By: Villarreal H.B. No. 585
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to procedural requirements under the Property Tax Code.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 5.041, Tax Code, is amended to read as
follows:
(b) A member of the appraisal review board established for
an appraisal district must complete the course established under
Subsections (a) and (e-1). A member of the appraisal review board
may not participate in a hearing conducted by the board unless the
person has completed the course established under Subsections (a)
and (e-1) and has received a certificate of course completion.
(b-1) At the conclusion of a course established under
Subsections (a) and (e-1), each member of the appraisal review
board in attendance shall complete a statement, on a form
prescribed by the comptroller, indicating that the member will
abide by the requirements of this title in conducting hearings.
(e-2) During [As soon as practicable after the beginning of]
the second year and each year thereafter of an appraisal review
board member's term of office, the member must successfully
complete the course established under Subsection (e-1). A person
who fails to [timely] complete the course established under
Subsection (e-1) may not participate in a hearing conducted by the
board and may not vote on any determination of protest. Further, a
person who fails to complete the courses established under
Subsections (a) and (e-1) may not be reappointed to an additional
term on the appraisal review board. Appraisal review board members
[If the person is reappointed to an additional term on the appraisal
review board, the person] must successfully complete the course
established under Subsection (e-1) in each year the member
continues to serve after the first year of service.
(f) The comptroller may not advise a property owner, a
property owner's agent, the chief appraiser, or an employee of an
appraisal district [or an appraisal review board] on a matter that
the comptroller knows is the subject of a protest to the appraisal
review board. The comptroller may provide advice to the appraisal
review board as authorized by subsection (a)(4) of this section and
may communicate with the chairmen of appraisal review boards and
taxpayer liaison officers concerning complaints filed under
Section 6.052 of this code.
SECTION 2. Section 5.103, Tax Code, is added to read as
follows:
Section 5.103. Appraisal Review Board Oversight. (a) The
comptroller shall adopt uniform practice and procedure rules for an
appraisal review board.
(b) The rules shall address:
(1) duties of an appraisal review board;
(2) scheduling of hearings;
(3) notices required under this code;
(4) determination of what constitutes substantially
all timely filed protests under Section 41.12;
(5) determination of good cause under Section
41.44(b);
(6) determination of good cause under Section 41.45(e)
and (g);
(7) hearing procedures for the hearings the appraisal
review conducts under Subchapters A and C of this chapter;
(8) a party's right to offer evidence and argument;
(9) a party's right to examine or cross examine
witnesses or other parties;
(10) a party's right to appear by agent;
(11) the prohibition of an appraisal review board on
consideration of information not provided at the hearing;
(12) ex parte communication;
(13) exclusion of evidence under Section 41.461;
(14) postponement for failure to comply with Section
41.461;
(15) conflict of interest; and
(16) other matters related to fair and efficient
appraisal review board hearings.
(b) An appraisal review board shall follow the rules of
practice and procedure adopted by the comptroller.
(c) The comptroller shall develop and implement policies
that provide the public with a reasonable opportunity to register
complaints or suggestions for improvement concerning an appraisal
review board with the comptroller.
(d) The comptroller shall prior to January 1 of the tax year
issue a report summarizing the complaints and suggestions
concerning each appraisal review board. The report shall not
identify the person making the complaint.
(e) The chairman of an appraisal review board in a county in
excess of 200,000 shall review the report and issue a written
response to the issues raised in the report prior to April 1 of the
succeeding year. The comptroller shall by rule set forth the
requirements of this report.
SECTION 3. Section 6.052, Tax Code, is amended to read as
follows:
(a) The board of directors for an appraisal district created
for a county with a population of more than 125,000 shall [appoint]
employ a taxpayer liaison officer who shall serve at the pleasure of
the board. The taxpayer liaison officer shall administer the
public access functions required by Sections 6.04(d), (e), and (f),
and is responsible for resolving disputes not involving matters
that may be protested under Section 41.41. The taxpayer liaison
officer also is responsible for receiving and compiling a list of
complaints filed by the chief appraiser, a property owner, or a
property owner's agent concerning, but not limited to, the
following matters related to the appraisal review board:
(1) application of hearing procedures;
(2) provision of notices;
(3) scheduling of hearings;
(4) postponement of hearings;
(5) admission of evidence presented at hearings;
(6) issuance of subpoenas;
(7) conflicts of interest;
(8) restrictions on membership eligibility;
(9) assignment of protests to panels;
(10) ex parte communications; and
(11) any other procedural matter.
(b) The taxpayer liaison officer [may] shall provide to the
public information and materials designed to assist property owners
in understanding the appraisal process, protest procedures, how to
file complaints under subsection (a) and Section 6.04(g), and other
matters.
(c) The taxpayer liaison officer shall report to the board
at each meeting on the status of all complaints filed with the board
under section 6.04(g) and with the officer under subsection (a).
(d) The taxpayer liaison officer is entitled to
compensation as provided by the budget adopted by the board of
directors.
