By: Otto, Bohac, Thompson H.B. No. 4230
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the rescheduling of a hearing before an appraisal
review board.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 41.45, Tax Code, is amended by amending
Subsection (e) and adding Subsection (e-1) to read as follows:
(e) On request made to the appraisal review board before the
date of the hearing, a property owner who has not designated an
agent under Section 1.111 to represent the owner at the hearing is
entitled to one postponement of the hearing to a later date without
showing cause. In addition and without limitation as to the number
of postponements or reschedulings, the board shall reschedule
[postpone] the hearing to a later date if before the 90th day after
the date originally scheduled for the hearing the property owner or
the owner's agent requests that the hearing be rescheduled and [at
any time] shows good [reasonable] cause for the rescheduling
[postponement] or obtains [if] the consent of the chief appraiser
[consents] to the rescheduling [postponement]. The hearing may
not be postponed or rescheduled to a date less than five or more
than 60 [30] days after the date scheduled for the hearing at the
time [when] the postponement or rescheduling is sought unless the
date and time of the hearing as postponed are agreed to by the
chairman of the appraisal review board, the property owner, and the
chief appraiser. A request by a property owner or an owner's agent
for a postponement or a rescheduling under this subsection may be
made in writing, including by facsimile transmission or electronic
mail, by telephone, or in person to the appraisal review board, a
panel of the board, or the chairman of the board. The chairman or
the chairman's representative may grant, but may not deny, a
postponement or rescheduling under this subsection without the
necessity of action by the full board. The granting by the
appraisal review board, the chairman, or the chairman's
representative of a postponement or a rescheduling under this
subsection does not require the delivery of additional written
notice to the property owner. A hearing may not be rescheduled if
the rescheduling would cause undue delay to the appraisal review
board.
(e-1) For purposes of Subsection (e), "good cause" means a
reason that includes an error or mistake that was not intentional or
the result of conscious indifference.
SECTION 2. The change in law made by this Act applies only
to a protest under Chapter 41, Tax Code, that is filed on or after
the effective date of this Act. A protest under Chapter 41, Tax
Code, that was filed before the effective date of this Act is
governed by the law in effect on the date the protest was filed, and
the former law is continued in effect for that purpose.
SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2009.