been residents of
the county [district] for at least five years.
(c) Members of the board serve for staggered terms of two
years. In making the initial appointments of members of the
agricultural advisory board the comptroller [chief appraiser]
shall appoint for a term of one year one-half of the members, or if
the number of members is an odd number, one fewer than a majority of
the membership.
(e) An employee or officer of an appraisal office [district]
may not be appointed and may not serve as a member of the
agricultural advisory board.
(g) The board shall advise the chief appraiser on the
valuation and use of land that may be designated for agricultural
use or that may be open space agricultural or timber land within the
county for which the appraisal office is established [district].
SECTION 22. Sections 6.24(a), (b), and (c), Tax Code, are
amended to read as follows:
(a) The governing body of a taxing unit other than a county
may contract as provided by the Interlocal Cooperation Act with the
governing body of another unit [or with the board of directors of an
appraisal district] for the other unit [or the district] to perform
duties relating to the assessment or collection of taxes.
(b) The commissioners court with the approval of the county
assessor-collector may contract as provided by the Interlocal
Cooperation Act with the governing body of another taxing unit in
the county [or with the board of directors of the appraisal
district] for the other unit [or the district] to perform duties
relating to the assessment or collection of taxes for the county.
If a county contracts to have its taxes assessed and collected by
another taxing unit [or by the appraisal district], except as
provided by Subsection (c), the contract shall require the other
unit [or the district] to assess and collect all taxes the county is
required to assess and collect.
(c) A contract entered into under Subsection (b) may exclude
from the taxes the other unit [or the district] is required to
assess and collect taxes the county is required to assess and
collect under one or more of the following provisions:
(1) Section 23.121;
(2) Section 23.122;
(3) Section 23.124;
(4) Section 23.1241;
(5) Section 23.1242;
(6) Section 23.125;
(7) Section 23.127; or
(8) Section 23.128.
SECTION 23. Section 6.26, Tax Code, is amended to read as
follows:
Sec. 6.26. ELECTION TO CONSOLIDATE ASSESSING AND COLLECTING
FUNCTIONS. (a) [The qualified voters residing in an appraisal
district by petition submitted to the county clerk of the county
principally served by the appraisal district may require that an
election be held to determine whether or not to require the
appraisal district, the county assessor-collector, or a specified
taxing unit within the appraisal district to assess, collect, or
assess and collect property taxes on property appraised by the
district for all taxing units.
[(b)] The qualified voters of a taxing unit that assesses,
collects, or assesses and collects its own property taxes by
petition submitted to the governing body of the taxing unit may
require that an election be held to determine whether or not to
require the [appraisal district,] the county assessor-collector[,]
or another taxing unit that is assessing and collecting property
taxes to assess, collect, or assess and collect the unit's property
taxes.
(b) [(c)] A petition is valid if:
(1) it states that it is intended to require an
election in the [appraisal district or] taxing unit on the question
of consolidation of assessing or collecting functions or both;
(2) it states the functions to be consolidated and
identifies the entity or office that will be required to perform the
functions; and
(3) it is signed by a number of qualified voters equal
to at least 10 percent of the number of qualified voters, according
to the most recent official list of qualified voters, residing in
the [appraisal district, if the petition is authorized by
Subsection (a) of this section, or in the] taxing unit, [if the
petition is authorized by Subsection (b) of this section,] or by
10,000 qualified voters, whichever number is less.
(c) [(d)] Not later than the 10th day after the day the
petition is submitted, the [commissioners court, if the petition is
authorized by Subsection (a) of this section, or the] governing
body of the taxing unit [, if the petition is authorized by
Subsection (b) of this section,] shall determine whether the
petition is valid and pass a resolution stating its finding. The
signature of a person may not be counted for purposes of validating
the petition under Subsection (b)(3) [(c)(3)] of this section if:
(1) the person does not enter beside the person's [his]
signature at the time of the person's [his] signing the date on
which the person [he] signs the petition; or
(2) the person signs the petition more than 30 days
before the date on which the petition is submitted to the [county
clerk or the] governing body.
(d) [(e)] If [the commissioners court or] the governing
body finds that the petition is valid, it shall order that an
election be held [in the district or taxing unit] on the next
uniform election date prescribed by the Texas Election Code that is
more than 60 days after the last day on which it could have acted to
approve or disapprove the petition. At the election, the ballots
shall be prepared to permit voting for or against the proposition:
"Requiring the (name of entity or office) to (assess, collect, or
assess and collect, as applicable) property taxes for (all taxing
units in [the appraisal district for] _____________ county or name
of taxing unit or units, as applicable)."
(e) [(f)] If a majority of the qualified voters voting on
the question in the election favor the proposition, the entity or
office named by the ballot shall perform the functions named by the
ballot beginning with the next time property taxes are assessed or
collected, as applicable, that is more than 90 days after the date
of the election. If the governing bodies [(and appraisal district
board of directors when the district is involved)] agree, a
function may be consolidated when performance of the function
begins in less than 90 days after the date of the election.
(f) [(g)] A taxing unit shall pay the actual cost of
performance of the functions to the office or entity that performs
functions for it pursuant to an election as provided by this
section.
(g) [(h)] If a taxing unit is required by election pursuant
to [Subsection (b) of] this section to assess, collect, or assess
and collect property taxes for another taxing unit, it also shall
perform the functions for all taxing units for which the other unit
previously performed those functions pursuant to law or
intergovernmental contract.
(h) [(i)] If functions are consolidated by an election, a
taxing unit may not terminate the consolidation within two years
after the date of the consolidation.
(i) [(j) An appraisal district may not be required by an
election to assess, collect, or assess and collect taxes on
property outside the district's boundaries.] A taxing unit may not
be required by an election to assess, collect, or assess and collect
taxes on property outside the county [boundaries] of the appraisal
office [district] that appraises property for the unit.
SECTION 24. Section 6.29(b), Tax Code, is amended to read as
follows:
(b) A taxing unit whose taxes are collected by the collector
for another taxing unit, by an officer or employee of another taxing
unit [or of an appraisal district], or by any other person other
than the unit's own collector may require that collector, officer,
employee, or other person to give bond conditioned on the faithful
performance of his duties. To be effective, the bond must be made
payable to and must be approved by and paid for by the governing
body of the unit requiring bond in an amount determined by the
governing body. The governing body may prescribe additional
requirements for the bond.
SECTION 25. Section 6.41, Tax Code, is amended to read as
follows:
Sec. 6.41. APPRAISAL REVIEW BOARD. (a) The appraisal
review board is established for each appraisal office [district].
(b) The board consists of three members. However, the chief
appraiser [district board of directors by resolution of a majority
of its members] may increase the size of the appraisal review board
to not more than nine members or, in an appraisal office [a
district] established for a county with a population of at least
250,000, to not more than 40 members or, in an appraisal office [a
district] established for a county with a population of at least
500,000, to not more than 75 members.
(c) To be eligible to serve on the board, an individual must
be a resident of the county for which the appraisal office is
established [district] and must have resided in the county
[district] for at least two years.
(d) Members of the board are appointed by the chief
appraiser [resolution of a majority of the appraisal district board
of directors]. A vacancy on the board is filled in the same manner
for the unexpired portion of the term.
(e) Members of the board hold office for terms of two years
beginning January 1. The chief appraiser [appraisal district board
of directors by resolution] shall provide for staggered terms, so
that the terms of as close to one-half of the members as possible
expire each year. In making the initial or subsequent
appointments, the chief appraiser [board of directors] shall
designate those members who serve terms of one year as needed to
comply with this subsection.
(f) A member of the board may be removed from the board by
the chief appraiser or the comptroller [a majority vote of the
appraisal district board of directors]. Grounds for removal are:
(1) a violation of Section 6.412, 6.413, 41.66(f), or
41.69; or
(2) good cause relating to the attendance of members
at called meetings of the board as established by written policy
adopted by [a majority of] the chief appraiser or the comptroller
[appraisal district board of directors].
