Bill Text: TX SB1424 | 2021-2022 | 87th Legislature | Introduced


Bill Title: Relating to the date for ordering or holding an election to ratify the ad valorem tax rate of a school district; making conforming changes.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2021-03-18 - Referred to Local Government [SB1424 Detail]

Download: Texas-2021-SB1424-Introduced.html
  87R858 SMH-D
 
  By: Bettencourt S.B. No. 1424
 
 
 
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 
AN ACT
  relating to the date for ordering or holding an election to ratify
  the ad valorem tax rate of a school district; making conforming
  changes.
         BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
         SECTION 1.  Section 11.4391(a), Tax Code, is amended to read
  as follows:
         (a)  The chief appraiser shall accept and approve or deny an
  application for an exemption for freeport goods under Section
  11.251 after the deadline for filing it has passed if it is filed on
  or before the later of:
               (1)  June 1 [15]; or
               (2)  if applicable, the 60th day after the date on which
  the chief appraiser delivers notice to the property owner under
  Section 22.22.
         SECTION 2.  Sections 22.23(a) and (b), Tax Code, are amended
  to read as follows:
         (a)  Rendition statements and property reports must be
  delivered to the chief appraiser after January 1 and not later than
  April 1 [15], except as provided by Section 22.02.
         (b)  On written request by the property owner, the chief
  appraiser shall extend a deadline for filing a rendition statement
  or property report to a date not later than May 1 [15]. The chief
  appraiser may further extend the deadline an additional 15 days
  upon good cause shown in writing by the property owner.
         SECTION 3.  Sections 25.19(a) and (g), Tax Code, are amended
  to read as follows:
         (a)  By April 15 [1] or as soon thereafter as practicable [if
  the property is a single-family residence that qualifies for an
  exemption under Section 11.13, or by May 1 or as soon thereafter as
  practicable in connection with any other property], the chief
  appraiser shall deliver a clear and understandable written notice
  to a property owner of the appraised value of the property owner's
  property if:
               (1)  the appraised value of the property is greater
  than it was in the preceding year;
               (2)  the appraised value of the property is greater
  than the value rendered by the property owner;
               (3)  the property was not on the appraisal roll in the
  preceding year; or
               (4)  an exemption or partial exemption approved for the
  property for the preceding year was canceled or reduced for the
  current year.
         (g)  By April 15 [1] or as soon thereafter as practicable [if
  the property is a single-family residence that qualifies for an
  exemption under Section 11.13, or by May 1 or as soon thereafter as
  practicable in connection with any other property], the chief
  appraiser shall deliver a written notice to the owner of each
  property not included in a notice required to be delivered under
  Subsection (a), if the property was reappraised in the current tax
  year, if the ownership of the property changed during the preceding
  year, or if the property owner or the agent of a property owner
  authorized under Section 1.111 makes a written request for the
  notice. The chief appraiser shall separate real from personal
  property and include in the notice for each property:
               (1)  the appraised value of the property in the
  preceding year;
               (2)  the appraised value of the property for the
  current year and the kind of each partial exemption, if any,
  approved for the current year;
               (3)  a detailed explanation of the time and procedure
  for protesting the value; and
               (4)  the date and place the appraisal review board will
  begin hearing protests.
         SECTION 4.  Section 25.22(a), Tax Code, is amended to read as
  follows:
         (a)  By May 1 [15] or as soon thereafter as practicable, the
  chief appraiser shall submit the completed appraisal records to the
  appraisal review board for review and determination of protests.
  However, the chief appraiser may not submit the records until the
  chief appraiser has delivered the notices required by Sections
  11.45(d) [Subsection (d) of Section 11.45], 23.44(d) [Subsection
  (d) of Section 23.44], 23.57(d) [Subsection (d) of Section 23.57],
  23.79(d) [Subsection (d) of Section 23.79], 23.85(d) [Subsection
  (d) of Section 23.85], 23.95(d) [Subsection (d) of Section 23.95],
  23.9805(d) [Subsection (d) of Section 23.9805], and [Section]
  25.19.
         SECTION 5.  Sections 26.01(a), (a-1), and (e), Tax Code, are
  amended to read as follows:
         (a)  By July 10 [25], the chief appraiser shall prepare and
  certify to the assessor for each taxing unit participating in the
  district that part of the appraisal roll for the district that lists
  the property taxable by the taxing unit. The part certified to the
