79R2162 JD-D
By: Deuell S.B. No. 377
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to authorizing a county, city, town, school district, or
other political subdivision to provide an additional exemption from
ad valorem taxation of the residence homesteads of certain
surviving spouses of peace officers and firefighters.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 11.13(m), Tax Code, is amended by adding
Subdivisions (3)-(6) to read as follows:
(3) "Controlled substance" has the meaning assigned by
Section 481.002, Health and Safety Code.
(4) "Dangerous drug" has the meaning assigned by
Section 483.001, Health and Safety Code.
(5) "Firefighter" means:
(A) an individual employed by this state or by a
political or legal subdivision of this state who is subject to
certification by the Texas Commission on Fire Protection; or
(B) a member of an organized volunteer
fire-fighting unit that:
(i) renders fire-fighting services without
remuneration; and
(ii) conducts a minimum of two drills each
month, each at least two hours long.
(6) "Peace officer" means an individual described by
Article 2.12, Code of Criminal Procedure, who is elected,
appointed, or employed as a peace officer by this state, a political
subdivision of this state, or another entity listed in that
article.
SECTION 2. Section 11.13, Tax Code, is amended by amending
Subsection (i) and adding Subsections (s), (t), and (u) to read as
follows:
(i) The assessor and collector for a taxing unit may
disregard the exemptions authorized by Subsection (b), (c), (d),
[or] (n), or (s) [of this section] and assess and collect a tax
pledged for payment of debt without deducting the amount of the
exemption if:
(1) prior to adoption of the exemption, the unit
pledged the taxes for the payment of a debt; and
(2) granting the exemption would impair the obligation
of the contract creating the debt.
(s) In addition to any other exemption provided by this
section, an individual who is the unmarried surviving spouse of a
peace officer or a firefighter is entitled to an exemption from
taxation by a taxing unit of all or part of the appraised value of
the individual's residence homestead if:
(1) the exemption is adopted by the governing body
before July 1 in the manner provided by law for official action by
the body;
(2) the property was the residence homestead of the
peace officer or firefighter on the date of death or qualified as
the residence homestead of the surviving spouse before the second
anniversary of the date of death;
(3) the peace officer or firefighter was killed, or
died as a result of an injury incurred, while in the performance of
official duties as a peace officer or firefighter; and
(4) the death of the peace officer or firefighter was
not a result of the individual's own wilful misconduct or the abuse
of alcohol, a controlled substance, a dangerous drug, or a
combination of two or more of those substances.
(t) The governing body of a taxing unit may adopt the
exemption provided by Subsection (s) as a specified dollar amount
or as a percentage of the appraised value of the property.
(u) A surviving spouse who receives an exemption under
Subsection (s) and subsequently qualifies a different property in
the same taxing unit as the surviving spouse's residence homestead
is entitled to any exemption adopted by the governing body of the
taxing unit under Subsection (s) on the subsequently qualified
residence homestead. Entitlement to an exemption under Subsection
(s) expires if on January 1:
(1) the surviving spouse is remarried; or
(2) the property does not qualify as the residence
homestead of the surviving spouse.
SECTION 3. Section 25.23(a), Tax Code, is amended to read as
follows:
(a) After submission of appraisal records, the chief
appraiser shall prepare supplemental appraisal records listing:
(1) each taxable property the chief appraiser
discovers that is not included in the records already submitted,
including property that was omitted from an appraisal roll in a
prior tax year;
(2) property on which the appraisal review board has
not determined a protest at the time of its approval of the
appraisal records; and
(3) property that qualifies for an exemption under
Section 11.13(n) or (s) that was adopted by the governing body of a
taxing unit after the date the appraisal records were submitted.
SECTION 4. This Act takes effect January 1, 2006, and
applies only to ad valorem taxes imposed on or after that date, but
only if the constitutional amendment authorizing a county, city,
town, school district, or other political subdivision to provide an
additional exemption from ad valorem taxation of the residence
homesteads of certain surviving spouses of peace officers and
firefighters killed in the line of duty is approved by the voters.
If that amendment is not approved by the voters, this Act has no
effect.