SECTION 26. Sections 6.412(a)-(e), Tax Code, are amended to
read as follows:
(a) An individual is ineligible to serve on an appraisal
review board if the individual:
(1) is related within the second degree by
consanguinity or affinity, as determined under Chapter 573,
Government Code, to an individual who is engaged in the business of
appraising property for compensation for use in proceedings under
this title or of representing property owners for compensation in
proceedings under this title in the appraisal office [district] for
which the appraisal review board is established; or
(2) owns property on which delinquent taxes have been
owed to a taxing unit for more than 60 days after the date the
individual knew or should have known of the delinquency unless:
(A) the delinquent taxes and any penalties and
interest are being paid under an installment payment agreement
under Section 33.02; or
(B) a suit to collect the delinquent taxes is
deferred or abated under Section 33.06 or 33.065.
(b) A member of an appraisal review board commits an offense
if the board member continues to hold office knowing that an
individual related within the second degree by consanguinity or
affinity, as determined under Chapter 573, Government Code, to the
board member is engaged in the business of appraising property for
compensation for use in proceedings under this title or of
representing property owners for compensation in proceedings under
this title in the appraisal office [district] for which the
appraisal review board is established. An offense under this
subsection is a Class B misdemeanor.
(c) A person is ineligible to serve on the appraisal review
board if the person is [a member of the board of directors,] an
officer[,] or employee of the appraisal office [district], an
employee of the comptroller, or a member of the governing body,
officer, or employee of a taxing unit.
(d) A person is ineligible to serve on the appraisal review
board of an appraisal office [district] established for a county
having a population of more than 100,000:
(1) if the person:
(A) has served for all or part of three previous
terms as a board member or auxiliary board member on the appraisal
review board; or
(B) is a former [member of the board of
directors,] officer[,] or employee of the appraisal office
[district]; or
(2) if the person served as a member of the governing
body or officer of a taxing unit for which the appraisal office
[district] appraises property, until the fourth anniversary of the
date the person ceased to be a member or officer; or
(3) if the person has ever appeared before the
appraisal review board for compensation.
(e) In an appraisal office [district] established for a
county having a population of 100,000 or less, a person who has
served for all or part of three consecutive terms as a board member
or auxiliary board member on the appraisal review board is
ineligible to serve on the appraisal review board during a term that
begins on the next January 1 following the third of those
consecutive terms.
SECTION 27. Sections 6.413(a), (b), and (c), Tax Code, are
amended to read as follows:
(a) An individual is not eligible to be appointed to or to
serve on the appraisal review board established for an appraisal
office [district] if the individual or a business entity in which
the individual has a substantial interest is a party to a contract
with the appraisal office [district] or with a taxing unit that
participates in the appraisal office [district].
(b) The comptroller [An appraisal district] may not enter
into a contract with a member of the appraisal review board
established for the appraisal office [district] or with a business
entity in which a member of the appraisal review board has a
substantial interest.
(c) A taxing unit may not enter into a contract with a member
of the appraisal review board established for an appraisal office
[district] in which the taxing unit participates or with a business
entity in which a member of the appraisal review board has a
substantial interest.
SECTION 28. Section 6.42(c), Tax Code, is amended to read as
follows:
(c) Members of the board are entitled to per diem set by the
comptroller [appraisal district budget] for each day the board
meets and to reimbursement for actual and necessary expenses
incurred in the performance of board functions as provided by the
comptroller [district budget].
SECTION 29. Section 6.43, Tax Code, is amended to read as
follows:
Sec. 6.43. PERSONNEL. The appraisal review board may
employ legal counsel as provided by the comptroller [district
budget or use the services of the county attorney] and may use the
staff of the appraisal office for clerical assistance.
SECTION 30. Section 11.14(d), Tax Code, is amended to read
as follows:
(d) The [central] appraisal office established [district]
for the county shall determine the cost of appraising tangible
personal property required by a taxing unit under the provisions of
Subsection (c) and shall assess those costs to the taxing unit or
taxing units which provide for the taxation of tangible personal
property.
SECTION 31. Section 11.182(g), Tax Code, is amended to read
as follows:
(g) To receive an exemption under Subsection (b) or (f), an
organization must annually have an audit prepared by an independent
auditor. The audit must include a detailed report on the
organization's sources and uses of funds. A copy of the audit must
be delivered to the Texas Department of Housing and Community
Affairs and to the chief appraiser of the appraisal office
[district] in which the property subject to the exemption is
located.
SECTION 32. Section 11.252(e), Tax Code, is amended to read
as follows:
(e) The owner of a motor vehicle that is subject to a lease
shall maintain the form completed by the lessee of the vehicle and
make the form available for inspection and copying by the chief
appraiser of the applicable appraisal office [district] at all
reasonable times. If the owner does not maintain a completed form
relating to the vehicle, the owner:
(1) must render the vehicle for taxation in the
applicable rendition statement or property report filed by the
owner under Chapter 22; and
(2) may not file an application for an exemption under
Subsection (a) for the vehicle.
SECTION 33. Sections 11.26(e) and (h), Tax Code, are
amended to read as follows:
(e) For each school district in an appraisal office
[district], the chief appraiser shall determine the portion of the
appraised value of residence homesteads of the elderly on which
school district taxes are not imposed in a tax year because of the
limitation on tax increases imposed by this section. That portion
is calculated by determining the taxable value that, if multiplied
by the tax rate adopted by the school district for the tax year,
would produce an amount equal to the amount of tax that would have
been imposed by the school district on residence homesteads of the
elderly if the limitation on tax increases imposed by this section
were not in effect, but that was not imposed because of that
limitation. The chief appraiser shall determine that taxable value
and certify it to the comptroller as soon as practicable for each
tax year.
(h) An individual who receives a limitation on tax increases
under this section, including a surviving spouse who receives a
limitation under Subsection (i), and who subsequently qualifies a
different residence homestead for an exemption under Section 11.13,
or an agent of the individual, is entitled to receive from the chief
appraiser of the appraisal office established for the county
[district] in which the former homestead was located a written
certificate providing the information necessary to determine
whether the individual may qualify for a limitation on the
subsequently qualified homestead under Subsection (g) and to
calculate the amount of taxes the school district may impose on the
subsequently qualified homestead.
SECTION 34. Section 11.31(d), Tax Code, is amended to read
as follows:
(d) Following submission of the information required by
Subsection (c), the executive director of the Texas Natural
Resource Conservation Commission shall determine if the facility,
device, or method is used wholly or partly as a facility, device, or
method for the control of air, water, or land pollution. As soon as
practicable, the executive director shall send notice by regular
mail to the chief appraiser of the appraisal office established
[district] for the county in which the property is located that the
person has applied for a determination under this subsection. The
executive director shall issue a letter to the person stating the
executive director's determination of whether the facility,
device, or method is used wholly or partly to control pollution and,
if applicable, the proportion of the property that is pollution
control property. The executive director shall send a copy of the
letter by regular mail to the chief appraiser of the appraisal
office [district] for the county in which the property is located.
SECTION 35. Section 11.43(a), Tax Code, is amended to read
as follows:
(a) To receive an exemption, a person claiming the
exemption, other than an exemption authorized by Section 11.11,
11.12, 11.14, 11.145, 11.146, 11.15, 11.16, 11.161, or 11.25 [of
this code], must apply for the exemption. To apply for an
exemption, a person must file an exemption application form with
the chief appraiser for the [each] appraisal office established for
the county [district] in which the property subject to the claimed
exemption has situs.
SECTION 36. Section 11.436(c), Tax Code, is amended to read
as follows:
(c) To facilitate the financing associated with the
acquisition of a property, an organization, before acquiring the
property, may request from the chief appraiser of the appraisal
office [district] established for the county in which the property
is located a preliminary determination of whether the property
would qualify for an exemption under Section 11.182 if acquired by
the organization. The request must include the information that
would be included in an application for an exemption for the
property under Section 11.182. Not later than the 21st day after
the date a request is submitted under this subsection, the chief
appraiser shall issue a written preliminary determination for the
property included in the request. A preliminary determination does
not affect the granting of an exemption under Section 11.182.
SECTION 37. Section 11.44(b), Tax Code, is amended to read
as follows:
(b) Each year the chief appraiser for each appraisal office
[district] shall publicize, in a manner reasonably designed to
notify all residents of the county for which the appraisal office is
established [district], the requirements of Section 11.43 [of this
code] and the availability of application forms.
SECTION 38. Section 11.46, Tax Code, is amended to read as
follows:
Sec. 11.46. COMPILATION OF PARTIAL EXEMPTIONS. Each year
the chief appraiser shall compile and make available to the public a
list showing for each taxing unit in the county for which the
appraisal office is established [district] the number of each kind
of partial exemption allowed in that tax year and the total assessed
value of each taxing unit that is exempted by each kind of partial
exemption.
