81R6854 SMH-D
By: Howard of Fort Bend H.B. No. 1221
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the provision of information by tax officials related
to ad valorem tax rates.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Sections 25.19(b) and (i), Tax Code, are amended
to read as follows:
(b) The chief appraiser shall separate real from personal
property and include in the notice for each:
(1) a list of the taxing units in which the property is
taxable;
(2) the appraised value of the property in the
preceding year;
(3) the taxable value of the property in the preceding
year for each taxing unit taxing the property;
(4) the appraised value of the property for the
current year and the kind and amount of each partial exemption, if
any, approved for the current year;
(5) [if the appraised value is greater than it was in
the preceding year, the amount of tax that would be imposed on the
property on the basis of the tax rate for the preceding year;
[(6)] in italic typeface, the following
statement: "The Texas Legislature does not set the amount of your
local taxes. Your property tax burden is decided by your locally
elected officials, and all inquiries concerning your taxes should
be directed to those officials";
(6) [(7)] a detailed explanation of the time and
procedure for protesting the value;
(7) [(8)] the date and place the appraisal review
board will begin hearing protests; and
(8) [(9)] a brief explanation that the governing body
of each taxing unit decides whether or not taxes on the property
will increase and the appraisal district only determines the value
of the property.
(i) Delivery with a notice required by Subsection (a) or (g)
of a copy of the pamphlet published by the comptroller under Section
5.06 or a copy of the notice published by the chief appraiser under
Section 41.70 is sufficient to comply with the requirement that the
notice include the information specified by Subsection (b)(6)
[(b)(7)] or (g)(3), as applicable.
SECTION 2. Section 26.04, Tax Code, is amended by amending
Subsections (b), (c), and (e) and adding Subsection (e-2) to read as
follows:
(b) The assessor shall submit the appraisal roll for the
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 unit not later than the 21st day after the
date the appraisal roll is certified to the assessor. On or before
the 21st day after the date the appraisal roll is certified to the
assessor [by August 1 or as soon thereafter as practicable. By
August 1 or as soon thereafter as practicable], the taxing unit's
collector shall certify an estimate of the collection rate 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.
(c) Not later than the 30th day after the date the appraisal
roll is certified to the assessor, an [An] officer or employee
designated by the governing body shall calculate the effective tax
rate and the rollback tax rate for the unit, where:
(1) "Effective tax rate" means a rate expressed in
dollars per $100 of taxable value calculated according to the
following formula:
EFFECTIVE TAX RATE = (LAST YEAR'S LEVY - LOST PROPERTY LEVY)/
(CURRENT TOTAL VALUE - NEW PROPERTY VALUE)
; and
(2) "Rollback tax rate" means a rate expressed in
dollars per $100 of taxable value calculated according to the
following formula:
ROLLBACK TAX RATE = (EFFECTIVE MAINTENANCE AND OPERATIONS RATE
x 1.08) + CURRENT DEBT RATE
(e) Not later than the fifth day after the date the
designated officer or employee completes the calculations required
by Subsections (c) and (d) [By August 7 or as soon thereafter as
practicable], the designated officer or employee shall submit the
rates to the governing body and shall provide to the chief
appraiser[. He shall deliver by mail to each property owner in the
unit or publish in a newspaper] in the form prescribed by the
comptroller:
(1) the effective tax rate, the rollback 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;
(3) a schedule of the unit's debt obligations showing:
(A) the amount of principal and interest that
will be paid to service the 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 unit by another political
subdivision and, if the unit is created under Section 52, Article
III, or Section 59, Article XVI, Texas Constitution, payments on
debts that the 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 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);
(4) the amount of additional sales and use tax revenue
anticipated in calculations under Section 26.041;
(5) a statement that the adoption of a tax rate equal
to the effective tax rate would result in an increase or decrease,
as applicable, in the amount of taxes imposed by the unit as
compared to last year's levy, and the amount of the increase or
decrease;
(6) in the year that a taxing unit calculates an
adjustment under Subsection (i) or (j), a schedule that includes
the following elements:
(A) the name of the unit discontinuing the
department, function, or activity;
(B) the amount of property tax revenue spent by
the unit listed under Paragraph (A) to operate the discontinued
department, function, or activity in the 12 months preceding the
month in which the calculations required by this chapter are made;
and
(C) the name of the unit that operates a distinct
department, function, or activity in all or a majority of the
territory of a taxing unit that has discontinued operating the
distinct department, function, or activity; and
(7) in the year following the year in which a taxing
unit raised its rollback rate as required by Subsection (j), a
schedule that includes the following elements:
(A) the amount of property tax revenue spent by
the unit to operate the department, function, or activity for which
the taxing unit raised the rollback rate as required by Subsection
(j) for the 12 months preceding the month in which the calculations
required by this chapter are made; and
(B) the amount included in the schedule provided
to the chief appraiser [published] by the unit in the preceding tax
year under Subdivision (6)(B).
