88R2658 RDS-D
 
  By: Zaffirini S.B. No. 2398
 
 
 
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 
AN ACT
  relating to an exemption from ad valorem taxation of real property
  owned by a charitable organization for the purpose of renting the
  property at below-market rates to low-income and moderate-income
  households.
         BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
         SECTION 1.  Section 11.18, Tax Code, is amended by amending
  Subsection (d) and adding Subsection (r) to read as follows:
         (d)  A charitable organization must be organized exclusively
  to perform religious, charitable, scientific, literary, or
  educational purposes and, except as permitted by Subsections (h)
  and (l), engage exclusively in performing one or more of the
  following charitable functions:
               (1)  providing medical care without regard to the
  beneficiaries' ability to pay, which in the case of a nonprofit
  hospital or hospital system means providing charity care and
  community benefits in accordance with Section 11.1801;
               (2)  providing support or relief to orphans, delinquent
  or[,] dependent[, or handicapped] children in need of residential
  care, children with disabilities in need of residential care,
  abused or battered spouses or children in need of temporary
  shelter, the impoverished, or victims of natural disaster without
  regard to the beneficiaries' ability to pay;
               (3)  providing support without regard to the
  beneficiaries' ability to pay to:
                     (A)  elderly persons, including the provision of:
                           (i)  recreational or social activities; and
                           (ii)  facilities designed to address the
  special needs of elderly persons; or
                     (B)  persons with disabilities [the handicapped],
  including training and employment:
                           (i)  in the production of commodities; or
                           (ii)  in the provision of services under 41
  U.S.C. Sections 8501-8506;
               (4)  preserving a historical landmark or site;
               (5)  promoting or operating a museum, zoo, library,
  theater of the dramatic or performing arts, or symphony orchestra
  or choir;
               (6)  promoting or providing humane treatment of
  animals;
               (7)  acquiring, storing, transporting, selling, or
  distributing water for public use;
               (8)  answering fire alarms and extinguishing fires with
  no compensation or only nominal compensation to the members of the
  organization;
               (9)  promoting the athletic development of boys or
  girls under the age of 18 years;
               (10)  preserving or conserving wildlife;
               (11)  promoting educational development through loans
  or scholarships to students;
               (12)  providing halfway house services pursuant to a
  certification as a halfway house by the parole division of the Texas
  Department of Criminal Justice;
               (13)  providing permanent housing and related social,
  health care, and educational facilities for persons who are 62
  years of age or older without regard to the residents' ability to
  pay;
               (14)  promoting or operating an art gallery, museum, or
  collection, in a permanent location or on tour, that is open to the
  public;
               (15)  providing for the organized solicitation and
  collection for distributions through gifts, grants, and agreements
  to nonprofit charitable, education, religious, and youth
  organizations that provide direct human, health, and welfare
  services;
               (16)  performing biomedical or scientific research or
  biomedical or scientific education for the benefit of the public;
               (17)  operating a television station that produces or
  broadcasts educational, cultural, or other public interest
  programming and that receives grants from the Corporation for
  Public Broadcasting under 47 U.S.C. Section 396, as amended;
               (18)  providing housing for low-income and
  moderate-income families, for unmarried individuals 62 years of age
  or older, for [handicapped] individuals with disabilities, and for
  families displaced by urban renewal, through the use of trust
  assets that are irrevocably and, pursuant to a contract entered
  into before December 31, 1972, contractually dedicated on the sale
  or disposition of the housing to a charitable organization that
  performs charitable functions described by Subdivision (9);
               (19)  providing housing and related services to persons
  who are 62 years of age or older in a retirement community, if the
  retirement community provides independent living services,
  assisted living services, and nursing services to its residents on
  a single campus:
                     (A)  without regard to the residents' ability to
  pay; or
                     (B)  in which at least four percent of the
  retirement community's combined net resident revenue is provided in
  charitable care to its residents;
               (20)  providing housing on a cooperative basis to
  students of an institution of higher education if:
                     (A)  the organization is exempt from federal
  income taxation under Section 501(a), Internal Revenue Code of
  1986, as amended, by being listed as an exempt entity under Section
  501(c)(3) of that code;
                     (B)  membership in the organization is open to all
  students enrolled in the institution and is not limited to those
  chosen by current members of the organization;
                     (C)  the organization is governed by its members;
  and
                     (D)  the members of the organization share the
  responsibility for managing the housing;
               (21)  acquiring, holding, and transferring unimproved
  real property under an urban land bank demonstration program
  established under Chapter 379C, Local Government Code, as or on
  behalf of a land bank;
               (22)  acquiring, holding, and transferring unimproved
  real property under an urban land bank program established under
  Chapter 379E, Local Government Code, as or on behalf of a land bank;
               (23)  providing housing and related services to
  individuals who:
                     (A)  are unaccompanied and homeless and have a
  disabling condition; and
                     (B)  have been continuously homeless for a year or
  more or have had at least four episodes of homelessness in the
  preceding three years;
               (24)  operating a radio station that broadcasts
  educational, cultural, or other public interest programming,
  including classical music, and that in the preceding five years has
  received or been selected to receive one or more grants from the
  Corporation for Public Broadcasting under 47 U.S.C. Section 396, as
  amended; [or]
               (25)  providing, without regard to the beneficiaries'
  ability to pay, tax return preparation services and assistance with
  other financial matters; or
               (26)  providing:
                     (A)  services as a HUD-approved housing
  counseling agency, as defined by 24 C.F.R. Section 214.3, without
  regard to the beneficiaries' ability to pay; and
                     (B)  rental housing to low-income and
  moderate-income households at below-market rates.
         (r)  The exemption authorized by Subsection (d)(26) applies
  only to property that is:
               (1)  used to provide rental housing to low-income and
  moderate-income households at below-market rates; and
               (2)  located in a municipality with a population of
  200,000 or more that is located in a county on the Texas-Mexico
  border that has a population of less than 300,000.
         SECTION 2.  This Act applies only to 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.