SECTION 39. Section 21.031(e), Tax Code, is amended to read
as follows:
(e) To receive an allocation of value under this section, a
property owner must apply for the allocation on a form that
substantially complies with the form prescribed by the comptroller.
The application must be filed with the chief appraiser of the
appraisal office established for the county [district] in which the
property to which the application applies is taxable before the
approval of the appraisal records by the appraisal review board as
provided by Section 41.12 [of this code].
SECTION 40. Section 22.07(a), Tax Code, is amended to read
as follows:
(a) The chief appraiser or the chief appraiser's [his]
authorized representative may enter the premises of a business,
trade, or profession and inspect the property to determine the
existence and market value of tangible personal property used for
the production of income and having a taxable situs in the county
for which the appraisal office is established [district].
SECTION 41. Section 22.25, Tax Code, is amended to read as
follows:
Sec. 22.25. PLACE AND MANNER OF FILING. A rendition
statement or property report required or authorized by this chapter
must be filed with the chief appraiser of the appraisal office
established for the county [district] in which the property listed
in the statement or report is taxable.
SECTION 42. Sections 22.41(a), (b), and (c), Tax Code, are
amended to read as follows:
(a) At the request of the chief appraiser of an appraisal
office established for the county [district] in which a political
subdivision of this state has territory, the governing body of the
political subdivision shall deliver a written report to the chief
appraiser describing each of the following actions taken by the
governing body in the preceding period specified in the request:
(1) a zoning action;
(2) an action that directly restricts the use of real
property or a class of real property specified by the action or that
exempts real property or a class of real property specified by the
action from an existing restriction on the use of the property; or
(3) an action that grants the owner or custodian of
real property specified by the action the right or authority to make
a change or improvement to the property.
(b) The report is not required to include an action that
does not apply to real property appraised by [in] the appraisal
office [district] whose chief appraiser requested the report.
(c) The chief appraiser in the request for a report shall
specify the period to be covered by the report. The governing body
is not required to include in the report an action included in a
previous report made to the chief appraiser of the same appraisal
office [district]. The governing body must deliver the report to
the chief appraiser not later than the 30th day after the date of
the request, unless the chief appraiser specifies or agrees to a
later date.
SECTION 43. Section 23.01(b), Tax Code, is amended to read
as follows:
(b) The market value of property shall be determined by the
application of generally accepted appraisal methods and
techniques. If the appraisal office [district] determines the
appraised value of a property using mass appraisal standards, the
mass appraisal standards must comply with the Uniform Standards of
Professional Appraisal Practice. The same or similar appraisal
methods and techniques shall be used in appraising the same or
similar kinds of property. However, each property shall be
appraised based upon the individual characteristics that affect the
property's market value.
SECTION 44. Section 23.02(c), Tax Code, is amended to read
as follows:
(c) A taxing unit that authorizes a reappraisal under this
section must pay the appraisal office [district] all the costs of
making the reappraisal. If two or more taxing units provide for the
reappraisal in the same territory, each shall share the costs of the
reappraisal in that territory in the proportion the total dollar
amount of taxes imposed in that territory in the preceding year
bears to the total dollar amount of taxes all units providing for
reappraisal of that territory imposed in the preceding year.
SECTION 45. Section 23.03, Tax Code, is amended to read as
follows:
Sec. 23.03. COMPILATION OF LARGE PROPERTIES AND PROPERTIES
SUBJECT TO LIMITATION ON APPRAISED VALUE. Each year the chief
appraiser shall compile and send to the Texas Department of
Economic Development a list of properties in the county for which
the appraisal office is established [district] that in that tax
year:
(1) have a market value of $100 million or more; or
(2) are subject to a limitation on appraised value
under Chapter 313.
SECTION 46. Section 23.121(a)(1), Tax Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(1) "Chief appraiser" means the chief appraiser of
[for] the appraisal office established for the county [district] in
which a dealer's motor vehicle inventory is located.
SECTION 47. Section 23.124(a)(1), Tax Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(1) "Chief appraiser" means the chief appraiser of
[for] the appraisal office established for the county [district] in
which a dealer's vessel and outboard motor inventory is located.
SECTION 48. Section 23.127(a)(1), Tax Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(1) "Chief appraiser" means the chief appraiser of
[for] the appraisal office established for the county [district] in
which a retailer's retail manufactured housing inventory is
located.
SECTION 49. Sections 23.19(b), (c), and (e), Tax Code, are
amended to read as follows:
(b) If an appraisal office [district] receives a written
request for the appraisal of real property and improvements of a
cooperative housing corporation according to the separate
interests of the corporation's stockholders, the chief appraiser
shall separately appraise the interests described by Subsection (d)
[of this section] if the conditions required by Subsections (e) and
(f) [of this section] have been met. Separate appraisal under this
section is for the purposes of administration of tax exemptions,
determination of applicable limitations of taxes under Section
11.26 [of this code], and apportionment by a cooperative housing
corporation of property taxes among its stockholders but is not the
basis for determining value on which a tax is imposed under this
title. A stockholder whose interest is separately appraised under
this section may protest and appeal the appraised value in the
manner provided by this title for protest and appeal of the
appraised value of other property.
(c) An appraisal under this section applies to the tax year
in which a request is made under this section only if the request is
received by the appraisal office [district] before March 1. After
the first separate appraisal of interests of stockholders of a
cooperative housing corporation under this section, separate
appraisals of interests of stockholders of the corporation shall be
made in subsequent years without further request. A request may not
be rescinded after the first separate appraisal has been made, and a
request is binding on future owners and stockholders of the
corporation.
(e) A separate appraisal of interests under this section may
not be made unless:
(1) the person making the request files a resolution
of the board of directors of the corporation certifying that the
stockholders of the corporation have approved the request in the
manner provided by the corporate articles of incorporation or
bylaws for approval of matters affecting the corporation generally;
and
(2) a diagrammatic floor plan of the improvements and
a survey plot map of the land showing the location of the
improvements on the land have been filed with the appraisal office
[district].
SECTION 50. Section 23.20(c), Tax Code, is amended to read
as follows:
(c) A waiver under this section is effective for 25
consecutive tax years beginning on the first tax year in which the
waiver is effective without regard to whether the property is
subject to appraisal under Subchapter C, D, E, F, or G [of this
chapter]. To be effective in the year in which the waiver is
executed, it must be filed before May 1 of that year with the chief
appraiser of the appraisal office established for the county
[district] in which the property is located, unless for good cause
shown the chief appraiser extends the filing deadline for not more
than 60 days. An application filed after the year's deadline takes
effect in the next tax year.
SECTION 51. Sections 23.43(a) and (f), Tax Code, are
amended to read as follows:
(a) An individual claiming the right to have the
individual's [his] land designated for agricultural use must apply
for the designation each year the individual [he] claims it.
Application for the designation is made by filing a sworn
application form with the chief appraiser for the appraisal office
established for the county [district] in which the land is located.
(f) Each year the chief appraiser for each appraisal office
[district] shall publicize, in a manner reasonably designed to
notify all residents of the applicable county [district], the
requirements of this section and the availability of application
forms.
SECTION 52. Section 23.51(3), Tax Code, is amended to read
as follows:
(3) "Category" means the value classification of land
considering the agricultural use to which the land is principally
devoted. Categories of land may include but are not limited to
irrigated cropland, dry cropland, improved pasture, native
pasture, orchard, and waste and may be further divided according to
soil type, soil capability, irrigation, general topography,
geographical factors, and other factors which influence the
productive capacity of the category. The chief appraiser shall
obtain information from the Texas Agriculture Extension Service,
Soil Conservation Service, and other recognized agricultural
sources for the purposes of determining the categories of
production existing in the county for which the appraisal office is
established [district].
SECTION 53. Section 23.521(a), Tax Code, is amended to read
as follows:
(a) The Parks and Wildlife Department, with the assistance
of the comptroller, shall develop standards for determining whether
land qualifies under Section 23.51(7) for appraisal under this
subchapter. The comptroller by rule shall adopt the standards
developed by the Parks and Wildlife Department and distribute those
rules to each appraisal office [district]. On request of the Parks
and Wildlife Department, the Texas Agricultural Extension Service
shall assist the department in developing the standards.
