By: Hickland, et al. (Senate Sponsor - Flores) H.B. No. 2894

(In the Senate - Received from the House April 23, 2025; April 24, 2025, read first time and referred to Committee on Finance; May 15, 2025, reported adversely, with favorable Committee Substitute by the following vote: Yeas 14, Nays 1; May 15, 2025, sent to printer.) Click here to see the committee vote

COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR H.B. No. 2894 By: Flores

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to the provision of state aid to certain local governments disproportionately affected by the granting of ad valorem tax relief to disabled veterans.

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

SECTION 1. Section 140.011(a)(2), Local Government Code, is amended to read as follows:

(2) "Local government" means:

(A) a municipality [adjacent to a United States military installation]; and

(B) a county [in which a United States military installation is wholly or partly located].

SECTION 2. Section 140.011(b), Local Government Code, is amended to read as follows:

(b) To serve the state purpose of ensuring that the cost of providing ad valorem tax relief to disabled veterans is shared equitably among the residents of this state, a local government is entitled to a disabled veteran assistance payment from the state for each fiscal year that the local government is a qualified local government. A local government is a qualified local government for a fiscal year if the amount of lost ad valorem tax revenue calculated under Subsection (c) for that fiscal year is equal to or greater than:

(1) two percent of the local government's general fund revenue for that fiscal year if the local government is:

(A) a municipality adjacent to a United States military installation; or

(B) a county in which a United States military installation is wholly or partly located; and

(2) 10 percent of the local government's general fund revenue for that fiscal year if the local government is:

(A) a municipality in a county:

(i) described by Subdivision (1)(B) that has a population of:

(a) more than 370,000 but not more than 380,000; or

(b) more than 83,000 but not more than 84,000; or

(ii) described by Paragraph (B); or

(B) a county with a population of less than 25,000 that is adjacent to two counties that contain the same United States Army installation, neither of which has a population greater than 400,000.

SECTION 3. Section 140.011(a)(2), Local Government Code, as amended by this Act, applies only to the eligibility of a local government to apply for a disabled veteran assistance payment beginning with the fiscal year of the local government that ends in the 2025 tax year.

SECTION 4. This Act takes effect September 1, 2025.

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