81R5520 SMH-D
By: King of Parker H.B. No. 1660
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the composition of the board of directors of an
appraisal district.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 5.12(b), Tax Code, is amended to read as
follows:
(b) At the written request of the governing bodies of a
majority of the taxing units participating in an appraisal district
[or of a majority of the taxing units entitled to vote on the
appointment of appraisal district directors], the comptroller
shall audit the performance of the appraisal district. The
governing bodies may request a general audit of the performance of
the appraisal district or may request an audit of only one or more
particular duties, practices, functions, departments, or other
appraisal district matters.
SECTION 2. Section 5.13(h), Tax Code, is amended to read as
follows:
(h) At any time after the request for an audit is made, the
comptroller may discontinue the audit in whole or in part if
requested to do so by:
(1) the governing bodies of a majority of the taxing
units participating in the district, if the audit was requested by a
majority of those units; or
(2) [the governing bodies of a majority of the taxing
units entitled to vote on the appointment of appraisal district
directors, if the audit was requested by a majority of those units;
or
[(3)] if the audit was requested under Section 5.12(c)
[of this code], by the taxpayers who requested the audit.
SECTION 3. Section 6.03, Tax Code, is amended by amending
Subsections (a), (b), and (l) and adding Subsections (a-1), (a-2),
and (m) to read as follows:
(a) The appraisal district is governed by a board of
directors. Four [Five] directors are appointed by the local
administrative district judge in the county in which the appraisal
district is established, and one director is elected at the general
election for state and county officers by the voters of the county
in which the appraisal district is established [taxing units that
participate in the district as provided by this section].
(a-1) If the county assessor-collector is not appointed to
the board of directors, the county assessor-collector serves as a
nonvoting director. The county assessor-collector is ineligible to
serve if the board enters into a contract under Section 6.05(b) or
if the commissioners court of the county enters into a contract
under Section 6.24(b).
(a-2) To be eligible to serve on the board of directors, an
individual, other than a county assessor-collector serving as a
nonvoting director, must be a resident of the appraisal district
and must have resided in the district for at least two years
immediately preceding the date the individual takes office. To be
eligible to be elected to the board, an individual must be a
resident of the county in which the district is established. An
individual who is otherwise eligible to serve on the board as a
member appointed by the local administrative district judge in the
county in which the appraisal district is established is not
ineligible because of membership on the governing body of a taxing
unit. An employee of a taxing unit that participates in the
district is not eligible to serve on the board [unless the
individual is also a member of the governing body or an elected
official of a taxing unit that participates in the district].
(b) Members of the board of directors, other than a county
assessor-collector serving as a nonvoting director, serve two-year
terms beginning on January 1 of odd-numbered [even-numbered] years.
(l) If a vacancy occurs on the board of directors in a
position appointed by the local administrative district judge under
this section, the judge shall appoint a person to fill the vacancy
[other than a vacancy in the position held by a county
assessor-collector serving as a nonvoting director, each taxing
unit that is entitled to vote by this section may nominate by
resolution adopted by its governing body a candidate to fill the
vacancy. The unit shall submit the name of its nominee to the chief
appraiser within 45 days after notification from the board of
directors of the existence of the vacancy, and the chief appraiser
shall prepare and deliver to the board of directors within the next
five days a list of the nominees. The board of directors shall
elect by majority vote of its members one of the nominees to fill
the vacancy].
(m) If a vacancy occurs in an elective position on the board
of directors, the board of directors shall appoint by majority vote
of its members a person to fill the vacancy. A person appointed to
fill a vacancy in an elective position must have the qualifications
required of a director elected at a general election.
SECTION 4. Subchapter A, Chapter 6, Tax Code, is amended by
adding Section 6.032 to read as follows:
Sec. 6.032. BALLOT PROCEDURES FOR ELECTED DIRECTORS; FILING
FEE. (a) Except as provided by this section, Chapter 144, Election
Code, applies to a candidate for an elective position on an
appraisal district board of directors.
(b) An application for a place on the ballot must be filed
with the county judge of the county in which the appraisal district
is established and be accompanied by a filing fee of:
(1) $750 for a county with a population of less than
200,000; or
(2) $1,250 for a county with a population of 200,000 or
more.
(c) A candidate's name may appear on the ballot only as an
independent candidate.
(d) A filing fee received under this section shall be
deposited in the county treasury to the credit of the county general
fund.
SECTION 5. Section 6.036(a), Tax Code, is amended to read as
follows:
(a) An individual is not eligible to be a candidate for, to
be appointed to, or to serve on the board of directors of an
appraisal district if the individual or a business entity in which
the individual has a substantial interest is a party to a contract
with:
(1) the appraisal district; or
(2) a taxing unit that participates in the appraisal
district, if the contract relates to the performance of an activity
governed by this title.
SECTION 6. Section 6.051(b), Tax Code, is amended to read as
follows:
(b) The acquisition or conveyance of real property or the
construction or renovation of a building or other improvement by an
appraisal district must be approved by the governing bodies of
three-fourths of the taxing units that participate in the district
[entitled to vote on the appointment of board members]. The board
of directors by resolution may propose a property transaction or
other action for which this subsection requires approval of the
taxing units. The chief appraiser shall notify the presiding
officer of each governing body entitled to vote on the approval of
the proposal by delivering a copy of the board's resolution,
together with information showing the costs of other available
alternatives to the proposal. On or before the 30th day after the
date the presiding officer receives notice of the proposal, the
governing body of a taxing unit by resolution may approve or
disapprove the proposal. If a governing body fails to act on or
before that 30th day or fails to file its resolution with the chief
appraiser on or before the 10th day after that 30th day, the
proposal is treated as if it were disapproved by the governing body.
