By: Eckhardt, et al.  S.B. No. 1381
         (In the Senate - Filed March 1, 2023; March 16, 2023, read
  first time and referred to Committee on Local Government;
  March 29, 2023, reported favorably by the following vote:  Yeas 7,
  Nays 0; March 29, 2023, sent to printer.)
Click here to see the committee vote
 
 
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 
AN ACT
 
  relating to the eligibility of the surviving spouse of an elderly
  person who qualified for a local option exemption from ad valorem
  taxation by a taxing unit of a portion of the appraised value of the
  deceased person's residence homestead to continue to receive an
  exemption for the same property from the same taxing unit in an
  amount equal to that of the exemption for which the deceased person
  qualified without applying for the exemption.
         BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
         SECTION 1.  Section 11.43, Tax Code, is amended by amending
  Subsection (l) and adding Subsections (m-2) and (m-3) to read as
  follows:
         (l)  The form for an application under Section 11.13 must
  include a space for the applicant to state the applicant's date of
  birth and, if applicable, the date of birth of the applicant's
  spouse.  Failure to provide the applicant's date of birth does not
  affect the applicant's eligibility for an exemption under that
  section, other than an exemption under Section 11.13(c) or (d) for
  an individual 65 years of age or older.   Failure to provide the date
  of birth of the applicant's spouse does not affect the applicant's
  eligibility for an exemption under Section 11.13 or the applicant's
  spouse's eligibility for an exemption under that section, other
  than an exemption under Section 11.13(q) for the surviving spouse
  of an individual 65 years of age or older.
         (m-2)  Notwithstanding Subsection (a), if a person who
  receives an exemption under Section 11.13(d) for an individual 65
  years of age or older dies in a tax year, that person's surviving
  spouse is entitled to receive an exemption under Section 11.13(q)
  in the next tax year on the same property without applying for the
  exemption if:
               (1)  the appraisal district learns of the person's
  death from any source, including the death records maintained by
  the vital statistics unit of the Department of State Health
  Services or a local registration official; and
               (2)  the surviving spouse is otherwise eligible to
  receive the exemption as shown by:
                     (A)  information in the records of the appraisal
  district that was provided to the appraisal district in an
  application for an exemption under Section 11.13 on the property or
  in correspondence relating to the property; or
                     (B)  information provided by the Texas Department
  of Public Safety to the appraisal district under Section 521.049,
  Transportation Code.
         (m-3)  Subsection (m-2) does not apply if the chief appraiser
  determines that the surviving spouse is no longer entitled to any
  exemption under Section 11.13 on the property.
         SECTION 2.  This Act applies only to ad valorem taxes imposed
  for an ad valorem tax year that begins on or after the effective
  date of this Act.
         SECTION 3.  This Act takes effect January 1, 2024.
 
  * * * * *