BILL ANALYSIS

C.S.H.B. 1285

By: Shine

Ways & Means

Committee Report (Substituted)

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE

Many property tax payers have expressed concern with their ability to easily address grievances unrelated to their property's appraised value with their appraisal district. Existing remedies involve filing protests, lawsuits, and other more formal methods of addressing grievances. Taxpayer liaison officers who work within the appraisal district office have been identified as officers who have experience in assisting taxpayers navigate the property tax process, but these officers' powers and duties are limited. C.S.H.B. 1285 seeks to address this issue by expanding the duties of taxpayer liaison officers and providing an avenue for taxpayers to file certain complaints and seek resolution with the assistance of such an officer. The bill also provides for the appointment of deputy taxpayer liaison officers and for officer training and evaluation.

CRIMINAL JUSTICE IMPACT

It is the committee's opinion that this bill does not expressly create a criminal offense, increase the punishment for an existing criminal offense or category of offenses, or change the eligibility of a person for community supervision, parole, or mandatory supervision.

RULEMAKING AUTHORITY

It is the committee's opinion that this bill does not expressly grant any additional rulemaking authority to a state officer, department, agency, or institution.

ANALYSIS

C.S.H.B. 1285 amends the Tax Code to revise provisions governing the taxpayer liaison officer appointed by the board of directors of an appraisal district created for a county with a population of more than 120,000 as follows:

· establishes that the taxpayer liaison officer is the appraisal district officer primarily responsible for providing assistance to taxpayers for the district;

· requires the officer to provide to the public certain information and materials regarding the procedure for filing a complaint alleging that the appraisal review board (ARB) has adopted or is implementing noncompliant hearing procedures and the procedure for requesting limited binding arbitration to compel compliance with procedural requirements related to taxpayer protests;

· with respect to the resolution of complaints:

o authorizes a property owner to file a written complaint with the officer requesting resolution of a dispute with the appraisal district or the ARB about a matter that does not relate to the appraisal of property and sets out the methods by which the officer may resolve complaints filed with the officer or the appraisal district's board of directors;

o requires the officer to dismiss any part of a complaint that relates to the appraised value of a property or the appraisal methodology used in appraising the property;

o authorizes the officer to dismiss a complaint that is repetitive or that fails to state a legitimate concern;

o requires the officer to resolve a complaint that involves the assessment or collection of a tax by referring the property owner to the appropriate person who can assist the owner with the tax assessment or collection;

o requires the officer to notify a property owner of the resolution of a complaint filed by the owner not later than the 90th day after the date the complaint is filed; and

o establishes that the resolution of a complaint is not an action that a property owner is entitled to protest or appeal or for which the owner is entitled to request limited binding arbitration;

· makes the officer responsible for publicizing the availability of positions on the ARB; and

· requires the chief appraiser of the appraisal district, if the district maintains a website, to post on the home page of that website a prominent link to information specifying the name, contact information, and a description of the duties of the officer.

C.S.H.B. 1285 authorizes the appraisal district's board of directors to appoint one or more deputy taxpayer liaison officers to assist the taxpayer liaison officer in performance of the officer's duties and sets out the following provisions with respect to the deputy officer:

· entitles each deputy officer to compensation as provided by the budget adopted by the board of directors;

· establishes that the chief appraiser or any other person who performs appraisal or legal services for the appraisal district for compensation is not eligible to be a deputy officer; and

· makes applicable to a deputy officer a provision establishing that a taxpayer liaison officer does not commit an offense for communicating with certain individuals as a good faith exercise of the officer's statutory duties.

The bill includes among the individuals with whom a taxpayer liaison officer and deputy officers may communicate the local administrative district judge.

C.S.H.B. 1285 requires the appraisal district's board of directors to annually evaluate the performance of the taxpayer liaison officer and each deputy taxpayer liaison officer, if applicable. The evaluation must include a review of the timeliness of the officers' resolution of complaints.

