Amend the floor substitute for CSHB 1006 as follows:
1. Strike Section 3 of the floor substitute, and replace it
with the following:
SECTION 3. Section 26.05, Tax Code, is amended to read as
follows:
Section 26.05. TAX RATE. (a) The governing body of each
taxing unit, before the later of September 30 or the 60th day after
the date the certified appraisal roll is received by the taxing
unit, shall adopt a tax rate for the current tax year and shall
notify the assessor for the unit of the rate adopted. The tax rate
consists of two components, each of which must be approved
separately. The components are:
(1) the rate that, if applied to the total taxable
value, will impose the total amount published under Section
26.04(e) (3) (C), less any amount of additional sales and use tax
revenue that will be used to pay debt service; and
(2) the rate that, if applied to the total taxable
value, will impose the amount of taxes imposed to fund maintenance
and operation expenditures for the unit in the prior yearneeded
to fund maintenance and operation expenditures of the unit for the
next year. A unit may not impose taxes that exceed the taxes levied
to fund maintenance and operation expenditures for the prior year
unless the unit does each of the following:
(i) Includes in its order, ordinance, or
resolution, in type larger than all other elements of the
instrument, the following statement: "THIS TAX RATE RAISES MORE
TAXES THAN LAST YEAR'S TAX RATE. THE PROPOSED RATE WOULD RAISE TAXES
ON A $100,000 HOME BY [Insert amount]."
(ii) IncludeS on the home page of any
Internet Web site operated by the unit the following statement:
"[Insert name of unit] ADOPTED A TAX RATE THAT RAISES MORE TAXES
THAN LAST YEAR'S TAX RATE. THE PROPOSED RATE RAISES TAXES ON A
$100,000 HOME BY APPROXIMATELY [Insert amount]."
(b) A taxing unit may not impose property taxes in any year
until the governing body has adopted a tax rate for that year, and
the annual tax rate must be set by ordinance, resolution, or order,
depending on the method prescribed by law for adoption of a law by
the governing body. The vote on the ordinance, resolution, or order
setting the tax rate must be separate from the vote adopting the
budget. The vote that adopts a rate that exceeds the effective rate
must be a record vote.
(c) If the governing body of a taxing unit does not adopt a
tax rate before the date required by Subsection (a), the tax rate
for the taxing unit for that tax year is the lower of the effective
tax rate calculated for that tax year or the tax rate adopted by the
taxing unit for the preceding tax year. A tax rate established by
this subsection is treated as an adopted tax rate. Before the fifth
day after the establishment of a tax rate by this subsection, the
governing body of the taxing unit must ratify the applicable tax
rate in the manner required by Subsection (b).
(d) The governing body of a taxing district other than a
school district may not adopt a tax rate that exceeds the lower of
the rollback tax rate or [103 percent of] the effective tax rate
calculated as provided by this chapter until the governing body has
held two [a] public hearings on the proposed tax rate and has
otherwise complied with Section 26.06 and 26.065. The governing
body of a taxing unit shall reduce a tax rate set by law or by vote
of the electorate to the lower of the rollback rate or [103 percent
of] the effective tax rate and may not adopt a higher rate unless it
first complies with Section 26.06.
(e) A person who owns taxable property is entitled to an
injunction restraining the collection of taxes by a taxing unit in
which the property is taxable if the taxing unit has not complied
with the requirements of this section and the failure to comply was
not in good faith. An action to enjoin the collection of taxes must
be filed prior to the date a taxing unit delivers substantially all
of its tax bills.
(f) Except as required by the law under which an obligation
was created, the governing body may not apply any tax revenues
generated by the rate described in Subsection (a) (1) of this
section for any purpose other than the retirement of debt.
2. Strike Section 4 of the floor substitute, and replace it
with the following:
SECTION 4. Section 26.06, Tax Code, is amended as follows:
Section 26.06. NOTICE, HEARING, AND VOTE ON TAX INCREASE.