SECTION 54. Section 23.54(g), Tax Code, is amended to read
as follows:
(g) Each year the chief appraiser [for each appraisal
district] shall publicize, in a manner reasonably designed to
notify all residents of the county for which the appraisal office is
established [district], the requirements of this section and the
availability of application forms.
SECTION 55. Section 23.75(g), Tax Code, is amended to read
as follows:
(g) Each year the chief appraiser [for each appraisal
district] shall publicize, in a manner reasonably designed to
notify all residents of the county for which the appraisal office is
established [district], the requirements of this section and the
availability of application forms.
SECTION 56. Section 23.84(a), Tax Code, is amended to read
as follows:
(a) A person claiming the right to have the person's [his]
land appraised under this subchapter must apply for the right the
first year the person [he] claims it. Application for appraisal
under this chapter is made by filing a sworn application form with
the chief appraiser for the appraisal office established for the
county [district] in which the land is located.
SECTION 57. Section 23.94(a), Tax Code, is amended to read
as follows:
(a) A person claiming the right to have the person's [his]
airport property appraised under this subchapter must apply for the
right the first year the person [he] claims it. Application for
appraisal under this subchapter is made by filing a sworn
application form with the chief appraiser for the [each] appraisal
office established for each county [district] in which the land is
located.
SECTION 58. Section 23.9804(h), Tax Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(h) Each year the chief appraiser for each appraisal office
[district] shall publicize, in a manner reasonably designed to
notify all residents of the county for which the appraisal office is
established [district], the requirements of this section and the
availability of application forms.
SECTION 59. Section 25.01, Tax Code, is amended to read as
follows:
Sec. 25.01. PREPARATION OF APPRAISAL RECORDS. [(a)] By May
15 or as soon thereafter as practicable, the chief appraiser shall
prepare appraisal records listing all property that is taxable in
the county for which the appraisal office is established [district]
and stating the appraised value of each.
[(b) The chief appraiser with the approval of the board of
directors of the district may contract with a private appraisal
firm to perform appraisal services for the district, subject to his
approval. A contract for private appraisal services is void if the
amount of compensation to be paid the private appraisal firm is
contingent on the amount of or increase in appraised, assessed, or
taxable value of property appraised by the appraisal firm.
[(c) A contract for appraisal services for an appraisal
district is invalid if it does not provide that copies of the
appraisal, together with supporting data, must be made available to
the appraisal district and such appraisals and supporting data
shall be public records. "Supporting data" shall not be construed
to include personal notes, correspondence, working papers, thought
processes, or any other matters of a privileged or proprietary
nature.]
SECTION 60. Section 25.011(a), Tax Code, is amended to read
as follows:
(a) The chief appraiser for each appraisal office
[district] shall prepare and maintain a record of property
specially appraised under Chapter 23 [of this code] and subject, in
the future, to additional taxation for change in use or status.
SECTION 61. Section 25.025(b), Tax Code, is amended to read
as follows:
(b) Information in appraisal records under Section 25.02 is
confidential and is available only for the official use of the
appraisal office [district], this state, the comptroller, and
taxing units and political subdivisions of this state if:
(1) the information identifies the home address of a
named individual to whom this section applies; and
(2) the individual chooses to restrict public access
to the information on the form prescribed for that purpose by the
comptroller under Section 5.07.
SECTION 62. Section 25.026(b), Tax Code, is amended to read
as follows:
(b) Information in appraisal records under Section 25.02 is
confidential and is available only for the official use of the
appraisal office [district], this state, the comptroller, and
taxing units and political subdivisions of this state if the
information identifies the address of a family violence shelter
center or a sexual assault program.
SECTION 63. Section 25.12(c), Tax Code, as added by Chapter
796, Acts of the 71st Legislature, Regular Session, 1989, is
amended to read as follows:
(c) If a written request for joint taxation has been filed
under Subsection (b), the notice of appraised value provided for by
Section 25.19 for the owners included in the request for joint
taxation shall be delivered to the operator, owner, or owners of the
mineral interest in whose name the mineral interest is designated
for joint taxation. The chief appraiser is not required to deliver
a separate notice of appraised value to each owner included in the
request for joint taxation. However, the chief appraiser shall
deliver a separate notice of appraised value to an owner of an
interest in the property who before May 1 files a written request to
receive a separate notice of appraised value with the chief
appraiser on a form provided by the appraisal office [district] for
that purpose. The request is effective for each subsequent year
until revoked by the owner or until the owner no longer owns an
interest in the property.
SECTION 64. Sections 25.18(b) and (c), Tax Code, are
amended to read as follows:
(b) The plan shall provide for reappraisal of all real
property in the county for which the appraisal office is
established [district] at least once every three years.
(c) A taxing unit by resolution adopted by its governing
body may require the appraisal office to appraise all property
within the unit or to identify and appraise newly annexed territory
and new improvements in the unit as of a date specified in the
resolution. On or before the deadline requested by the taxing unit,
which deadline may not be less than 30 days after the date the
resolution is delivered to the appraisal office, the chief
appraiser shall complete the appraisal and deliver to the unit an
estimate of the total appraised value of property taxable by the
unit as of the date specified in such resolution. The unit must pay
the appraisal office [district] for the cost of making the
appraisal. The chief appraiser shall provide sufficient personnel
to make the appraisals required by this subsection on or before the
deadline requested by the taxing unit. An appraisal made pursuant
to this subsection may not be used by a taxing unit as the basis for
the imposition of taxes.
SECTION 65. Sections 25.19(b) and (e), Tax Code, are
amended to read as follows:
(b) The chief appraiser shall separate real from personal
property and include in the notice for each:
(1) a list of the taxing units in which the property is
taxable;
(2) the appraised value of the property in the
preceding year;
(3) the taxable value of the property in the preceding
year for each taxing unit taxing the property;
(4) the appraised value of the property for the
current year and the kind and amount of each partial exemption, if
any, approved for the current year;
(5) if the appraised value is greater than it was in
the preceding year:
(A) the effective tax rate that would be
announced pursuant to Chapter 26 if the total values being
submitted to the appraisal review board were to be approved by the
board with an explanation that that rate would raise the same amount
of revenue from property taxed in the preceding year as the unit
raised for those purposes in the preceding year;
(B) the amount of tax that would be imposed on the
property on the basis of the rate described by Paragraph (A); and
(C) a statement that the governing body of the
unit may not adopt a rate that will increase tax revenues for
operating purposes from properties taxed in the preceding year
without publishing notice in a newspaper that it is considering a
tax increase and holding a hearing for taxpayers to discuss the tax
increase;
(6) in italic typeface, the following statement: "The
Texas Legislature does not set the amount of your local taxes. Your
property tax burden is decided by your locally elected officials,
and all inquiries concerning your taxes should be directed to those
officials";
(7) a detailed explanation of the time and procedure
for protesting the value;
(8) the date and place the appraisal review board will
begin hearing protests; and
(9) a brief explanation that the governing body of
each taxing unit decides whether or not taxes on the property will
increase and the appraisal office [district] only determines the
value of the property.
(e) The chief appraiser, with the approval of the
comptroller [appraisal district board of directors], may dispense
with the notice required by Subsection (a)(1) if the amount of
increase in appraised value is $1,000 or less.
SECTION 66. Section 25.195(a), Tax Code, is amended to read
as follows:
(a) After the chief appraiser has submitted the appraisal
records to the appraisal review board as provided by Section
25.22(a), a property owner or the owner's designated agent is
entitled to inspect and copy the appraisal records relating to
property of the property owner, together with supporting data,
schedules, and, except as provided by Subsection (b), any other
material or information held by the chief appraiser [or required by
Section 25.01(c) to be provided to the appraisal district under a
contract for appraisal services], including material or
information obtained under Section 22.27, that is obtained or used
in making appraisals for the appraisal records relating to that
property.
SECTION 67. Section 25.20, Tax Code, is amended to read as
follows:
Sec. 25.20. ACCESS BY TAXING UNITS. The chief appraiser
shall give the assessor for a taxing unit in the county for which
the appraisal office is established [district] reasonable access to
the appraisal records at any time.
