81R21585 SMH-D
 
  By: Guillen, Berman, Peña H.B. No. 69
 
  Substitute the following for H.B. No. 69:
 
  By:  Hartnett C.S.H.B. No. 69
 
 
 
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 
AN ACT
  relating to a limitation on the total amount of ad valorem taxes
  that may be imposed by a taxing unit on the residence homestead of
  an eligible person who is a member of a reserve component of the
  United States armed forces and is ordered to active military duty.
         BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
         SECTION 1.  Subchapter B, Chapter 11, Tax Code, is amended by
  adding Section 11.262 to read as follows:
         Sec. 11.262.  LIMITATION OF TAX ON HOMESTEADS OF CERTAIN
  ACTIVE-DUTY ARMED FORCES MEMBERS. (a)  This section applies only to
  a taxing unit that has established a limitation under Section
  1-b(j), Article VIII, Texas Constitution, on the total amount of
  taxes that may be imposed by the taxing unit on the residence
  homestead of an eligible person who is a member of a reserve
  component of the armed forces of the United States, including the
  National Guard, and is ordered to active duty by a proper authority.
  A tax limitation under that subsection applies to the imposition of
  taxes by the political subdivision on residence homesteads
  beginning with the first tax year after the year in which the
  political subdivision establishes the limitation.
         (b)  To be eligible for a limitation on tax increases under
  this section for a tax year, an individual must:
               (1)  be deployed or stationed on active duty for any
  part of that tax year at a location that is at least 150 miles from
  the individual's residence homestead; and
               (2)  have been continuously deployed or stationed on
  active duty for at least the preceding six months, disregarding
  temporary periods of leave or other absence, at one or more
  locations each of which is at least 150 miles from the individual's
  residence homestead.
         (c)  This section applies only to property that receives an
  exemption under Section 11.13 and is the residence homestead of an
  individual who is eligible for the limitation under Subsection (b).
         (d)  Except as provided by Subsection (e), a taxing unit may
  not increase the total annual amount of ad valorem taxes it imposes
  on the residence homestead of an individual who is eligible for a
  limitation on tax increases under this section above the amount of
  the taxes the unit imposed on the property in the preceding tax year
  if the property qualified as the individual's residence homestead
  in the preceding tax year.  The tax officials shall appraise the
  homestead and calculate taxes as on other property, but if the tax
  so calculated exceeds the limitation provided by this section, the
  tax imposed is the amount of the tax as limited by this section,
  except as otherwise provided by this section.
         (e)  If improvements have been made to the individual's
  residence homestead, other than repairs and other than improvements
  made to comply with governmental requirements, since the most
  recent appraisal of the property, the taxing unit may increase the
  amount of taxes on the homestead in the first year the appraised
  value of the homestead is increased on the appraisal roll because of
  the enhancement of value by the improvements. The amount of the tax
  increase is determined by applying the current tax rate to the
  difference between the appraised value of the homestead with the
  improvements and the appraised value the homestead would have had
  without the improvements.
         (f)  An individual is eligible for a limitation on tax
  increases under this section for a tax year if the individual
  qualifies the residence homestead for an exemption under Section
  11.13 for that tax year and meets the requirements of Subsections
  (b) and (c) at any time during that tax year and if the individual
  qualified the homestead for an exemption under Section 11.13 for
  the preceding tax year. To receive a limitation on tax increases
  under this section, an individual claiming the limitation must file
  an application for the limitation with the chief appraiser of the
  appraisal district. The chief appraiser shall accept and approve
  or deny the application. For property appraised by more than one
  appraisal district, a separate application must be filed in each
  appraisal district to receive a limitation in that district. A
  limitation under this section, once allowed, need not be claimed in
  subsequent years and applies to the property until the limitation
  expires as provided by this section or until the individual's
  qualification for the limitation ends. However, the chief
  appraiser may require an individual allowed a limitation in a prior
  year to file a new application to confirm the individual's current
  qualification for the limitation by delivering, not later than
  April 1, a written notice that a new application is required,
  accompanied by an appropriate application form, to the individual
  previously allowed the limitation.
         (g)  In this subsection, "driver's license" and "personal
  identification certificate" have the meanings assigned by Section
  11.43(f).  The comptroller, in prescribing the contents of the
  application form for a limitation on tax increases under this
  section, shall ensure that the form requires an applicant to
  provide the information necessary to determine the validity of the
  limitation claim. The form must require an applicant to provide the
  applicant's name and driver's license number, personal
  identification certificate number, or social security number. The
  comptroller shall include on the form:
               (1)  a notice of the penalties prescribed by Section
  37.10, Penal Code, for making or filing an application containing a
  false statement; and
               (2)  a statement explaining that the application need
  not be made annually and that if the limitation is allowed, the
  applicant has a duty to notify the chief appraiser when the
  applicant's qualification for the limitation ends.