(e-2) Not later than the 10th day after the date the chief
appraiser receives the information provided under Subsection (e),
the chief appraiser shall deliver a clear and understandable
written notice to each owner of property in the taxing unit
containing the following information:
(1) a list of the taxing units other than school
districts in which the property is taxable;
(2) the appraised value of the property for the
current year and the kind and amount of each partial exemption, if
any, approved for the current year;
(3) the amount of tax that would be imposed on the
property on the basis of the effective tax rate and the rollback
rate provided to the chief appraiser;
(4) the information described by Subsections
(e)(2)-(7);
(5) a detailed explanation of the procedures by which
a taxpayer may provide input on the adoption of the tax rate; and
(6) a brief explanation that the governing body of the
taxing unit decides whether taxes on the property will increase,
and the appraisal district only determines the value of the
property.
SECTION 3. Section 26.05, Tax Code, is amended by amending
Subsections (a), (c), and (d) and adding Subsection (d-1) to read as
follows:
(a) The governing body of each taxing unit, before the later
of September 30 or the 90th [60th] day after the date the certified
appraisal roll is received by the taxing unit, shall adopt a tax
rate for the current tax year and shall notify the assessor for the
unit of the rate adopted. 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 published under 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 published
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 unit for the next year.
(c) If the designated officer or employee [governing body of
a taxing unit] does not comply with Section 26.04(e) by the date
required by that section and the failure to comply was caused by
circumstances beyond the designated officer's or employee's
control, such as a natural disaster [adopt a tax rate before the
date required by Subsection (a)], the tax rate for the taxing unit
for that tax year is the lower of the effective tax rate calculated
for that tax year or the tax rate adopted by the taxing unit for the
preceding tax year. A tax rate established by this subsection is
treated as an adopted tax rate. Before the fifth day after the
establishment of a tax rate by this subsection, the governing body
of the taxing unit must ratify the applicable tax rate in the manner
required by Subsection (b).
(d) The governing body of a taxing unit other than a school
district may not adopt a tax rate that exceeds the lower of the
rollback tax rate or the effective tax rate calculated as provided
by this chapter until the chief appraiser has delivered the notice
required by Section 26.04(e-2) and the governing body has complied
with Subsection (d-1) of this section and has held two public
hearings on the proposed tax rate and [has] otherwise complied with
Section 26.06 and Section 26.065. The governing body of a taxing
unit shall reduce a tax rate set by law or by vote of the electorate
to the lower of the rollback tax rate or the effective tax rate and
may not adopt a higher rate unless it first complies with Section
26.06.
(d-1) Before giving notice of the public hearings on the
proposed tax rate under Section 26.06, the governing body of a
taxing unit that is required to comply with that section must take a
record vote on a proposal to place consideration of an increase in
taxes on the agenda for the meeting at which the governing body will
adopt the tax rate. The motion for the vote must be made in the
following form: "I move that a proposal to increase property taxes
by the adoption of a tax rate of (specify tax rate) be placed on the
agenda for the meeting to be held on (date at which the governing
body anticipates adopting the tax rate)."
SECTION 4. This Act applies only to a tax year beginning on
or after the effective date of this Act.
SECTION 5. This Act takes effect January 1, 2010.