SECTION 68. Section 25.22(b), Tax Code, is amended to read
as follows:
(b) The chief appraiser shall make and subscribe an
affidavit on the submission substantially as follows:
"I, __________, (Chief Appraiser) for __________ solemnly
swear that I have made or caused to be made a diligent inquiry to
ascertain all property in the county for which the appraisal office
was established [district] subject to appraisal by me and that I
have included in the records all property that I am aware of at an
appraised value determined as required by law."
SECTION 69. Section 25.23(e), Tax Code, is amended to read
as follows:
(e) The chief appraiser shall add supplemental appraisal
records, as changed by the appraisal review board and approved by
that board, to the appraisal roll for the appraisal office
[district] and certify the addition to the taxing units.
SECTION 70. Section 25.24, Tax Code, is amended to read as
follows:
Sec. 25.24. APPRAISAL ROLL. The appraisal records, as
changed by order of the appraisal review board and approved by that
board, constitute the appraisal roll for the appraisal office
[district].
SECTION 71. Sections 25.25(b) and (d), Tax Code, are
amended to read as follows:
(b) The chief appraiser may change the appraisal roll at any
time to correct a name or address, a determination of ownership, a
description of property, multiple appraisals of a property, or a
clerical error or other inaccuracy as prescribed by board rule that
does not increase the amount of tax liability. Before the 10th day
after the end of each calendar quarter, the chief appraiser shall
submit to the appraisal review board and to the comptroller [board
of directors of the appraisal district] a written report of each
change made under this subsection that decreases the tax liability
of the owner of the property. The report must include:
(1) a description of each property; and
(2) the name of the owner of that property.
(d) At any time prior to the date the taxes become
delinquent, a property owner or the chief appraiser may file a
motion with the appraisal review board to change the appraisal roll
to correct an error that resulted in an incorrect appraised value
for the owner's property. However, the error may not be corrected
unless it resulted in an appraised value that exceeds by more than
one-third the correct appraised value. If the appraisal roll is
changed under this subsection, the property owner must pay to each
affected taxing unit a late-correction penalty equal to 10 percent
of the amount of taxes as calculated on the basis of the corrected
appraised value. The roll may not be changed under this subsection
if:
(1) the property was the subject of a protest brought
by the property owner under Chapter 41, a hearing on the protest was
conducted in which the property owner offered evidence or argument,
and the appraisal review board made a determination of the protest
on the merits; or
(2) the appraised value of the property was
established as a result of a written agreement between the property
owner or the owner's agent and the appraisal office [district].
SECTION 72. Section 26.01, Tax Code, is amended to read as
follows:
Sec. 26.01. SUBMISSION OF ROLLS TO TAXING UNITS. (a) By
July 25, the chief appraiser shall prepare and certify to the
assessor for each taxing unit having territory [participating] in
the county for which the appraisal office is established [district]
that part of the appraisal roll for the appraisal office [district]
that lists the property taxable by the unit. The part certified to
the assessor is the appraisal roll for the unit. The chief
appraiser shall consult with the assessor for each taxing unit and
notify each unit in writing by April 1 of the form in which the roll
will be provided to each unit.
(b) When a chief appraiser submits an appraisal roll for
county taxes to a county assessor-collector, the chief appraiser
also shall certify the appraisal office [district] appraisal roll
to the comptroller. However, the comptroller by rule may provide
for submission of only a summary of the appraisal roll. The chief
appraiser shall certify the [district] appraisal roll or the
summary of that roll in the form and manner prescribed by the
comptroller's rule.
(c) The chief appraiser shall prepare and certify to the
assessor for each taxing unit a listing of those properties which
are taxable by that unit but which are under protest and therefore
not included on the appraisal roll approved by the appraisal review
board and certified by the chief appraiser. This listing shall
include the appraised market value, productivity value (if
applicable), and taxable value as determined by the appraisal
office [district] and shall also include the market value, taxable
value, and productivity value (if applicable) as claimed by the
property owner filing the protest if available. If the property
owner does not claim a value and the appraised value of the property
in the current year is equal to or less than its value in the
preceding year, the listing shall include a reasonable estimate of
the market value, taxable value, and productivity value (if
applicable) that would be assigned to the property if the
taxpayer's claim is upheld. If the property owner does not claim a
value and the appraised value of the property is higher than its
appraised value in the preceding year, the listing shall include
the appraised market value, productivity value (if applicable) and
taxable value of the property in the preceding year, except that if
there is a reasonable likelihood that the appraisal review board
will approve a lower appraised value for the property than its
appraised value in the preceding year, the chief appraiser shall
make a reasonable estimate of the taxable value that would be
assigned to the property if the property owner's claim is upheld.
The taxing unit shall use the lower value for calculations as
prescribed in Sections 26.04 and 26.041 of this code.
(d) The chief appraiser shall prepare and certify to the
assessor for each taxing unit a list of those properties of which
the chief appraiser has knowledge that are reasonably likely to be
taxable by that unit but that are not included on the appraisal roll
certified to the assessor under Subsection (a) or included on the
listing certified to the assessor under Subsection (c). The chief
appraiser shall include on the list for each property the market
value, appraised value, and kind and amount of any partial
exemptions as determined by the appraisal office [district] for the
preceding year and a reasonable estimate of the market value,
appraised value, and kind and amount of any partial exemptions for
the current year. Until the property is added to the appraisal
roll, the assessor for the taxing unit shall include each property
on the list in the calculations prescribed by Sections 26.04 and
26.041, and for that purpose shall use the lower market value,
appraised value, or taxable value, as appropriate, included on or
computed using the information included on the list for the
property.
(e) By June 7, the chief appraiser shall prepare and certify
to the assessor for each school district participating in the
appraisal office [district] an estimate of the taxable value of
school district property. The chief appraiser shall assist each
school district in determining values of school district property
for the school district's budgetary purposes.
SECTION 73. Section 26.14(b), Tax Code, is amended to read
as follows:
(b) If a taxing unit annexes territory during a tax year
that was located in another taxing unit of like kind on January 1,
each unit shall impose taxes on property located within its
boundaries on the date the appraisal review board approves the
appraisal roll for the appraisal office [district]. The chief
appraiser shall prepare and deliver an appraisal roll for each unit
in accordance with the requirements of this subsection.
SECTION 74. Section 31.01(h), Tax Code, is amended to read
as follows:
(h) An assessor who assesses taxes for more than one taxing
unit may prepare and deliver separate bills for the taxes of a
taxing unit that does not adopt a tax rate for the year before the
60th day after the date the chief appraiser certifies the appraisal
roll for the unit under Section 26.01 of this code or, if the taxing
unit participates in more than one appraisal office [district],
before the 60th day after the date it receives a certified appraisal
roll from any of the appraisal offices [districts] in which it
participates. If separate tax bills are prepared and delivered
under this subsection, the taxing unit or taxing units that failed
to adopt the tax rate before the prescribed deadline must pay the
additional costs incurred in preparing and mailing the separate
bills in addition to any other compensation required or agreed to be
paid for the appraisal services rendered.
SECTION 75. Section 31.02(d), Tax Code, is amended to read
as follows:
(d) A person eligible under Subsection (b) or any co-owner
of property that is owned by an eligible person may notify the
county tax assessor or collector or [central] appraisal office
[district] for the county in which the property is located of the
person's eligibility for exemption under Subsection (b). The
county tax assessor or collector or [central] appraisal office
[district] shall provide the forms necessary for those individuals
giving notice under this subsection. If the notice is timely given,
a taxing unit in the county may not bring suit for delinquent taxes
for the tax year in which the notice is given. Failure to file a
notice does not affect eligibility for the waiver of penalties and
interest.
SECTION 76. Section 31.10(d), Tax Code, is amended to read
as follows:
(d) If the taxes of a taxing unit are collected by the
collector or other officer or employee of another taxing unit [or by
an appraisal district] as provided by the law creating or
authorizing creation of the unit or as the result of an election
held under Section 6.26 of this code, the entity that collects the
taxes shall deposit the taxes in the unit's depository daily,
unless the governing body of that unit by official action provides
that those deposits may be made less often than daily.
SECTION 77. Sections 32.03(c), (d), (g), and (h), Tax Code,
are amended to read as follows:
(c) A bona fide purchaser for value or the holder of a lien
recorded on a manufactured home document of title is not required to
pay any taxes imposed on the manufactured home in a tax year that
begins on or after January 1, 2001, or penalties or interest on
those taxes, if the chief appraiser of the appraisal office
[district] established for the county in which the manufactured
home is located, in connection with an application for a permit to
transport the manufactured home under Section 623.093(d),
Transportation Code, has issued a written statement that no unpaid
taxes have been reported on the manufactured home due any taxing
unit for which the appraisal office [district] appraises property.
