85R7294 TJB-D

By: Dutton H.B. No. 2635

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to the authority of a property owner to pay certain deferred ad valorem taxes and interest in installments.

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

SECTION 1. Section 6.035(a), Tax Code, is amended to read as follows:

(a) An individual is ineligible to serve on an appraisal district board of directors and is disqualified from employment as chief appraiser if the individual:

(1) is related within the second degree by consanguinity or affinity, as determined under Chapter 573, Government Code, to an individual who is engaged in the business of appraising property for compensation for use in proceedings under this title or of representing property owners for compensation in proceedings under this title in the appraisal district; or

(2) owns property on which delinquent taxes have been owed to a taxing unit for more than 60 days after the date the individual knew or should have known of the delinquency unless:

(A) the delinquent taxes and any penalties and interest are being paid under an installment payment agreement under Section 33.02 or 33.025; or

(B) a suit to collect the delinquent taxes is deferred or abated under Section 33.06 or 33.065.

SECTION 2. Section 6.412(a), Tax Code, is amended to read as follows:

(a) An individual is ineligible to serve on an appraisal review board if the individual:

(1) is related within the second degree by consanguinity or affinity, as determined under Chapter 573, Government Code, to an individual who is engaged in the business of appraising property for compensation for use in proceedings under this title or of representing property owners for compensation in proceedings under this title in the appraisal district for which the appraisal review board is established;

(2) owns property on which delinquent taxes have been owed to a taxing unit for more than 60 days after the date the individual knew or should have known of the delinquency unless:

(A) the delinquent taxes and any penalties and interest are being paid under an installment payment agreement under Section 33.02 or 33.025; or

(B) a suit to collect the delinquent taxes is deferred or abated under Section 33.06 or 33.065; or

(3) is related within the third degree by consanguinity or within the second degree by affinity, as determined under Chapter 573, Government Code, to a member of the appraisal district's board of directors.

SECTION 3. Subchapter A, Chapter 33, Tax Code, is amended by adding Section 33.025 to read as follows:

Sec. 33.025. INSTALLMENT PAYMENT OF DEFERRED TAXES. (a) An owner of property who inherited the property from a person who was at the time of the person's death receiving a deferral from the collection of taxes under Section 33.06 for the property is entitled to pay the deferred taxes and the interest that accrued on those taxes during the deferral period in installments as provided by this section.

(b) On written request of the property owner, the collector for a taxing unit shall enter into an installment agreement with the property owner for payment of the deferred taxes and interest in installments. The property owner must make the request not later than the day the deferral period expires as provided by Section 33.06.

(c) An installment agreement under this section must:

(1) be in writing;

(2) provide that payments of the deferred taxes and interest be made in monthly or annual installments, as established by the property owner requesting the agreement;

(3) extend for the same period of time that the deferral was in effect or for a shorter period if agreed to by the property owner; and

(4) provide that the agreement expires on the earlier of:

(A) the date the property owner no longer owns the property; or

(B) the 30th day after the date the property owner fails to make a payment required by the agreement.

(d) A taxing unit or collector for the unit may not seize or sell property or file suit to collect a delinquent tax subject to an installment agreement until the date the installment agreement expires.

(e) Interest accrues on the unpaid balance of the taxes included in the installment agreement as provided by Section 33.01(c) during the period of the agreement. A penalty is not incurred as provided by Section 33.01(a) on the unpaid balance during the period of the agreement.

(f) Section 33.02(e) applies to an installment agreement executed under this section in the same manner as that subsection applies to an installment agreement executed under Section 33.02.

(g) The collector for a taxing unit must deliver a notice of default to a property owner who is in breach of an installment agreement under this section before the collector may seize and sell the property or file suit to collect a delinquent tax subject to the agreement.

SECTION 4. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this Act takes effect September 1, 2017.