82R3345 SMH-D
By: Garza H.B. No. 1717
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the selection 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 all the taxing units participating in an appraisal
district or of a majority of the group of taxing units composed of
the municipalities, school districts, and county participating in
the appraisal district [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 all the
taxing units participating in the district, if the audit was
requested by a majority of those units;
(2) the governing bodies of a majority of the group of
taxing units composed of the municipalities, school districts, and
county participating in the appraisal district [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) and (l) and adding Subsections (a-1) and (m) to read
as follows:
(a) The appraisal district is governed by a board of five
directors. One director is elected from each of the four
commissioners precincts of the county for which the appraisal
district is established. The county assessor-collector is a
director by virtue of the person's office. The directors other than
the county assessor-collector are elected at the general election
for state and county officers and serve two-year terms beginning on
January 1 of odd-numbered years. [Five directors are appointed by
the taxing units that participate in the district as provided by
this section. If the county assessor-collector is not appointed to
the board, 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). If the county assessor-collector is ineligible to
serve, the appraisal district is governed by the four directors
elected from the commissioners precincts and a director appointed
by the commissioners court of the county.
(a-1) To be eligible to serve on the board of directors, an
individual other than the [a] county assessor-collector [serving as
a nonvoting director] must:
(1) be a resident of:
(A) the commissioners precinct from which the
office is elected, in the case of a director elected from a
commissioners precinct; or
(B) the county for which the appraisal district
is established, in the case of a director appointed by the
commissioners court of the county; [district] and
(2) [must] have resided in the appraisal district for
at least two years immediately preceding the date the individual
takes office. [An individual who is otherwise eligible to serve on
the board 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.]
(l) A [If a] vacancy [occurs] on the board of directors
other than a vacancy in the position held by the [a] county
assessor-collector is filled for the remainder of the unexpired
term by appointment by the commissioners court of the county for
which the appraisal district is established. A person appointed to
fill a vacancy on the board of directors must meet the
qualifications of the vacated position [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 as a result of a change in the boundaries of a
commissioners precinct an individual serving as a director no
longer resides in the precinct from which the office is elected, the
individual is not for that reason disqualified from office during
the remainder of the term of office being served at the time the
boundary change takes effect. If as a result of a change in the
boundaries of a commissioners precinct an individual elected as a
director before the boundary change to a term that begins after the
boundary change no longer resides in the precinct from which
elected, the individual is not for that reason disqualified from
serving the term to which elected.
SECTION 4. 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 5. 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 group of taxing units composed of the
municipalities, school districts, and county participating in the
appraisal 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 those [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 6. 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 municipality, each school
district, and the county participating in the appraisal district
[taxing unit 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 group of taxing units composed of the
municipalities, school districts, and county participating in the
appraisal district [taxing units 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 group of
taxing units composed of the municipalities, school districts, and
county participating in the appraisal district [taxing units
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 7. 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 group
of taxing units composed of the municipalities, school districts,
and county participating in the appraisal district [taxing units
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 group of taxing units composed of the
municipalities, school districts, and county participating in the
appraisal district [that are entitled to vote on appointment of
board members under Section 6.03 of this code].
SECTION 8. 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 municipality, each school district, and the
county participating in the appraisal district [taxing unit
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 9. Section 52.092(d), Election Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(d) District offices of the state government shall be listed
in the following order:
(1) member, State Board of Education;
(2) state senator;
(3) state representative;
(4) chief justice, court of appeals;
(5) justice, court of appeals;
(6) district judge;
(7) criminal district judge;
(8) family district judge;
(9) district attorney;
(10) criminal district attorney;
(11) appraisal district director.
SECTION 10. Section 172.024, Election Code, is amended by
adding Subsection (c) to read as follows:
(c) For the office of appraisal district director, the
filing fee for a candidate for nomination in the general primary
election is:
(1) county with a population of 200,000 or
more$400
(2) county with a population under 200,000 $200.
SECTION 11. The following provisions of the Tax Code are
repealed:
(1) Sections 6.03(b)-(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) Appraisal district directors shall be
elected as provided by Section 6.03, Tax Code, as amended by this
Act, beginning with the primary and general elections conducted in
2012. Members then elected take office January 1, 2013.
(b) The change in the manner of selection of appraisal
district directors made by this Act does not affect the selection of
directors who serve on the board before January 1, 2013.
(c) The term of an appraisal district director serving on
December 31, 2012, expires on January 1, 2013.
SECTION 13. (a) Except as otherwise provided by this
section, this Act takes effect January 1, 2013.
(b) This section and Sections 9, 10, and 12 of this Act take
effect September 1, 2011.