         (h)  An individual who is required to apply for a limitation
  on tax increases under this section to receive the limitation for a
  tax year must apply for the limitation not later than May 1 or the
  90th day after the date the individual has served on active duty at
  a location and for the minimum period required by Subsection (b) to
  qualify for the limitation, whichever is later. Except as provided
  by Subsection (i), if the individual fails to timely file a
  completed application, the individual may not receive the
  limitation for that year.
         (i)  The chief appraiser shall accept and approve or deny an
  application for a limitation on tax increases under this section
  after the deadline for filing the application under Subsection (h)
  has passed if the application is filed not later than one year after
  the delinquency date for the taxes on the property for that tax
  year. If a late application is approved after approval of the
  appraisal records by the appraisal review board, the chief
  appraiser shall notify the collector for each taxing unit in which
  the property is located. If the tax has not been paid, the
  collector shall deduct from the individual's tax bill the
  difference between the taxes that would have been due had the
  property not qualified for the limitation and the taxes due after
  taking the limitation into account. If the tax has been paid, the
  collector shall immediately refund the difference.
         (j)  An individual who receives a limitation on tax increases
  under this section shall notify the appraisal office in writing
  before May 1 after the individual's qualification for the
  limitation ends.
         (k)  If the appraisal roll provides for taxation of appraised
  value for a prior year because a limitation on tax increases under
  this section was erroneously allowed, the tax assessor for each
  taxing unit shall add, as back taxes due as provided by Section
  26.09(d), the positive difference, if any, between the tax that
  should have been imposed for that year and the tax that was imposed
  because of this section.
         (l)  A limitation on tax increases under this section expires
  on January 1 of the first tax year that:
               (1)  none of the owners of the property who qualify for
  an exemption provided by Section 11.13 and who owned the property
  when the limitation first took effect is using the property as a
  residence homestead;
               (2)  none of the owners of the property qualifies for an
  exemption provided by Section 11.13; or
               (3)  none of the owners of the property who met the
  requirements of Subsections (b) and (c) when the limitation first
  took effect meets the requirements of those subsections.
         (m)  For each school district in an appraisal district, the
  chief appraiser shall determine the portion of the appraised value
  of residence homesteads of individuals on which school district
  taxes are not imposed in a tax year because of the limitation on tax
  increases under 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 those homesteads if the limitation on tax
  increases under 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.
         (n)  A limitation on tax increases under this section does
  not expire because the owner of an interest in the property conveys
  the interest to a qualifying trust as defined by Section 11.13(j) if
  the owner or the owner's spouse is a trustor of the trust and is
  entitled to occupy the property.
         (o)  If an individual who receives a limitation on tax
  increases by a taxing unit under this section on a residence
  homestead in the last year in which the individual resided in the
  property on January 1 qualifies a different residence homestead in
  the same taxing unit for an exemption under Section 11.13 during the
  same period of service on active duty, the taxing unit may not
  impose ad valorem taxes on the subsequently qualified homestead in
  the first year in which the individual qualified the new residence
  homestead for the exemption in an amount that exceeds the amount of
  taxes the taxing unit would have imposed on the subsequently
  qualified homestead in that first year had the limitation provided
  by this subsection not been in effect, multiplied by a fraction the
  numerator of which is the total amount of ad valorem taxes imposed
  by the taxing unit on the former homestead in the last year in which
  the individual received the limitation provided by Subsection (d)
  for the former homestead and the denominator of which is the total
  amount of ad valorem taxes that would have been imposed by the
  taxing unit on the former homestead in the last year in which the
  individual received the limitation for the former homestead had the
  limitation not been in effect.
         (p)  An individual who receives a limitation on tax increases
  by a taxing unit under this section and who subsequently applies for
  a limitation by the same taxing unit on a different residence
  homestead, or an agent of the individual, is entitled to receive
  from the chief appraiser of the appraisal 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 by the taxing unit on the subsequently
  qualified homestead under Subsection (o) and to calculate the
  amount of taxes the taxing unit may impose on the subsequently
  qualified homestead.
         SECTION 2.  Sections 23.19(b) and (g), Tax Code, are amended
  to read as follows:
         (b)  If an appraisal 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) if the
  conditions required by Subsections (e) and (f) 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, [or] 11.261, or 11.262,
  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.