(a) [A p] Public hearings required by Section 26.05 may not be held
before the seventh day after the date the notice of the public
hearings on the proposed tax increase is given. The second hearing
must take place no sooner than three days after the first hearing.
The hearings must be held inside the boundaries of the unit in a
publicly owned building or, if a suitable publicly owned building
is not available, in a suitable building to which the public
normally has access. At the hearings, the governing body must
afford adequate opportunity for proponents and opponents of the tax
increase to present their views.
(b) The notice of the [a] public hearings may not be smaller
than one-quarter page of a standard-size or a tabloid-size
newspaper, and the headline on the notice must be in 18-point or
larger type. The notice must:
(1) contain a statement in the following form:
"NOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARING ON TAX INCREASE
"Last year, the [name of taxing unit] property tax rate was $
[insert rate]. That rate raised $ [insert amount] which was used to
fund operations such as [insert sample descriptions of unit's
operations]."
"This year, [name of taxing unit] is proposing a property tax
rate of $ [insert rate]. This rate would raise $ [insert amount]
(which is $ [insert amount] more than last year).
"There will be two public hearings to consider this increase.
The first public hearing will be held on (date and time) at (meeting
place). The second hearing will be held on (date and time) at
(meeting place).
"You have a right to attend this meeting and make comments.
You are encouraged to attend and you have a right to testify."
The (name of the taxing unit) will hold a public hearing on a
proposal to increase total tax revenues from properties on the tax
role in the preceding year by (percentage by which proposed tax rate
exceeds lower of rollback tax rate or effective tax rate calculated
under this chapter) percent. Your individual taxes may increase at
a greater or lesser rate, or even decrease, depending on the change
in the taxable value of your property in relation to the change in
taxable value of all other property and the tax rate that is
adopted.
"The public hearing will be held on (date and time) at
(meeting place).
"(Names of all members of the governing body, showing how
each voted on the proposal to consider the tax increase or, if one
or more were absent, indicating the absences.)"; and
(2) contain the following information:
(A) the unit's adopted tax rate for the preceding
year and the proposed tax rate; expressed as an amount per $100;
(B) the difference, expressed as an amount per
$100 and as a percent increase or decrease, as applicable, and the
proposed tax rate compared to the adopted tax rate for the preceding
year;
(C) the average appraised value of a residence
homestead in the taxing unit in the preceding year and in the
current year; the unit's homestead exemption, other than an
exemption available only to disabled persons or persons 65 years of
age or older, applicable to that appraised value and each of those
years; and average taxable value of a residence homestead in the
unit in each of those years; disregarding any homestead exemption
available only to disabled persons or persons 65 years of age or
older;
(D) the amount of tax that would have been imposed
by the unit in the preceding year on a residence homestead appraised
at the average appraised value of a residence homestead in that
year, disregarding any homestead exemption available only to
disabled persons or persons 65 years of age or older;
(E) the amount of tax that would be imposed by the
unit in the current year on a residence homestead appraised at the
average appraised value of a residence homestead in the current
year, disregarding any homestead exemption available only to
disabled persons or persons 65 years of age or older, if the
proposed tax rate is adopted; and
(F) the difference between the amounts of tax
calculated under Paragraphs (D) and (E), expressed in dollars and
cents and described as the annual increase or decrease, as
applicable, in the tax to be imposed by the unit on the average
residence homestead in the unit in the current year if the proposed
tax rate is adopted.
(c) The notice may be delivered by mail to each property
owner in the unit, or it may be published in a newspaper. If the
notice is published in a newspaper, it may not be in the part of the
paper in which legal notices and classified advertisements appear.
If the unit operates an Internet Web site, the notice shall appear
on that site from the beginning of the first publication until the
second hearing is concluded.