  assessor is the appraisal roll for the taxing unit. The chief
  appraiser shall consult with the assessor for each taxing unit and
  notify each taxing unit in writing by April 1 of the form in which
  the roll will be provided to each taxing unit.
         (a-1)  If by July 5 [20] the appraisal review board for an
  appraisal district has not approved the appraisal records for the
  district as required under Section 41.12, the chief appraiser shall
  not later than July 10 [25] prepare and certify to the assessor for
  each taxing unit participating in the district an estimate of the
  taxable value of property in that taxing unit.
         (e)  Except as provided by Subsection (f), not later than May
  15 [April 30], the chief appraiser shall prepare and certify to the
  assessor for each county, municipality, and school district
  participating in the appraisal district an estimate of the taxable
  value of property in that taxing unit. The chief appraiser shall
  assist each county, municipality, and school district in
  determining values of property in that taxing unit for the taxing
  unit's budgetary purposes.
         SECTION 6.  Sections 26.04(b), (e), and (e-2), Tax Code, are
  amended to read as follows:
         (b)  The assessor shall submit the appraisal roll for the
  taxing unit showing the total appraised, assessed, and taxable
  values of all property and the total taxable value of new property
  to the governing body of the taxing unit by July 15 [August 1] or as
  soon thereafter as practicable. By July 15 [August 1] or as soon
  thereafter as practicable, the taxing unit's collector shall
  certify the anticipated collection rate as calculated under
  Subsections (h), (h-1), and (h-2) for the current year to the
  governing body. If the collector certified an anticipated
  collection rate in the preceding year and the actual collection
  rate in that year exceeded the anticipated rate, the collector
  shall also certify the amount of debt taxes collected in excess of
  the anticipated amount in the preceding year.
         (e)  By July 22 [August 7] or as soon thereafter as
  practicable, the designated officer or employee shall submit the
  rates to the governing body. By July 27, the [The] designated
  officer or employee shall post prominently on the home page of the
  taxing unit's Internet website in the form prescribed by the
  comptroller:
               (1)  the no-new-revenue tax rate, the voter-approval
  tax rate, and an explanation of how they were calculated;
               (2)  the estimated amount of interest and sinking fund
  balances and the estimated amount of maintenance and operation or
  general fund balances remaining at the end of the current fiscal
  year that are not encumbered with or by corresponding existing debt
  obligation; and
               (3)  a schedule of the taxing unit's debt obligations
  showing:
                     (A)  the amount of principal and interest that
  will be paid to service the taxing unit's debts in the next year
  from property tax revenue, including payments of lawfully incurred
  contractual obligations providing security for the payment of the
  principal of and interest on bonds and other evidences of
  indebtedness issued on behalf of the taxing unit by another
  political subdivision and, if the taxing unit is created under
  Section 52, Article III, or Section 59, Article XVI, Texas
  Constitution, payments on debts that the taxing unit anticipates to
  incur in the next calendar year;
                     (B)  the amount by which taxes imposed for debt
  are to be increased because of the taxing unit's anticipated
  collection rate; and
                     (C)  the total of the amounts listed in Paragraphs
  (A)-(B), less any amount collected in excess of the previous year's
  anticipated collections certified as provided in Subsection (b).
         (e-2)  By July 22 [August 7] or as soon thereafter as
  practicable, the chief appraiser of each appraisal district shall
  deliver by regular mail or e-mail to each owner of property located
  in the appraisal district a notice that the estimated amount of
  taxes to be imposed on the owner's property by each taxing unit in
  which the property is located may be found in the property tax
  database maintained by the appraisal district under Section 26.17.
  The notice must include:
               (1)  a statement directing the property owner to an
  Internet website from which the owner may access information
  related to the actions taken or proposed to be taken by each taxing
  unit in which the property is located that may affect the taxes
  imposed on the owner's property;
               (2)  a statement that the property owner may request
  from the county assessor-collector for the county in which the
  property is located or, if the county assessor-collector does not
  assess taxes for the county, the person who assesses taxes for the
  county under Section 6.24(b), contact information for the assessor
  for each taxing unit in which the property is located, who must
