By: Hinojosa, Bettencourt	S.B. No. 624
	(In the Senate - Filed February 18, 2015; February 23, 2015,
	read first time and referred to Committee on Finance; April 9, 2015,
	reported adversely, with favorable Committee Substitute by the
	following vote:  Yeas 12, Nays 0; April 9, 2015, sent to printer.)
Click here to see the committee vote
	COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR S.B. No. 624	By:  Hinojosa

	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
	AN ACT
	relating to installment payments of ad valorem taxes.
	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
	SECTION 1.  Sections 31.031(a-1), (a-2), and (b), Tax Code,
	are amended to read as follows:
	(a-1)  An individual to whom this section applies may pay a
	taxing unit's taxes imposed on property that the person owns and
	occupies as a residence homestead in four equal installments
	without penalty or interest if the first installment is paid before
	the delinquency date and is accompanied by notice to the taxing unit
	that the person will pay the remaining taxes in three equal
	installments.  If the delinquency date is February 1, the [The]
	second installment must be paid before April 1, the third
	installment must be paid before June 1, and the fourth installment
	must be paid before August 1.  If the delinquency date is a date
	other than February 1, the second installment must be paid before
	the first day of the second month after the delinquency date, the
	third installment must be paid before the first day of the fourth
	month after the delinquency date, and the fourth installment must
	be paid before the first day of the sixth month after the
	delinquency date.
	(a-2)  Notwithstanding the deadline prescribed by Subsection
	(a-1) for payment of the first installment, an individual to whom
	this section applies may pay the taxes in four equal installments as
	provided by Subsection (a-1) if the first installment is paid and
	the required notice is provided before the first day of the first
	month after the delinquency date [March 1].
	(b)  If the individual fails to make a payment, including the
	first payment, before the applicable date provided by Subsection
	(a-1), the unpaid installment [amount] is delinquent and incurs a
	penalty of six percent and interest as provided by Section
	33.01(c).  The penalty provided by Section 33.01(a) does not apply
	to the unpaid installment [amount].
	SECTION 2.  Sections 31.032(b) and (c), Tax Code, are
	amended to read as follows:
	(b)  If, before the delinquency date, a person pays at least
	one-fourth of a taxing unit's taxes imposed on property that the
	person owns, accompanied by notice to the taxing unit that the
	person will pay the remaining taxes in installments, the person may
	pay the remaining taxes without penalty or interest in three equal
	installments. If the delinquency date is February 1, the [The]
	first installment must be paid before April 1, the second
	installment must be paid before June 1, and the third installment
	must be paid before August 1.  If the delinquency date is a date
	other than February 1, the first installment must be paid before the
	first day of the second month after the delinquency date, the second
	installment must be paid before the first day of the fourth month
	after the delinquency date, and the third installment must be paid
	before the first day of the sixth month after the delinquency date.
	(c)  If the person fails to make a payment before the
	applicable date provided by Subsection (b), the unpaid installment
	[amount] is delinquent and incurs a penalty of six percent and
	interest as provided by Section 33.01(c).
	SECTION 3.  Sections 33.011(d) and (i), Tax Code, are
	amended to read as follows:
	(d)  A request for a waiver of penalties and interest under
	Subsection (a)(1) or (3), (b), (h), or (j) must be made before the
	181st day after the delinquency date.  A request for a waiver of
	penalties and interest under Subsection (a)(2) must be made before
	the first anniversary of the date the religious organization
	acquires the property.  A request for a waiver of penalties and
	interest under Subsection (i) must be made before the 181st day
	after the date the property owner making the request receives
	notice of the delinquent tax that satisfies the requirements of
	Section 33.04(c) [33.04(b)].  To be valid, a waiver of penalties or
	interest under this section must be requested in writing.  If a
	written request for a waiver is not timely made, the governing body
	of a taxing unit may not waive any penalties or interest under this
	section.
	(i)  The governing body of a taxing unit may waive penalties
	and interest on a delinquent tax that relates to a date preceding
	the date on which the property owner acquired the property if:
	(1)  the property owner or another person liable for
	the tax pays the tax not later than the 181st day after the date the
	property owner receives notice of the delinquent tax that satisfies
	the requirements of Section 33.04(c) [33.04(b)]; and
	(2)  the delinquency is the result of taxes imposed on:
	(A)  omitted property entered in the appraisal
	records as provided by Section 25.21;
	(B)  erroneously exempted property or appraised
	value added to the appraisal roll as provided by Section 11.43(i);
	or
	(C)  property added to the appraisal roll under a
	different account number or parcel when the property was owned by a
	prior owner.