(d) At the public hearing the governing body shall announce
the date, time, and place of the meeting at which it will vote on the
proposed tax rate. After the hearing the governing body shall give
notice of the meeting at which it will vote on the proposed tax rate
and the notice shall be in the same form as prescribed by
Subsections (b) and (c), except that is must state the following:
"NOTICE OF VOTE ON TAX RATE"
"The (name of taxing unit) conducted public hearings on a
proposal to increase the total tax revenues of the (name of the
taxing unit) from properties on the tax roll in the preceding year
by (percentage by which proposed tax rate exceeds lower of rollback
tax rate or effective tax rate calculated under this chapter)
percent on (date and times public hearingswere [was] conducted).
"The (governing body of the taxing unit) is scheduled to vote
on the tax rate that will result in that tax increase at a public
meeting to be held on (date and time) at (meeting place)."
(e) The meeting to vote on the tax increase may not be
earlier than the third day or later than the 14th date of the last
public hearing. The meeting must be held inside the boundaries of
the taxing unit in a publicly owned building or, if a suitable
publicly owned building is not available, in a suitable building to
which the public normally has access. If the governing body does not
adopt a tax rate that exceeds the lower of the rollback tax rate or
[103 percent of] the effective tax rate by the 14th day, it must
give a new notice under Subsection (d) before it may adopt a rate
that exceeds the lower of the rollback tax rate or 103 percent of
the effective tax rate. The vote that adopts a rate that exceeds the
effective rate must be a record vote.
(f) The comptroller by rule shall prescribe the language and
format to be used in the part of the notice required by Subsection
(b) (2). A notice under Subsection (b) is not valid if it does not
substantially conform to the language and format prescribed by the
comptroller under this subsection.
(g) This section does not apply to a school district. A
school district shall provide notice of a public hearing on a tax
increase as required by Section 44.004, Education Code.
3. Add the following new section to the floor substitute, and
renumber the other sections appropriately:
SECTION___. Section 31.01, Tax Code, is amended by amending
Subsection (c) and adding Subsection (c-1) to read as follows:
(c) The tax bill or a separate statement accompanying the tax
bill shall:
(1) identify the property subject to the tax;
(2) state the appraised value, assessed value, and
taxable value of the property;
(3) if the property is land appraised as provided by
Subchapter C, D, E, or H, Chapter 23, state the market value and the
taxable value for purpose of deferred or additional taxation as
provided by Section 23.46, 23.55, 23.76, or 23.9807, as applicable;
(4) state the assessment ratio for the unit;
(5) state the type and amount of any partial exemption
applicable to the property, indicating whether it applies to
appraised or assessed value;
(6) state the local tax rate for the unit;
(7) state the amount of tax due, the due date, and
delinquency date;
(8) explain the payment option and discounts provided
by Sections 31.03 and 31.05, if available to the unit's tax payers,
and state the date on which each of the discount periods provided by
Section 31.05 concludes, if the discounts are available;
(9) state the rates of penalty and interest imposed for
delinquent payment of the tax;
(10) include the name and telephone number of the
assessor for the unit and, if different, of the collector for the
unit; [and]
(11) for real property, state for the current tax year
and each of the preceding five tax years:
(A) the appraised value and taxable value of
property;
(B) the total tax rate for the unit;
(C) the amount of taxes imposed on the property by
the unit; and
(D) the difference, expressed as a percent
increase or decrease, as applicable, in the amount of taxes imposed
on the property by the unit compared to the amount imposed for the
preceding tax year;
(12) for real property, state the differences,
expressed as a percent increase or decrease, as applicable, in the
following for the current year as compared to the fifth tax year
before that tax year:
(A) the appraised value and taxable value of
property;
(B) the total tax rate for the unit; and
(C) the amount of taxes imposed on the property by
the unit; and
(13) include any other information required by the
comptroller.
(c-1) If for any of the preceding six tax years any
information required by Subsection (c) (11) or (12) to be included
in a tax bill or separate statement is unavailable, the tax bill or
statement must state that the information is not available for that
year.