  provide the information described by this subsection to the owner
  on request; and
               (3)  the name, address, and telephone number of the
  county assessor-collector for the county in which the property is
  located or, if the county assessor-collector does not assess taxes
  for the county, the person who assesses taxes for the county under
  Section 6.24(b).
         SECTION 7.  Section 26.05(a), Tax Code, is amended to read as
  follows:
         (a)  The governing body of each taxing unit shall adopt a tax
  rate for the current tax year and shall notify the assessor for the
  taxing unit of the rate adopted.  The governing body must adopt a
  tax rate before the later of September 30 or the 60th day after the
  date the certified appraisal roll is received by the taxing unit,
  except that the governing body must adopt a tax rate that exceeds
  the voter-approval tax rate before August 15 [not later than the
  71st day before the next uniform election date prescribed by
  Section 41.001, Election Code, that occurs in November of that
  year]. The tax rate consists of two components, each of which must
  be approved separately. The components are:
               (1)  for a taxing unit other than a school district, the
  rate that, if applied to the total taxable value, will impose the
  total amount described by Section 26.04(e)(3)(C), less any amount
  of additional sales and use tax revenue that will be used to pay
  debt service, or, for a school district, the rate calculated under
  Section 44.004(c)(5)(A)(ii)(b), Education Code; and
               (2)  the rate that, if applied to the total taxable
  value, will impose the amount of taxes needed to fund maintenance
  and operation expenditures of the taxing unit for the next year.
         SECTION 8.  Section 26.08, Tax Code, is amended by amending
  Subsection (b) and adding Subsection (b-1) to read as follows:
         (b)  Except as provided by Subsection (b-1), the [The]
  governing body shall order that the election be held in the school
  district on the [next] uniform election date prescribed by Section
  41.001, Election Code, that occurs in November of the applicable
  tax year. The order calling the election may not be issued later
  than August 15 [after the date of the election order and that allows
  sufficient time to comply with the requirements of other law]. At
  the election, the ballots shall be prepared to permit voting for or
  against the proposition: "Ratifying the ad valorem tax rate of ___
  (insert adopted tax rate) in (name of school district) for the
  current year, a rate that will result in an increase of _____
  (insert percentage increase in maintenance and operations tax
  revenue under the adopted tax rate as compared to maintenance and
  operations tax revenue in the preceding tax year) percent in
  maintenance and operations tax revenue for the district for the
  current year as compared to the preceding year, which is an
  additional $____ (insert dollar amount of increase in maintenance
  and operations tax revenue under the adopted tax rate as compared to
  maintenance and operations tax revenue in the preceding tax year)."
         (b-1)  Notwithstanding Section 41.0011(a), Election Code, an
  emergency election under Section 41.0011 of that code at which a
  proposition described by Subsection (b) of this section is
  submitted to the voters shall be held on any uniform election date.
         SECTION 9.  Section 41.12(a), Tax Code, is amended to read as
  follows:
         (a)  By July 5 [20], the appraisal review board shall:
               (1)  hear and determine all or substantially all timely
  filed protests;
               (2)  determine all timely filed challenges;
               (3)  submit a list of its approved changes in the
  records to the chief appraiser; and
               (4)  approve the records.
         SECTION 10.  The changes in law made by this Act apply to the
  ad valorem tax rate of a taxing unit beginning with the 2022 tax
  year.
         SECTION 11.  Sections 11.4391(a) and 22.23(a) and (b), Tax
  Code, as amended by this Act, apply only to ad valorem taxes imposed
  for a tax year beginning on or after January 1, 2022.
         SECTION 12.  (a) Not later than the 30th day after the date
  this section takes effect, the comptroller of public accounts shall
  mail a written notice to each appraisal district and the assessor
  for each taxing unit in this state of any change made by this Act to
  the deadline for complying with a requirement, duty, or function of
  an appraisal district or taxing unit.
         (b)  This section takes effect immediately if this Act
  receives a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each
  house, as provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution.
  If this Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate
  effect, this section takes effect on the 91st day after the last day
  of the legislative session.
         SECTION 13.  Except as otherwise provided by this Act, this
  Act takes effect January 1, 2022.
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