(d) On request of any person, a chief appraiser shall issue
a written statement as to whether the chief appraiser has received
notice of any taxes on a manufactured home located in the county for
which the appraisal office was established [district] due any
taxing unit for which the appraisal office [district] appraises
property. A request for the issuance of a statement by the chief
appraiser under this subsection must:
(1) be in writing and signed by the person requesting
the statement;
(2) identify the location of the manufactured home
sufficiently for the chief appraiser to determine whether the
manufactured home is listed on the current appraisal roll; and
(3) specify the address where the chief appraiser
should send the statement.
(g) If the chief appraiser receives the appropriate
information from the collector for a taxing unit indicating that
there are unpaid taxes due that taxing unit on the manufactured
home, the chief appraiser shall include in the statement issued
under Subsection (d) the amount of taxes due that taxing unit and
the name and address of the collector for that taxing unit. If the
chief appraiser does not receive information from the collector for
any taxing unit to which the chief appraiser sent a request under
Subsection (e) before the chief appraiser issues the statement
required by Subsection (d), the chief appraiser shall state in the
written statement that the chief appraiser has not received notice
of any taxes on the manufactured home due the taxing units for which
the appraisal office [district] appraises property.
(h) To cover the costs to the appraisal office [district]
associated with the issuance of written statements under this
section, a chief appraiser may charge the person requesting a
statement a fee not to exceed $10 for each statement requested.
SECTION 78. Sections 33.011(a), (b), (c), and (f), Tax
Code, are amended to read as follows:
(a) The governing body of a taxing unit:
(1) shall waive penalties and interest on a delinquent
tax if an act or omission of an officer, employee, or agent of the
taxing unit or the appraisal office [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 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.
(b) If a tax bill is returned undelivered to the taxing unit
by the United States Postal Service, the governing body of the
taxing unit shall waive penalties and interest if:
(1) the taxing unit does not send another tax bill on
the property in question at least 21 days before the delinquency
date to the current mailing address furnished by the property owner
and the property owner establishes that a current mailing address
was furnished to the appraisal office [district] by the property
owner for the tax bill before September 1 of the year in which the
tax is assessed; or
(2) the tax bill was returned because of an act or
omission of an officer, employee, or agent of the taxing unit or the
appraisal office [district] in which the taxing unit participates
and the taxing unit or appraisal office [district] did not send
another tax bill on the property in question at least 21 days before
the delinquency date to the proper mailing address.
(c) For the purposes of this section, a property owner is
considered to have furnished a current mailing address to the
taxing unit or to the appraisal office [district] if the current
address is expressly communicated to the appraisal office
[district] in writing or if the appraisal office [district]
received a copy of a recorded instrument transferring ownership of
real property and the current mailing address of the new owner is
included in the instrument or in accompanying communications or
letters of transmittal.
(f) A property owner is not entitled to relief under
Subsection (b) [of this section] if the property owner or the
owner's agent furnished an incorrect mailing address to the
appraisal office [district] or the taxing unit or to an employee or
agent of the office [district] or unit.
SECTION 79. Sections 33.06(b), (c), and (e), Tax Code, are
amended to read as follows:
(b) To obtain a deferral, an individual must file with the
chief appraiser for the appraisal office established for the county
[district] in which the property is located an affidavit stating
the facts required to be established by Subsection (a) [of this
section]. The chief appraiser shall notify each taxing unit for
which the office appraises property [participating in the district]
of the filing. After an affidavit is filed under this subsection, a
taxing unit may not file suit to collect delinquent taxes on the
property until the individual no longer owns and occupies the
property as a residence homestead.
(c) To obtain an abatement, the individual must file in the
court in which suit is pending an affidavit stating the facts
required to be established by Subsection (a) [of this section]. If
no controverting affidavit is filed by the taxing unit filing suit
or if, after a hearing, the court finds the individual is entitled
to the deferral, the court shall abate the suit until the individual
no longer owns and occupies the property as a residence homestead.
The clerk of the court shall deliver a copy of the judgment abating
the suit to the chief appraiser of each appraisal office [district]
that appraises the property.
(e) Each year the chief appraiser for each appraisal office
[district] shall publicize in a manner reasonably designed to
notify all residents of the [district or] county of the provisions
of this section and, specifically, the method by which eligible
persons may obtain a deferral or abatement.
SECTION 80. Sections 33.065(c), (d), and (h), Tax Code, are
amended to read as follows:
(c) To obtain a deferral, an individual must file with the
chief appraiser for the appraisal office established for the county
[district] in which the property is located an affidavit stating
the facts required to be established by Subsection (a). The chief
appraiser shall notify each taxing unit for which the office
appraises property [participating in the district] of the filing.
After an affidavit is filed under this subsection, a taxing unit may
not file suit to collect delinquent taxes on the property for which
collection is deferred until the individual no longer owns and
occupies the property as a residence homestead.
(d) To obtain an abatement, the individual must file in the
court in which the delinquent tax suit is pending an affidavit
stating the facts required to be established by Subsection (a). If
the taxing unit that filed the suit does not file a controverting
affidavit or if, after a hearing, the court finds the individual is
entitled to the deferral, the court shall abate the suit until the
individual no longer owns and occupies the property as the
individual's residence homestead. The clerk of the court shall
deliver a copy of the judgment abating the suit to the chief
appraiser of each appraisal office [district] that appraises the
property.
(h) Each year the chief appraiser for each appraisal office
[district] shall publicize in a manner reasonably designed to
notify all residents of the county for which the appraisal office
[district] is established of the provisions of this section and,
specifically, the method by which an eligible person may obtain a
deferral.
SECTION 81. Sections 33.07(a) and (d), Tax Code, are
amended to read as follows:
(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 the amount of the compensation specified in the contract
with the attorney to be paid in connection with the collection of
the delinquent taxes.
(d) If a taxing unit [or appraisal district] provides for a
penalty under this section, the collector shall deliver a notice of
delinquency and of the penalty to the property owner at least 30 and
not more than 60 days before July 1.
SECTION 82. Sections 33.08(a), (b), (c), and (e), 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 the amount of the compensation specified
in the applicable contract with an attorney under Section 6.30 to be
paid in connection with the collection of the delinquent taxes.
(c) After the taxes become delinquent, the collector for a
taxing unit [or appraisal district] that has provided for the
additional penalty under this section shall send a notice of the
delinquency and the penalty to the property owner. The penalty is
incurred on the first day of the first month that begins at least 21
days after the date the notice is sent.
(e) A taxing unit [or appraisal district] that imposes the
additional penalty under this section may not recover attorney's
fees in a suit to collect delinquent taxes subject to the penalty.
SECTION 83. Section 41.03(a), Tax Code, is amended to read
as follows:
(a) A taxing unit is entitled to challenge before the
appraisal review board:
(1) the level of appraisals of any category of
property in the county for which the appraisal office is
established [district or in any territory in the district], but not
the appraised value of a single taxpayer's property;
(2) an exclusion of property from the appraisal
records;
(3) a grant in whole or in part of a partial exemption;
(4) a determination that land qualifies for appraisal
as provided by Subchapter C, D, E, or H, Chapter 23; or
(5) failure to identify the taxing unit as one in which
a particular property is taxable.
SECTION 84. Section 41.41, Tax Code, is amended to read as
follows:
Sec. 41.41. RIGHT OF PROTEST. (a) A property owner is
entitled to protest before the appraisal review board the following
actions:
(1) determination of the appraised value of the
owner's property or, in the case of land appraised as provided by
Subchapter C, D, E, or H, Chapter 23, determination of its appraised
or market value;
(2) unequal appraisal of the owner's property;
(3) inclusion of the owner's property on the appraisal
records;
(4) denial to the property owner in whole or in part of
a partial exemption;
(5) determination that the owner's land does not
qualify for appraisal as provided by Subchapter C, D, E, or H,
Chapter 23;
(6) identification of the taxing units in which the
owner's property is taxable in the case of the appraisal office's
[district's] appraisal roll;
(7) determination that the property owner is the owner
of property;
(8) a determination that a change in use of land
appraised under Subchapter C, D, E, or H, Chapter 23, has occurred;
or
(9) any other action of the chief appraiser, appraisal
office [district], or appraisal review board that applies to and
adversely affects the property owner.
