88S30042 DRS-D
 
  By: Bell, Cecil H.B. No. 13
 
 
 
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 
AN ACT
  relating to a requirement that an appraisal review board rely on an
  appraisal of residential real property prepared by an appraiser and
  submitted to the board by the property owner to determine a protest
  regarding the value of the property.
         BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
         SECTION 1.  Section 41.43, Tax Code, is amended by amending
  Subsections (a) and (a-2) and adding Subsection (a-6) to read as
  follows:
         (a)  Except as provided by Subsections (a-1), (a-3), (a-6),
  and (d), in a protest authorized by Section 41.41(a)(1) or (2), the
  appraisal district has the burden of establishing the value of the
  property by a preponderance of the evidence presented at the
  hearing. If the appraisal district fails to meet that standard, the
  protest shall be determined in favor of the property owner.
         (a-2)  To be valid, an appraisal filed under Subsection (a-1)
  or (a-6) must be attested to before an officer authorized to
  administer oaths and include:
               (1)  the name and business address of the certified
  appraiser;
               (2)  a description of the property that was the subject
  of the appraisal;
               (3)  a statement that the appraised or market value of
  the property:
                     (A)  was, as applicable, the appraised or market
  value of the property as of January 1 of the current tax year; and
                     (B)  was determined using a method of appraisal
  authorized or required by Chapter 23; and
               (4)  a statement that the appraisal was performed in
  accordance with the Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal
  Practice.
         (a-6)  Notwithstanding Subsection (a-1), if in the protest
  relating to a parcel of residential real property the property
  owner files with the appraisal review board and, not later than the
  14th day before the date of the first day of the hearing, delivers
  to the chief appraiser a copy of an appraisal of the property
  performed not later than the 180th day before the date of the first
  day of the hearing by an appraiser certified under Chapter 1103,
  Occupations Code, that supports the appraised or market value of
  the property asserted by the property owner, the appraisal review
  board shall:
               (1)  determine the protest in favor of the property
  owner; and
               (2)  issue an order changing the property's appraised
  or market value in the appraisal records to the value determined by
  the appraisal of the property filed by the property owner.
         SECTION 2.  Section 37.10(c)(4), Penal Code, is amended to
  read as follows:
               (4)  An offense under this section is a Class B
  misdemeanor if it is shown on the trial of the offense that the
  governmental record is a written appraisal filed with an appraisal
  review board under Section 41.43(a-1) or (a-6), Tax Code, that was
  performed by a person who had a contingency interest in the outcome
  of the appraisal review board hearing.
         SECTION 3.  The changes in law made by this Act apply only to
  a protest under Chapter 41, Tax Code, for which a notice of protest
  is filed on or after the effective date of this Act.
         SECTION 4.  This Act takes effect on the 91st day after the
  last day of the legislative session.