C.S.H.B. 1285 expands the content of the pamphlet on property tax payer remedies that the comptroller of public accounts is required to publish electronically to include a description of the functions of a taxpayer liaison officer for an appraisal district with a population of more than 120,000. The bill requires the comptroller to establish and supervise a program for the training and education of taxpayer liaison officers and deputy taxpayer liaison officers. The training program may be provided online and must satisfy the following criteria:

· include information on the duties and responsibilities of such officers, including procedures for the informal resolution of disputes;

· be at least two hours in length; and

· provide a certificate of completion for the officer who completes the training.

The bill requires a person appointed as a taxpayer liaison officer or deputy taxpayer liaison officer to complete the training program and the course for the training and education of ARB members not later than the first anniversary of the date the officer is appointed, and again in each even-numbered year after that first anniversary. The bill prohibits a person from serving as such an officer unless the person has completed those required training programs. The bill requires the officer to submit a copy of the certificate of completion for the officer training program to the board of directors of the appraisal district that appointed the officer. The bill provides for the retention of such a certificate by both the officer and the board for at least three years. The bill requires a person serving as an appraisal district's taxpayer liaison officer on January 1, 2024, to complete the required training and course not later than December 31, 2024.

C.S.H.B. 1285 replaces the authorization for an appraisal district's board of directors, if the board determines that the ARB member serving as chairman has failed to take the actions necessary to bring the ARB into compliance with model hearing procedures after being directed to do so following a complaint and investigation, to remove the member from their position as chairman with an authorization for the board to refer the matter to the local administrative district judge with a recommendation that the judge remove the member from that position. The bill requires the judge to remove the chairman from that office and appoint another member of the ARB as chairman if the judge agrees with the board's recommendation.

EFFECTIVE DATE

January 1, 2024.

COMPARISON OF INTRODUCED AND SUBSTITUTE

While C.S.H.B. 1285 may differ from the introduced in minor or nonsubstantive ways, the following summarizes the substantial differences between the introduced and committee substitute versions of the bill.

The substitute revises provisions included in the introduced regarding the training program developed by the comptroller for taxpayer liaison officers as follows:

· subjects a deputy taxpayer liaison officer to the training requirements in the same manner as a taxpayer liaison officer and requires the comptroller to include information on the duties and responsibilities of a deputy officer in the training;

· omits requirements for the training program to include information relating to the duties and responsibilities of an ARB, an ARB chairman, an appraisal district's board of directors, and a chief appraiser and information concerning specific procedures, requirements, and prohibitions with respect to property appraisal remedies and the operation of ARBs; and

· with respect to certificates of completion:

o changes the entity responsible for providing such a certificate from the comptroller to the program itself;

o adds a requirement for an officer to submit a copy of their certificate to the applicable appraisal district board of directors; and

o replaces the requirement that the comptroller retain certificate of completion copies for three years with a requirement that the applicable officer and board of directors do so.  

The substitute includes provisions not contained in the introduced requiring a deputy officer to complete the training course for ARB members, entitling a deputy officer to compensation, and making the chief appraiser or any other person who performs appraisal or legal services for the appraisal district for compensation ineligible to serve as a deputy officer.

The substitute revises provisions included in the introduced regarding a taxpayer liaison officer's duties as follows:

· changes the methods by which the officer may resolve complaints by replacing the authorization to do so by assisting a complainant in identifying appropriate complaint procedures with an authorization to do so by assisting a property owner in filing a request for limited binding arbitration, as appropriate; and

· changes the deadline by which the officer must provide notice of the resolution of a complaint from within 90 days or as soon thereafter as practicable to not later than the 90th day after the date the complaint is filed, with no exception.

Whereas the introduced established that failure or refusal of an officer to resolve a complaint to the complainant's satisfaction is not an action that may be protested or appealed, the substitute establishes that the resolution of a complaint is not an action that may be protested or appealed or for which limited binding arbitration may be requested.

While both the introduced and the substitute require the evaluation of a taxpayer liaison officer's performance, the substitute extends the evaluation requirement to deputy taxpayer liaison officers and does not include the requirement from the introduced for the comptroller to ascertain whether such evaluations have been performed in the course of review of the appraisal district.

The substitute clarifies that the chief appraiser is the entity responsible for posting information about the taxpayer liaison officer on the appraisal district's website, whereas the introduced required the district itself to do the posting. The substitute also clarifies that this posting requirement only applies if the district has a website.