(b) Each year the chief appraiser for each appraisal office
[district] shall publicize in a manner reasonably designed to
notify all residents of the county for which the appraisal office
was established [district]:
(1) the provisions of this section; and
(2) the method by which a property owner may protest an
action before the appraisal review board.
SECTION 85. Section 41.42, Tax Code, is amended to read as
follows:
Sec. 41.42. PROTEST OF SITUS. A protest against the
inclusion of property on the appraisal records for an appraisal
office [district] on the ground that the property does not have
taxable situs in the county for which the appraisal office was
established [that district] shall be determined in favor of the
protesting party if the party [he] establishes that the property is
subject to appraisal by another appraisal office [district] or that
the property is not taxable in this state. The chief appraiser of
an appraisal office [a district] in which the property owner
prevails in a protest of situs shall notify the appraisal office of
the county [district] in which the property owner has established
situs.
SECTION 86. Sections 41.43(a) and (b), Tax Code, are
amended to read as follows:
(a) In a protest authorized by Section 41.41(1) or (2), the
appraisal office [district] has the burden of establishing the
value of the property by a preponderance of the evidence presented
at the hearing. If the appraisal office [district] fails to meet
that standard, the protest shall be determined in favor of the
property owner.
(b) A protest on the ground of unequal appraisal of property
shall be determined in favor of the protesting party unless the
appraisal office [district] establishes that the appraisal ratio of
the property is not greater than the median level of appraisal of:
(1) a reasonable and representative sample of other
properties in the county for which the appraisal office was
established [district];
(2) a sample of properties in the county for which the
appraisal office was established [district] consisting of a
reasonable number of other properties similarly situated to, or of
the same general kind or character as, the property subject to the
protest; or
(3) a reasonable number of comparable properties
appropriately adjusted.
SECTION 87. Section 41.44(d), Tax Code, is amended to read
as follows:
(d) A notice of protest is sufficient if it identifies the
protesting property owner, including a person claiming an ownership
interest in the property even if that person is not listed on the
appraisal records as an owner of the property, identifies the
property that is the subject of the protest, and indicates apparent
dissatisfaction with some determination of the appraisal office.
The notice need not be on an official form, but the comptroller
shall prescribe a form that provides for more detail about the
nature of the protest. The form must permit a property owner to
include each property in the county for which the appraisal office
is established [district] that is the subject of a protest. The
comptroller, each appraisal office, and each appraisal review board
shall make the forms readily available and deliver one to a property
owner on request.
SECTION 88. Sections 41.45(g), (j), and (k), Tax Code, are
amended to read as follows:
(g) In addition to the grounds for a postponement under
Subsection (e), the board shall postpone the hearing to a later date
if:
(1) the owner of the property or the owner's agent is
also scheduled to appear at a hearing on a protest filed with the
appraisal review board of another appraisal office [district];
(2) the hearing before the other appraisal review
board is scheduled to occur on the same date as the hearing set by
the appraisal review board from which the postponement is sought;
(3) the notice of hearing delivered to the property
owner or the owner's agent by the other appraisal review board bears
an earlier postmark than the notice of hearing delivered by the
board from which the postponement is sought or, if the date of the
postmark is identical, the property owner or agent has not
requested a postponement of the other hearing; and
(4) the property owner or the owner's agent includes
with the request for a postponement a copy of the notice of hearing
delivered to the property owner or the owner's agent by the other
appraisal review board.
(j) A statement from the property owner that specifies the
determination or other action of the chief appraiser, appraisal
office [district], or appraisal review board relating to the
subject property from which the property owner seeks relief
constitutes sufficient argument under Subsection (i).
(k) The comptroller shall prescribe a standard form for an
affidavit offered under Subsection (b). Each appraisal office
[district] shall make copies of the affidavit form available to
property owners without charge.
SECTION 89. Sections 41.455(a) and (b), Tax Code, are
amended to read as follows:
(a) If a property owner files protests relating to a pooled
or unitized mineral interest that is being produced at one or more
production sites located in a single county with the appraisal
review boards of more than one appraisal office [district], the
appraisal review board for the appraisal office [district]
established for the county in which the production site or sites are
located must determine the protest filed with that board and make
its decision before another appraisal review board may hold a
hearing to determine the protest filed with that other board.
(b) If a property owner files protests relating to a pooled
or unitized mineral interest that is being produced at two or more
production sites located in more than one county with the appraisal
review boards of more than one appraisal office [district] and at
least two-thirds of the surface area of the mineral interest is
located in the county for which one of the appraisal offices
[districts] is established, the appraisal review board for that
appraisal office [district] must determine the protest filed with
that board and make its decision before another appraisal review
board may hold a hearing to determine the protest filed with that
other board.
SECTION 90. Section 41.61(a), Tax Code, is amended to read
as follows:
(a) If reasonably necessary in the course of a protest
provided by this chapter, the appraisal review board on its own
motion or at the written request of a party to the protest, may
subpoena witnesses or books, records, or other documents of the
property owner or appraisal office [district] that relate to the
protest.
SECTION 91. Sections 41.66(e) and (g), Tax Code, are
amended to read as follows:
(e) The appraisal review board may not consider any
appraisal office [district] information on a protest that was not
presented to the appraisal review board during the protest hearing.
(g) At the beginning of a hearing on a protest, each member
of the appraisal review board hearing the protest must sign an
affidavit stating that the board member has not communicated with
another person in violation of Subsection (f). If a board member
has communicated with another person in violation of Subsection
(f), the member must be recused from the proceeding and may not
hear, deliberate on, or vote on the determination of the protest.
The comptroller [board of directors of the appraisal district]
shall adopt and implement a policy concerning the temporary
replacement of an appraisal review board member who has
communicated with another person in violation of Subsection (f).
SECTION 92. Section 41.70(b), Tax Code, is amended to read
as follows:
(b) The chief appraiser shall publish the notice in a
newspaper having general circulation in the county for which the
appraisal office [district] is established. The notice may not be
smaller than one-quarter page of a standard-size or tabloid-size
newspaper, and may not be published in the part of the paper in
which legal notices and classified advertisements appear.
SECTION 93. Section 42.02, Tax Code, is amended to read as
follows:
Sec. 42.02. RIGHT OF APPEAL BY CHIEF APPRAISER. On written
approval of the comptroller [board of directors of the appraisal
district], the chief appraiser is entitled to appeal an order of the
appraisal review board determining:
(1) a taxpayer protest as provided by Subchapter C,
Chapter 41; or
(2) a taxpayer's motion to change the appraisal roll
filed under Section 25.25.
SECTION 94. Section 42.06(b), Tax Code, is amended to read
as follows:
(b) A party required to file a notice of appeal under this
section other than a chief appraiser who appeals an order of an
appraisal review board shall file the notice with the chief
appraiser of the appraisal office [district] for which the
appraisal review board is established. A chief appraiser who
appeals an order of an appraisal review board shall file the notice
with the appraisal review board. A party who appeals an order of
the comptroller shall file the notice with the comptroller.
SECTION 95. Sections 42.21(b) and (d), Tax Code, are
amended to read as follows:
(b) A petition for review brought under Section 42.02 must
be brought against the owner of the property involved in the appeal.
A petition for review brought under Section 42.031 must be brought
against the appraisal office [district] and against the owner of
the property involved in the appeal. A petition for review brought
under Subdivision (2) or (3) of Section 42.01 or under Section 42.03
must be brought against the comptroller. Any other petition for
review under this chapter must be brought against the appraisal
office [district]. A petition for review is not required to be
brought against the appraisal review board, but may be brought
against the appraisal review board in addition to any other
required party, if appropriate.
(d) An appraisal office [district] is served by service on
the chief appraiser at any time or by service on any other officer
or employee of the appraisal office [district] present at the
appraisal office at a time when the appraisal office is open for
business with the public. An appraisal review board is served by
service on the chairman of the appraisal review board. Citation of
a party is issued and served in the manner provided by law for civil
suits generally.