         (g)  A tax bill or a separate statement accompanying the tax
  bill to a cooperative housing corporation for which interests of
  stockholders are separately appraised under this section must
  state, in addition to the information required by Section 31.01,
  the appraised value and taxable value of each interest separately
  appraised. Each exemption claimed as provided by this title by a
  person entitled to the exemption shall also be deducted from the
  total appraised value of the property of the corporation. The total
  tax imposed by a taxing unit [school district, county,
  municipality, or junior college district] shall be reduced by any
  amount that represents an increase in taxes attributable to
  separately appraised interests of the real property and
  improvements that are subject to the limitation of taxes prescribed
  by Section 11.26, [or] 11.261, or 11.262. The corporation shall
  apportion among its stockholders liability for reimbursing the
  corporation for property taxes according to the relative taxable
  values of their interests.
         SECTION 3.  Sections 26.012(6), (13), and (14), Tax Code,
  are amended to read as follows:
               (6)  "Current total value" means the total taxable
  value of property listed on the appraisal roll for the current year,
  including all appraisal roll supplements and corrections as of the
  date of the calculation, less the taxable value of property
  exempted for the current tax year for the first time under Section
  11.31, except that:
                     (A)  the current total value for a school district
  excludes:
                           (i)  the total value of homesteads that
  qualify for a tax limitation as provided by Section 11.26; and
                           (ii)  new property value of property that is
  subject to an agreement entered into under Chapter 313; [and]
                     (B)  the current total value for a county,
  municipality, or junior college district excludes the total value
  of homesteads that qualify for a tax limitation provided by Section
  11.261 applicable to the taxing unit; and
                     (C)  the current total value for a taxing unit
  excludes the total value of homesteads that qualify for a tax
  limitation provided by Section 11.262 applicable to the taxing
  unit.
               (13)  "Last year's levy" means the total of:
                     (A)  the amount of taxes that would be generated
  by multiplying the total tax rate adopted by the governing body in
  the preceding year by the total taxable value of property on the
  appraisal roll for the preceding year, including:
                           (i)  taxable value that was reduced in an
  appeal under Chapter 42; and
                           (ii)  all appraisal roll supplements and
  corrections other than corrections made pursuant to Section
  25.25(d), as of the date of the calculation, except that last year's
  taxable value for a school district excludes the total value of
  homesteads that qualified for a tax limitation as provided by
  Section 11.26, [and] last year's taxable value for a county,
  municipality, or junior college district excludes the total value
  of homesteads that qualified for a tax limitation as provided by
  Section 11.261 applicable to the taxing unit, and last year's
  taxable value for a taxing unit excludes the total value of
  homesteads that qualified for a tax limitation as provided by
  Section 11.262 applicable to the taxing unit; and
                     (B)  the amount of taxes refunded by the taxing
  unit in the preceding year for tax years before that year.
               (14)  "Last year's total value" means the total taxable
  value of property listed on the appraisal roll for the preceding
  year, including all appraisal roll supplements and corrections,
  other than corrections made pursuant to Section 25.25(d), as of the
  date of the calculation, except that:
                     (A)  last year's taxable value for a school
  district excludes the total value of homesteads that qualified for
  a tax limitation as provided by Section 11.26; [and]
                     (B)  last year's taxable value for a county,
  municipality, or junior college district excludes the total value
  of homesteads that qualified for a tax limitation as provided by
  Section 11.261 applicable to the taxing unit; and
                     (C)  last year's taxable value for a taxing unit
  excludes the total value of homesteads that qualified for a tax
  limitation as provided by Section 11.262 applicable to the taxing
  unit.
         SECTION 4.  Section 44.004, Education Code, is amended by
  adding Subsection (c-2) to read as follows:
         (c-2)  If the school district has established a limitation
  under Section 1-b(j), Article VIII, Texas Constitution, on the
  total amount of ad valorem taxes that may be imposed by the district
  on the residence homestead of an eligible person who is a member of
  a reserve component of the United States armed forces and is ordered
  to active duty, the notice required by Subsection (c) must also
  contain the following statement in bold print: "Under state law,
  the dollar amount of school taxes imposed on the residence
  homestead of an eligible person who is a member of a reserve
  component of the United States armed forces and is ordered to active
  duty may not be increased above the amount of school taxes imposed
  on the property in the preceding year, regardless of changes in tax
  rate or property value."
