| 1 | 1 | | By: Ellis S.B. No. 2362 |
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| 2 | 2 | | |
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| 3 | 3 | | |
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| 4 | 4 | | A BILL TO BE ENTITLED |
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| 5 | 5 | | AN ACT |
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| 6 | 6 | | relating to an award of attorney's fees to a prevailing property |
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| 7 | 7 | | owner in a property tax dispute resolved by binding arbitration. |
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| 8 | 8 | | BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: |
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| 9 | 9 | | SECTION 1. Subsection (b), Section 41A.09, Tax Code, is |
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| 10 | 10 | | amended by adding new subsection (6) to read as follows: |
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| 11 | 11 | | (b) An award under this section: |
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| 12 | 12 | | (1) must include a determination of the appraised |
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| 13 | 13 | | market value, as applicable, of the property that is the subject of |
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| 14 | 14 | | the appeal; |
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| 15 | 15 | | (2) may include any remedy or relief a court may order |
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| 16 | 16 | | under Chapter 42 in an appeal relating to the appraised or market |
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| 17 | 17 | | value of property; |
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| 18 | 18 | | (3) shall specify the arbitrator's fee, which may not |
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| 19 | 19 | | exceed the amount provided by Section 41A.06(b)(3); |
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| 20 | 20 | | (4) is final and may not be appealed except as |
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| 21 | 21 | | permitted under Section 171.088, Civil Practice and Remedies Code, |
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| 22 | 22 | | for an award subject to that section; [and] |
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| 23 | 23 | | (5) may be enforced in the manner provided by |
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| 24 | 24 | | Subchapter D, Chapter 171, Civil Practice and Remedies Code; and |
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| 25 | 25 | | (6) must include an award of attorney's fees if the |
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| 26 | 26 | | property owner prevails in an arbitration under this chapter. |
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| 27 | 27 | | Attorney's fees may only be awarded to a property owner represented |
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| 28 | 28 | | by an attorney in an arbitration under this chapter. The attorney's |
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| 29 | 29 | | fees award shall be calculated as provided in Section 42.29, Tax |
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| 30 | 30 | | Code. |
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| 31 | 31 | | SECTION 2. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives |
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| 32 | 32 | | a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as |
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| 33 | 33 | | provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this |
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| 34 | 34 | | Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this |
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| 35 | 35 | | Act takes effect September 1, 2009. |
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