SECTION 96. Sections 42.221(a) and (c)-(g), Tax Code, are
amended to read as follows:
(a) The owner of an oil or gas pipeline or electric
transmission or distribution line that runs through more than one
county and is appraised by more than one appraisal office
[district] may appeal an order of an appraisal review board
relating to the pipeline or electric line, to property attached to
or connected with the pipeline or electric line, or to an easement
or other real property on which the pipeline or electric line is
located to the district court of any county in which a portion of
the pipeline or electric line is located if the order relating to
that portion of the pipeline or electric line is appealed.
(c) If only one appeal by the owner of an oil or gas pipeline
or electric line is pending before the court in an appeal from the
decision of an appraisal review board of an appraisal office
[district] other than the appraisal office [district] for that
county, any party to the suit may, not earlier than the 30th day
before and not later than the 10th day before the date set for the
hearing, make a motion to transfer the suit to a district court of
the county in which the appraisal review board from which the appeal
is taken is located. In the absence of a showing that further
appeals under this section will be filed, the court shall transfer
the suit.
(d) When the owner files the first petition for review under
this section for a pipeline or electric line for a tax year, the
owner shall include with the petition a list of each appraisal
office [district] in which the pipeline or electric line is
appraised for taxation in that tax year.
(e) The court shall consolidate all the appeals for a tax
year relating to a single pipeline or electric line for which a
petition for review is filed with the court and may consolidate
other appeals relating to other pipelines or electric lines of the
same owner if the pipelines or electric lines are located in one or
more of the counties on the list required by Subsection (d). Except
as provided by this subsection, on the motion of the pipeline or
electric line owner the court shall grant a continuance to provide
the owner with an opportunity to include in the proceeding appeals
of appraisal review board orders from additional appraisal offices
[districts]. The court may not grant a continuance to include an
appeal of an appraisal review board order that relates to the
pipeline or electric line in that tax year after the time for filing
a petition for review of that order has expired.
(f) This section does not affect the property owner's right
to file a petition for review of an individual appraisal office's
[district's] order relating to a pipeline or electric line in the
district court in the county in which the appraisal review board is
located.
(g) On a joint motion or the separate motions of at least 60
percent of the appraisal offices [districts] that are defendants in
a consolidated suit filed before the 45th day after the date on
which the property owner's petitions for review of the appraisal
review board orders relating to a pipeline or electric line for that
tax year must be filed, the court shall transfer the suit to a
district court of the county named in the motion or motions if that
county is one in which one of the appraisal review boards from which
an appeal was taken is located.
SECTION 97. Section 42.225(b), Tax Code, is amended to read
as follows:
(b) On motion by the property owner, the court shall order
the parties to an appeal of an appraisal review board order under
this chapter to submit to binding arbitration if the appraisal
office [district] joins in the motion or consents to the
arbitration. A binding arbitration award under this subsection is
binding and enforceable in the same manner as a contract
obligation.
SECTION 98. Sections 42.26(a) and (c), Tax Code, are
amended to read as follows:
(a) The district court shall grant relief on the ground that
a property is appraised unequally if the appraisal ratio of the
property exceeds by at least 10 percent the median level of
appraisal of:
(1) a reasonable and representative sample of other
properties in the county for which the appraisal office is
established [district]; or
(2) a sample of properties in the county for which the
appraisal office is established [district] consisting of a
reasonable number of other properties similarly situated to, or of
the same general kind or character as, the property subject to the
appeal.
(c) For purposes of establishing the median level of
appraisal under Subsection (a)(1), the median level of appraisal in
the county for which the appraisal office is established [district]
as determined by the comptroller under Section 5.10 is admissible
as evidence of the median level of appraisal of a reasonable and
representative sample of properties in that county [the appraisal
district] for the year of the comptroller's determination, subject
to the Texas Rules of Evidence and the Texas Rules of Civil
Procedure.
SECTION 99. Section 43.01, Tax Code, is amended to read as
follows:
Sec. 43.01. AUTHORITY TO BRING SUIT. A taxing unit may sue
the appraisal office [district] that appraises property for the
unit to compel the office [appraisal district] to comply with the
provisions of this title, rules of the comptroller, or other
applicable law.
SECTION 100. Section 43.02, Tax Code, is amended to read as
follows:
Sec. 43.02. VENUE. Venue is in the county for [in] which
the appraisal office [district] is established.
SECTION 101. Section 312.005(a), Tax Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(a) The comptroller shall maintain a central registry of
reinvestment zones designated under this chapter and of ad valorem
tax abatement agreements executed under this chapter. The chief
appraiser of each appraisal office [district] that appraises
property for a taxing unit that has designated a reinvestment zone
or executed a tax abatement agreement under this chapter shall
deliver to the comptroller before July 1 of the year following the
year in which the zone is designated or the agreement is executed a
report providing the following information:
(1) for a reinvestment zone, a general description of
the zone, including its size, the types of property located in it,
its duration, and the guidelines and criteria established for the
reinvestment zone under Section 312.002, including subsequent
amendments and modifications of the guidelines or criteria;
(2) a copy of each tax abatement agreement to which a
taxing unit that participates in the appraisal office [district] is
a party; and
(3) any other information required by the comptroller
to administer this section and Subchapter F, Chapter 111.
SECTION 102. Section 312.211(c), Tax Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(c) A property owner may not receive a tax abatement under
this section for the first tax year covered by the agreement unless
the property owner includes with the application for an exemption
under Section 11.28 filed with the chief appraiser of the appraisal
office [district] in which the property has situs a copy of the
certificate of completion for the property.
SECTION 103. Sections 403.302(c) and (i), Government Code,
are amended to read as follows:
(c) If the comptroller determines in the annual study that
the market value of property in a school district as determined by
the appraisal office [district] that appraises property for the
school district, less the total of the amounts and values listed in
Subsection (d) as determined by that appraisal office [district],
is valid, the market value of property in the school district as
determined by the appraisal office [district] that appraises
property for the school district, less the total of the amounts and
values listed in Subsection (d) as determined by that appraisal
office [district], is presumed to represent taxable value. In the
absence of such a presumption, taxable value is the value
determined by the comptroller under Subsection (a).
(i) If the comptroller determines in the annual study that
the market value of property in a school district as determined by
the appraisal office [district] that appraises property for the
school district, less the total of the amounts and values listed in
Subsection (d) as determined by that appraisal office [district],
is valid, the comptroller, in determining the taxable value of
property in the school district under Subsection (d), shall for
purposes of Subsection (d)(12) subtract from the market value as
determined by the appraisal office [district] of residence
homesteads to which Section 23.23, Tax Code, applies the amount by
which that amount exceeds the appraised value of those properties
as calculated by the appraisal office [district] under Section
23.23, Tax Code. If the comptroller determines in the annual study
that the market value of property in a school district as determined
by the appraisal office [district] that appraises property for the
school district, less the total of the amounts and values listed in
Subsection (d) as determined by that appraisal office [district],
is not valid, the comptroller, in determining the taxable value of
property in the school district under Subsection (d), shall for
purposes of Subsection (d)(12) subtract from the market value as
estimated by the comptroller of residence homesteads to which
Section 23.23, Tax Code, applies the amount by which that amount
exceeds the appraised value of those properties as calculated by
the appraisal office [district] under Section 23.23, Tax Code.
SECTION 104. (a) A reference in a law other than the Tax
Code to an appraisal district means the appraisal office
established for a county.
(b) A reference in law to the chief appraiser of an
appraisal district or to the board or directors of an appraisal
district means the chief appraiser of an appraisal office.
SECTION 105. (a) Sections 6.02, 6.025, 6.03, 6.031, 6.033,
6.034, 6.036, 6.037, 6.04, 6.061, 6.063, 6.10, 6.11, 6.13, and
6.14, Tax Code, are repealed.
(b) Sections 25.195(c), (d), and (e), Tax Code, are
repealed.
SECTION 106. (a) This Act takes effect September 1, 2004.
(b) On the effective date of this Act:
(1) each appraisal district and appraisal district
board of directors is abolished;
(2) all personnel, property, records, and funds of an
appraisal district are transferred to the Comptroller of Public
Accounts for the benefit of the appraisal office for the county for
which the appraisal district was established; and
(3) the comptroller is substituted for an appraisal
district in any pending action, including a protest or challenge
before an appraisal review board or an appeal or other action in a
court.
(c) On the effective date of this Act, all unpaid debts
incurred by an appraisal district become debts of this state.
(d) This Act does not affect the term of a member of an
appraisal review board serving on the effective date of this Act.