	SECTION 4.  Section 33.02, Tax Code, is amended by amending
	Subsections (a) and (b-1) and adding Subsections (a-1) and (f) to
	read as follows:
	(a)  The collector for a taxing unit may enter into an
	agreement with a person delinquent in the payment of the tax for
	payment of the tax, penalties, and interest in installments.  The
	collector for a taxing unit shall, on request by a person delinquent
	in the payment of the tax on a residence homestead for which the
	property owner has been granted an exemption under Section 11.13,
	enter into an agreement with the person for payment of the tax,
	penalties, and interest in installments if the person has not
	entered into an installment agreement with the collector for the
	taxing unit under this section in the preceding 24 months.
	(a-1)  An installment agreement under this section:
	(1)  must be in writing;
	(2)  must provide for payments to be made in [equal]
	monthly installments;
	(3)  must extend for a period of at least 12 months if
	the property that is the subject of the agreement is a residence
	homestead for which the person entering into the agreement has been
	granted an exemption under Section 11.13; and
	(4)  may not extend for a period of more than 36 months.
	(b-1)  Except as otherwise provided by this subsection, a
	penalty does not accrue as provided by Section 33.01(a) on the
	unpaid balance during the period of the agreement if the property
	that is the subject of the agreement is a residence homestead for
	which the property owner has been granted an exemption under
	Section 11.13.  If the property owner fails to make a payment as
	required by the agreement, a penalty accrues as provided by Section
	33.01(a) on the unpaid balance as if the owner had not entered into
	the agreement.
	(f)  The collector for a taxing unit must deliver a notice of
	default to a person who is in breach of an installment agreement
	under this section and to any other owner of an interest in the
	property subject to the agreement whose name appears on the
	delinquent tax roll before the collector may seize and sell the
	property or file a suit to collect a delinquent tax subject to the
	agreement.
	SECTION 5.  Section 33.04, Tax Code, as amended by Chapters
	935 (H.B. 1597) and 967 (H.B. 1913), Acts of the 83rd Legislature,
	Regular Session, 2013, is amended to read as follows:
	Sec. 33.04.  NOTICE OF DELINQUENCY. (a)  At least once each
	year the collector for a taxing unit shall deliver a notice of
	delinquency to each person whose name appears on the current
	delinquent tax roll.  However, the notice need not be delivered if:
	(1)  a bill for the tax was not mailed under Section
	31.01(f); or
	(2)  the collector does not know and by exercising
	reasonable diligence cannot determine the delinquent taxpayer's
	name and address.
	(b)  A notice of delinquency under this section must contain
	the following statement in capital letters:  "IF THE PROPERTY
	DESCRIBED IN THIS DOCUMENT IS YOUR RESIDENCE HOMESTEAD, YOU SHOULD
	CONTACT THE TAX COLLECTOR FOR (NAME OF TAXING UNIT) REGARDING A
	RIGHT YOU MAY HAVE TO ENTER INTO AN INSTALLMENT AGREEMENT DIRECTLY
	WITH THE TAX COLLECTOR FOR (NAME OF TAXING UNIT) FOR THE PAYMENT OF
	THESE TAXES."
	(c) [(b)]  If the delinquency is the result of taxes imposed
	on property described by Section 33.011(i), the first page of the
	notice of delinquency must include, in 14-point boldfaced type or
	14-point uppercase letters, a statement that reads substantially as
	follows:  "THE TAXES ON THIS PROPERTY ARE DELINQUENT. THE PROPERTY
	IS SUBJECT TO A LIEN FOR THE DELINQUENT TAXES. IF THE DELINQUENT
	TAXES ARE NOT PAID, THE LIEN MAY BE FORECLOSED [ON]."
	[(c)     The collector for a taxing unit must deliver a notice
	of delinquency to a person who is in breach of an installment
	agreement under Section 33.02 and to any other owner of an interest
	in the property subject to the agreement whose name appears on the
	delinquent tax roll before the collector may seize and sell the
	property or file a suit to collect a delinquent tax subject to the
	agreement.]
	SECTION 6.  Sections 31.031(d) and 31.032(e), Tax Code, are
	repealed.
	SECTION 7.  (a)  The changes in law made by this Act to
	Sections 31.031, 31.032, and 33.02, Tax Code, apply only to an
	installment agreement for the payment of ad valorem taxes entered
	into on or after the effective date of this Act. An installment
	agreement for the payment of ad valorem taxes entered into before
	the effective date of this Act is governed by the law in effect on
	the date the agreement was entered into, and the former law is
	continued in effect for that purpose.
	(b)  The change in law made by this Act to Section 33.04, Tax
	Code, applies only to a notice of delinquency delivered on or after
	the effective date of this Act. A notice of delinquency delivered
	before the effective date of this Act is governed by the law in
	effect on the date the notice was delivered, and the former law is
	continued in effect for that purpose.
	SECTION 8.  To the extent of any conflict, this Act prevails
	over another Act of the 84th Legislature, Regular Session, 2015,
	relating to nonsubstantive additions to and corrections in enacted
	codes.
	SECTION 9.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2015.
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