| TO: | Honorable Harvey Hilderbran, Chair, House Committee on Ways & Means |
| FROM: | John S O'Brien, Director, Legislative Budget Board |
| IN RE: | HB1282 by Kleinschmidt (Relating to the selection of the chief appraiser of an appraisal district.), As Introduced |
The bill would amend Section 6.05 of the Tax Code to provide for the election of chief appraisers rather than appointment by appraisal district directors. Chief appraisers would serve two year terms and the election would be held during the general election of state and county officials. The first elected chief appraisers' terms would begin January 1, 2013. An elected chief appraiser would have to be a county resident and have resided in the county for at least one year preceding the date of taking office.
The bill would amend the Local Government Code to authorize the commissioners court of a county to fill chief appraiser vacancies and to require a candidate for chief appraiser of a Central/County Appraisal District to have completed the training required under Section 1151.164 of the Occupations Code and would provide that failure to obtain this training is included in the definition of "incompetency" under Chapter 87 of the Local Government Code. The bill would lower from one year to six months the amount of time a person can fill the chief appraiser position before completing the training.
The bill would amend the Occupations Code and the Tax Code to require the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation to offer the chief appraiser training quarterly, remove a stipulation that the training for chief appraisers is for those who are appointed, and to require candidates for the office of chief appraiser to complete the training. The bill would repeal Section 5.042(c) of the Tax Code which provides that the required training for chief appraisers does not apply to a county assessor-collector who serves as chief appraiser.
The bill would provide for the election of chief appraisers and make other procedural changes but would not change taxable values, tax rates, exemptions, or any other variable affecting tax levies. Consequently, there would be no fiscal impact on the state or units of local government.
The bill would take effect September 1, 2011.
| Source Agencies: | 304 Comptroller of Public Accounts
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| LBB Staff: | JOB, KK, SD, SJS
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