By: Patrick, Carona	S.B. No. 516
	(In the Senate - Filed February 3, 2011; February 17, 2011,
	read first time and referred to Committee on Finance; May 9, 2011,
	reported adversely, with favorable Committee Substitute by the
	following vote:  Yeas 10, Nays 0; May 9, 2011, sent to printer.)
	COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR S.B. No. 516	By:  Patrick

	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
	AN ACT
	relating to the exemption from ad valorem taxation of all or part of
	the appraised value of the residence homestead of the surviving
	spouse of a 100 percent or totally disabled veteran.
	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
	SECTION 1.  Subsection (a), Section 11.131, Tax Code, is
	amended by adding Subdivision (3) to read as follows:
	(3)  "Surviving spouse" means the individual who was
	married to a disabled veteran at the time of the veteran's death.
	SECTION 2.  Section 11.131, Tax Code, is amended by adding
	Subsections (c) and (d) to read as follows:
	(c)  The surviving spouse of a disabled veteran who qualified
	for an exemption under Subsection (b) when the disabled veteran
	died is entitled to an exemption from taxation of the total
	appraised value of the same property to which the disabled
	veteran's exemption applied if:
	(1)  the surviving spouse has not remarried since the
	death of the disabled veteran; and
	(2)  the property:
	(A)  was the residence homestead of the surviving
	spouse when the disabled veteran died; and
	(B)  remains the residence homestead of the
	surviving spouse.
	(d)  If a surviving spouse who qualifies for an exemption
	under Subsection (c) subsequently qualifies a different property as
	the surviving spouse's residence homestead, the surviving spouse is
	entitled to an exemption from taxation of the subsequently
	qualified homestead in an amount equal to the dollar amount of the
	exemption from taxation of the former homestead under Subsection
	(c) in the last year in which the surviving spouse received an
	exemption under that subsection for that homestead if the surviving
	spouse has not remarried since the death of the disabled veteran.
	The surviving spouse is entitled to receive from the chief
	appraiser of the appraisal district in which the former residence
	homestead was located a written certificate providing the
	information necessary to determine the amount of the exemption to
	which the surviving spouse is entitled on the subsequently
	qualified homestead.
	SECTION 3.  Subsection (a), Section 11.431, Tax Code, is
	amended to read as follows:
	(a)  The chief appraiser shall accept and approve or deny an
	application for a residence homestead exemption, including an [a
	disabled veteran residence homestead] exemption under Section
	11.131 for the residence homestead of a disabled veteran or the
	surviving spouse of a disabled veteran, after the deadline for
	filing it has passed if it is filed not later than one year after the
	delinquency date for the taxes on the homestead.
	SECTION 4.  Section 11.131, Tax Code, as amended by this Act,
	applies only to a tax year beginning on or after January 1, 2012.
	SECTION 5.  This Act takes effect January 1, 2012, but only
	if the constitutional amendment proposed by the 82nd Legislature,
	Regular Session, 2011, authorizing the legislature to provide for
	an exemption from ad valorem taxation of all or part of the market
	value of the residence homestead of the surviving spouse of a 100
	percent or totally disabled veteran is approved by the voters. If
	that amendment is not approved by the voters, this Act has no
	effect.
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