S.B. No. 1421

AN ACT

relating to the correction of an ad valorem tax appraisal roll and to related appraisal records.

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

SECTION 1. Section 25.25, Tax Code, is amended by adding Subsection (c-1) and amending Subsections (e) and (m) to read as follows:

(c-1) The appraisal review board, on motion of the chief appraiser or of a property owner, may direct by written order changes in the appraisal roll or related appraisal records for the current tax year and for either of the two preceding tax years to correct an inaccuracy in the appraised value of the owner's tangible personal property that is the result of an error or omission in a rendition statement or property report filed under Chapter 22 for the applicable tax year. The roll may not be changed under this subsection for any tax year in which:

(1) the property owner failed to timely file the rendition statement or property report in accordance with Section 22.23 and was assessed a penalty under Section 22.28;

(2) the property was the subject of a protest brought by the property owner under Chapter 41, a hearing on the protest was conducted in which the owner offered evidence or argument, and the appraisal review board made a determination of the protest on the merits;

(3) the property was the subject of a previous motion filed by the property owner under this section and the chief appraiser and the owner agreed to the correction, the appraisal review board determined the motion, or the appraisal review board determined that the owner forfeited the right to a final determination of the motion for failing to comply with the prepayment requirements of Section 25.26; or

(4) the appraised value of the property was established as a result of a written agreement between the property owner or the owner's agent and the appraisal district.

(e) If the chief appraiser and the property owner do not agree to the correction before the 15th day after the date the motion is filed, a party bringing a motion under Subsection (c), (c-1), or (d) is entitled on request to a hearing on and a determination of the motion by the appraisal review board. A party bringing a motion under this section must describe the error or errors that the motion is seeking to correct. Not later than 15 days before the date of the hearing, the board shall deliver written notice of the date, time, and place of the hearing to the chief appraiser, the property owner, and the presiding officer of the governing body of each taxing unit in which the property is located. The chief appraiser, the property owner, and each taxing unit are entitled to present evidence and argument at the hearing and to receive written notice of the board's determination of the motion. The property owner is entitled to elect to present the owner's evidence and argument before, after, or between the cases presented by the chief appraiser and each taxing unit. A property owner who files the motion must comply with the payment requirements of Section 25.26 or forfeit the right to a final determination of the motion.

(m) The hearing on a motion under Subsection (c), (c-1), or (d) shall be conducted in the manner provided by Subchapter C, Chapter 41.

SECTION 2. Sections 41.413(d) and (e), Tax Code, are amended to read as follows:

(d) An [A property] owner of real property shall send to a person leasing property under a contract described by Subsection (b) [this section] a copy of any notice of appraised value of the property received by the property owner. The property owner must send the notice not later than the 10th day after the date the property owner receives the notice. Failure of the property owner to send a copy of the notice to the person leasing the property does not affect the time within which the person leasing the property may protest the appraised value. This subsection does not apply if the property owner and the person leasing the property have agreed in the contract to waive the requirements of this subsection or that the person leasing the property will not protest the appraised value of the property.

(e) A person leasing real property under a contract described by Subsection (b) [this section] may request that the chief appraiser of the appraisal district in which the property is located send the notice described by Subsection (d) to the person. Except as provided by Subsection (f), the chief appraiser shall send the notice to the person leasing the property not later than the fifth day after the date the notice is sent to the property owner if the person demonstrates that the person is contractually obligated to reimburse the property owner for the taxes imposed on the property.

SECTION 3. The changes in law made by this Act to Section 41.413(d) and (e), Tax Code, apply only to a notice of appraised value received by a property owner on or after the effective date of this Act.

SECTION 4. The changes in law made by this Act apply only to a motion to correct an appraisal roll filed on or after the effective date of this Act. A motion to correct an appraisal roll filed before the effective date of this Act is governed by the law in effect on the date the motion was filed, and the former law is continued in effect for that purpose.

SECTION 5. This Act takes effect September 1, 2021.

______________________________ ______________________________

President of the Senate Speaker of the House

I hereby certify that S.B. No. 1421 passed the Senate on May 5, 2021, by the following vote: Yeas 31, Nays 0; and that the Senate concurred in House amendment on May 28, 2021, by the following vote: Yeas 31, Nays 0.

______________________________ Secretary of the Senate

I hereby certify that S.B. No. 1421 passed the House, with amendment, on May 24, 2021, by the following vote: Yeas 141, Nays 0, one present not voting.

______________________________ Chief Clerk of the House

Approved:

______________________________

Date

______________________________

Governor