SECTION 7. Sections 6.06(a), (b), and (i), Tax Code, are
amended to read as follows:
(a) Each year the chief appraiser shall prepare a proposed
budget for the operations of the district for the following tax year
and shall submit copies to each taxing unit participating in the
district and to the district board of directors before June 15. The
chief appraiser [He] shall include in the budget a list showing each
proposed position, the proposed salary for the position, all
benefits proposed for the position, each proposed capital
expenditure, and an estimate of the amount of the budget that will
be allocated to each taxing unit. Each taxing unit participating in
the district [entitled to vote on the appointment of board members]
shall maintain a copy of the proposed budget for public inspection
at its principal administrative office.
(b) The board of directors shall hold a public hearing to
consider the budget. The secretary of the board shall deliver to
the presiding officer of the governing body of each taxing unit
participating in the district not later than the 10th day before the
date of the hearing a written notice of the date, time, and place
fixed for the hearing. The board shall complete its hearings, make
any amendments to the proposed budget it desires, and finally
approve a budget before September 15. If governing bodies of a
majority of the taxing units participating in the district
[entitled to vote on the appointment of board members] adopt
resolutions disapproving a budget and file them with the secretary
of the board within 30 days after its adoption, the budget does not
take effect, and the board shall adopt a new budget within 30 days
of the disapproval.
(i) The fiscal year of an appraisal district is the calendar
year unless the governing bodies of three-fourths of the taxing
units participating in the district [entitled to vote on the
appointment of board members] adopt resolutions proposing a
different fiscal year and file them with the secretary of the board
not more than 12 and not less than eight months before the first day
of the fiscal year proposed by the resolutions. If the fiscal year
of an appraisal district is changed under this subsection, the
chief appraiser shall prepare a proposed budget for the fiscal year
as provided by Subsection (a) [of this section] before the 15th day
of the seventh month preceding the first day of the fiscal year
established by the change, and the board of directors shall adopt a
budget for the fiscal year as provided by Subsection (b) [of this
section] before the 15th day of the fourth month preceding the first
day of the fiscal year established by the change. Unless the
appraisal district adopts a different method of allocation under
Section 6.061 [of this code], the allocation of the budget to each
taxing unit shall be calculated as provided by Subsection (d) [of
this section] using the amount of property taxes imposed by each
participating taxing unit in the most recent tax year preceding the
fiscal year established by the change for which the necessary
information is available. Each taxing unit shall pay its
allocation as provided by Subsection (e) [of this section], except
that the first payment shall be made before the first day of the
fiscal year established by the change and subsequent payments shall
be made quarterly. In the year in which a change in the fiscal year
occurs, the budget that takes effect on January 1 of that year may
be amended as necessary as provided by Subsection (c) [of this
section] in order to accomplish the change in fiscal years.
SECTION 8. Sections 6.061(b) and (e), Tax Code, are amended
to read as follows:
(b) The taxing units participating in an appraisal district
may adopt a different method of allocating the costs of operating
the district if the governing bodies of three-fourths of the taxing
units participating in the district [that are entitled to vote on
the appointment of board members] adopt resolutions providing for
the other method. However, a change under this subsection is not
valid if it requires any taxing unit to pay a greater proportion of
the appraisal district's costs than the unit would pay under
Section 6.06 [of this code] without the consent of the governing
body of that unit.
(e) A change in allocation of district costs made as
provided by this section remains in effect until changed in a manner
provided by this section or rescinded by resolution of a majority of
the governing bodies of the taxing units participating in the
district [that are entitled to vote on appointment of board members
under Section 6.03 of this code].
SECTION 9. Section 6.063(b), Tax Code, is amended to read as
follows:
(b) The report of the audit is a public record. A copy of
the report shall be delivered to the presiding officer of the
governing body of each taxing unit participating in the district
[eligible to vote on the appointment of district directors], and a
reasonable number of copies shall be available for inspection at
the appraisal office.
SECTION 10. Section 52.092, Election Code, is amended by
adding Subsection (k) to read as follows:
(k) The secretary of state shall prescribe procedures for
listing the office of appraisal district director on the ballot.
SECTION 11. The following provisions of the Tax Code are
repealed:
(1) Sections 6.03(c), (d), (e), (f), (g), (h), (i),
(j), and (k);
(2) Section 6.031;
(3) Section 6.033;
(4) Section 6.034;
(5) Section 6.037; and
(6) Section 6.10.
SECTION 12. (a) Four directors shall be appointed in each
appraisal district by the local administrative district judge in
the county in which the appraisal district is established as
provided by Section 6.03, Tax Code, as amended by this Act, to serve
terms that begin January 1, 2011.
(b) One director shall be elected in each appraisal district
as provided by Section 6.03, Tax Code, as amended by this Act, and
Section 6.032, Tax Code, as added by this Act, beginning with the
general election for state and county officers conducted in 2010.
The members then elected take office January 1, 2011.
SECTION 13. (a) The change in law made by this Act does not
affect the selection of appraisal district directors serving before
January 1, 2011.
(b) The term of an appraisal district director serving on
December 31, 2010, expires on January 1, 2011.
SECTION 14. This Act takes effect January 1, 2010.