83R281 CJC-D

By: Otto H.B. No. 316

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to the pilot program authorizing a property owner to appeal to the State Office of Administrative Hearings regarding certain appraisal review board determinations.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:

SECTION 1. The heading to Subchapter Z, Chapter 2003, Government Code, is amended to read as follows:

SUBCHAPTER Z. [PILOT PROGRAM:] APPEALS FROM APPRAISAL REVIEW BOARD DETERMINATIONS [IN CERTAIN COUNTIES]

SECTION 2. Section 2003.901, Government Code, is amended to read as follows:

Sec. 2003.901. APPEALS FROM APPRAISAL REVIEW BOARD DETERMINATIONS [PILOT PROGRAM]. As [(a) Not later than January 1, 2010, the office shall develop a pilot program under which, as] an alternative to filing an appeal under Section 42.01, Tax Code, a property owner may appeal to the office an appraisal review board order determining a protest concerning the appraised or market value of property brought under Section 41.41(a)(1) or (2), Tax Code, if the appraised or market value, as applicable, of the property that was the subject of the protest, as determined by the board order, is more than $1 million.

[(b) The pilot program shall be developed and implemented in conformance with the provisions of this subchapter.

[(c) So as to expeditiously determine the appeals filed with the office using resources available to the office, the office is not required to determine more than 3,000 appeals filed under this subchapter. The office may develop a formula to establish the number of appeals that may be filed in each county included in the pilot program based on the total number of lawsuits filed in a county to which this subchapter applies as a percentage of the total number of lawsuits filed in all of those counties.]

SECTION 3. Section 2003.902, Government Code, is amended to read as follows:

Sec. 2003.902. PARTICIPATING OFFICES AND REMOTE HEARING SITES [COUNTIES INCLUDED]. The office shall hear appeals filed under this subchapter only in [pilot program shall be implemented]:

(1) Amarillo; [in Bexar, Cameron, El Paso, Harris, Tarrant, and Travis Counties for a four-year period beginning with the ad valorem tax year that begins January 1, 2010; and]

(2) Austin;

(3) Beaumont;

(4) Corpus Christi;

(5) El Paso;

(6) Fort Worth;

(7) Houston;

(8) Lubbock;

(9) Lufkin;

(10) McAllen;

(11) Midland;

(12) San Antonio;

(13) Tyler; and

(14) Wichita Falls [in Collin, Denton, Fort Bend, Montgomery, and Nueces Counties for a two-year period beginning with the ad valorem tax year that begins January 1, 2012].

SECTION 4. Section 2003.904, Government Code, is amended to read as follows:

Sec. 2003.904. APPLICABILITY TO REAL AND PERSONAL PROPERTY. This subchapter applies only to an appeal of [The pilot program must be applicable to] a determination of the appraised or market value made by an appraisal review board in connection with real or personal property, other than industrial property or minerals.

SECTION 5. Section 2003.908, Government Code, is amended to read as follows:

Sec. 2003.908. NOTICE TO PROPERTY OWNERS. An appraisal review board [of an appraisal district established in a county listed in Section 2003.902 of this code] that delivers notice of issuance of an order described by Section 2003.901 of this code pertaining to property described by Section 2003.904 of this code and a copy of the order to a property owner as required by Section 41.47, Tax Code, shall include with the notice and copy:

(1) a notice of the property owner's rights under this subchapter; and

(2) a copy of the notice of appeal prescribed by Section 2003.907.

SECTION 6. The heading to Section 2003.909, Government Code, is amended to read as follows:

Sec. 2003.909. DESIGNATION OF ADMINISTRATIVE LAW JUDGE; LOCATION OF HEARING.

SECTION 7. Section 2003.909, Government Code, is amended by adding Subsection (b-1) and amending Subsection (c) to read as follows:

(b-1) If all or part of the property that is the subject of the appeal is located in a municipality listed in Section 2003.902, the administrative law judge shall set the hearing in that municipality. If no part of the property that is the subject of the appeal is located in a municipality listed in Section 2003.902, the administrative law judge shall set the hearing in the listed municipality that is nearest to the subject property.

(c) The hearing must be held in a building or facility that is owned or partly or entirely leased by the office [and located in the county in which the applicable appraisal district is established], except that if the office does not own or lease a building or facility in the municipality in which the hearing is required to be held [county], the hearing may be held in any public or privately owned building or facility in that municipality [county], preferably a building or facility in which the office regularly conducts business. The hearing may not be held in a building or facility that is owned, leased, or under the control of an [the] appraisal district.

SECTION 8. Sections 2003.915 and 2003.916, Government Code, are repealed.

SECTION 9. The changes in law made by this Act apply only to an appeal filed under Subchapter Z, Chapter 2003, Government Code, on or after the effective date of this Act. An appeal filed under Subchapter Z, Chapter 2003, Government Code, before the effective date of this Act is governed by the law in effect when the appeal was filed, and the former law is continued in effect for that purpose.

SECTION 10. This Act takes effect January 1, 2014.