         SECTION 5.  Section 403.302(d), Government Code, is amended
  to read as follows:
         (d)  For the purposes of this section, "taxable value" means
  the market value of all taxable property less:
               (1)  the total dollar amount of any residence homestead
  exemptions lawfully granted under Section 11.13(b) or (c), Tax
  Code, in the year that is the subject of the study for each school
  district;
               (2)  one-half of the total dollar amount of any
  residence homestead exemptions granted under Section 11.13(n), Tax
  Code, in the year that is the subject of the study for each school
  district;
               (3)  the total dollar amount of any exemptions granted
  before May 31, 1993, within a reinvestment zone under agreements
  authorized by Chapter 312, Tax Code;
               (4)  subject to Subsection (e), the total dollar amount
  of any captured appraised value of property that:
                     (A)  is within a reinvestment zone created on or
  before May 31, 1999, or is proposed to be included within the
  boundaries of a reinvestment zone as the boundaries of the zone and
  the proposed portion of tax increment paid into the tax increment
  fund by a school district are described in a written notification
  provided by the municipality or the board of directors of the zone
  to the governing bodies of the other taxing units in the manner
  provided by Section 311.003(e), Tax Code, before May 31, 1999, and
  within the boundaries of the zone as those boundaries existed on
  September 1, 1999, including subsequent improvements to the
  property regardless of when made;
                     (B)  generates taxes paid into a tax increment
  fund created under Chapter 311, Tax Code, under a reinvestment zone
  financing plan approved under Section 311.011(d), Tax Code, on or
  before September 1, 1999; and
                     (C)  is eligible for tax increment financing under
  Chapter 311, Tax Code;
               (5)  for a school district for which a deduction from
  taxable value is made under Subdivision (4), an amount equal to the
  taxable value required to generate revenue when taxed at the school
  district's current tax rate in an amount that, when added to the
  taxes of the district paid into a tax increment fund as described by
  Subdivision (4)(B), is equal to the total amount of taxes the
  district would have paid into the tax increment fund if the district
  levied taxes at the rate the district levied in 2005;
               (6)  the total dollar amount of any captured appraised
  value of property that:
                     (A)  is within a reinvestment zone:
                           (i)  created on or before December 31, 2008,
  by a municipality with a population of less than 18,000; and
                           (ii)  the project plan for which includes
  the alteration, remodeling, repair, or reconstruction of a
  structure that is included on the National Register of Historic
  Places and requires that a portion of the tax increment of the zone
  be used for the improvement or construction of related facilities
  or for affordable housing;
                     (B)  generates school district taxes that are paid
  into a tax increment fund created under Chapter 311, Tax Code; and
                     (C)  is eligible for tax increment financing under
  Chapter 311, Tax Code;
               (7)  the total dollar amount of any exemptions granted
  under Section 11.251 or 11.253, Tax Code;
               (8)  the difference between the comptroller's estimate
  of the market value and the productivity value of land that
  qualifies for appraisal on the basis of its productive capacity,
  except that the productivity value estimated by the comptroller may
  not exceed the fair market value of the land;
               (9)  the portion of the appraised value of residence
  homesteads of individuals who receive a tax limitation under
  Section 11.26 or 11.262, Tax Code, on which school district taxes
  are not imposed in the year that is the subject of the study,
  calculated as if the residence homesteads were appraised at the
  full value required by law;
               (10)  a portion of the market value of property not
  otherwise fully taxable by the district at market value because of:
                     (A)  action required by statute or the
  constitution of this state that, if the tax rate adopted by the
  district is applied to it, produces an amount equal to the
  difference between the tax that the district would have imposed on
  the property if the property were fully taxable at market value and
  the tax that the district is actually authorized to impose on the
  property, if this subsection does not otherwise require that
  portion to be deducted; or
                     (B)  action taken by the district under Subchapter
  B or C, Chapter 313, Tax Code;
               (11)  the market value of all tangible personal
  property, other than manufactured homes, owned by a family or
  individual and not held or used for the production of income;
               (12)  the appraised value of property the collection of
  delinquent taxes on which is deferred under Section 33.06, Tax
  Code;
               (13)  the portion of the appraised value of property
  the collection of delinquent taxes on which is deferred under
  Section 33.065, Tax Code; and
               (14)  the amount by which the market value of a
  residence homestead to which Section 23.23, Tax Code, applies
  exceeds the appraised value of that property as calculated under
  that section.
         SECTION 6.  This Act applies only to ad valorem taxes imposed
  for a tax year beginning on or after the effective date of this Act.
         SECTION 7.  This Act takes effect January 1, 2010, but only
  if the constitutional amendment to authorize a political
  subdivision to establish a limitation on the total amount of ad
  valorem taxes that may be imposed by the political subdivision on
  the residence homestead of an eligible person who is a member of a
  reserve component of the United States armed forces and is ordered
  to active military duty is approved by the voters. If that
  amendment is not approved by the voters, this Act has no effect.