(e) The chief appraiser or any other person who performs
appraisal or legal services for the appraisal district or is
employed by the appraisal district in another capacity is not
eligible to be the taxpayer liaison officer [for the appraisal
district].
(f) The taxpayer liaison officer shall provide to the
comptroller the list of complaints filed under subsection (a) in
the form and manner and according to the schedule prescribed by the
comptroller.
SECTION 4. SECTION 6.41, Tax Code is amended to read as
follows:
(d-1) In a county with a population of 200,000 [3.3 million
or more or a county with a population of 550,000 or more that is
adjacent to a county with a population of 3.3 million] or more the
members of the board are appointed by the local administrative
district judge in the county in which the appraisal district is
established.
(d-10) In a county with a population greater than 200,000,
an appraisal review board member may be removed for good cause as
follows:
(1) The Board of Directors of the appraisal district,
the Chairman of the appraisal review board or a property owner in
the district may file a motion with the local administrative
district judge for purposes of the removal of a member of the
appraisal review board for good cause.
(2) Good cause includes but is not limited to:
(i) failure to follow the Tax Code,
(ii) failure to follow the Rules of the
Comptroller of Public Accounts,
(iii) demonstration of bias or prejudice,
(iv) participation in ex parte
communication prohibited by this code,
(v) maintenance of statistics of changes in
values of properties,
(vi) failure to regularly attend meetings,
(vii) failure to provide a report under
Section 5.103(e); and
(viii) inattention to hearings or the
hearing process.
(3) The district judge shall have complete discretion
in selection of the appropriate procedure for implementation of
this process. The district judge may or may not hold a hearing. The
decision of the district judge is final and may not be appealed.
(4) If good cause for removal is found, the member
shall be removed from the appraisal review board immediately. The
removal shall have no effect upon prior decisions in which the
member participated.
(5) The district judge may appoint a special master to
determine the motion for removal. The special master shall be
compensated by the appraisal district at the same rate as an
appraisal review board member.
(6) The local administrative district judge shall
appoint the replacement if a member is removed.
(7) The comptroller of public accounts shall adopt
rules for the implementation of this section.
(e) Members of the board hold office for terms of four [two]
years beginning January 1. The appraisal district board of
directors by resolution shall provide for staggered terms, so that
the terms of as close to one-half of the members as possible expire
each year. In making the initial or subsequent appointments, the
board of directors or the local administrative district judge or
the judge's designee shall designate those members who serve terms
of one year as needed to comply with this subsection.
(i) The decisions of a member of an appraisal review shall
be made in compliance with this Code and the rules of the
Comptroller of Public Accounts. A member shall at the conclusion of
the training required under Section 5.041 or prior to the first
appraisal review board hearing of the tax year sign an affidavit
agreeing to compliance with these provisions.
(j) Service on a board does not constitute employment for
the purposes of Chapter 201, Labor Code and does not authorize a
person to receive unemployment benefits by virtue of such service.
SECTION 5. SECTION 21.09, Tax Code, is added to read as
follows:
Sec. 21.09 ALLOCATION APPLICATION (a) To receive an
allocation authorized by Section 21.021, 21.03, 21.031, 21.05 or
21.055, a person claiming the allocation must apply for the
allocation. To apply for an allocation, a person must file an
allocation application form with the chief appraiser in the
appraisal district in which the property subject to the claimed
allocation has situs.
(b) A person claiming allocation must apply for the
allocation each year the person claims allocation. A person
claiming allocation must file a completed allocation application
form before May 1 and must furnish the information required by the
form. For good cause shown, the chief appraiser shall extend the
deadline for filing an allocation application by written order for
a period not to exceed 60 days.
(c) The comptroller shall prescribe the contents of the
allocation application form and shall ensure that the form requires
an applicant to furnish the information necessary to determine the
validity of the allocation application.
(d) If the chief appraiser learns of any reason indicating
that an allocation previously allowed should be cancelled, he shall
investigate. If he determines that the property is not entitled to
an allocation, he shall cancel the allocation and deliver written
notice of the cancellation within five days after the date he makes
the cancellation. A person may protest the cancellation of an
allocation.
(e) The filing of a rendition under Chapter 22 is not a
condition of qualification for allocation.
(f) If the property was not on the appraisal roll in the
preceding year, the deadline for filing an application for
allocation is extended to 45 days after receipt of the notice of
appraised value required by Section 25.19(a)(1) of this code.
SECTION 6. SECTION 22.10, Tax Code, is added to read as
follows:
Sec. 21.10. LATE APPLICATION FOR ALLOCATION. (a) The chief
appraiser shall accept and approve or deny an application for
allocation under Section 21.09 after the deadline for filing it has
passed if it is filed before the date the appraisal review board
approves the appraisal records.
(b) If the application is approved, the property owner is
liable to each taxing unit for a penalty in an amount equal to 10
percent of the difference between the amount of tax imposed by the
taxing unit on the property without the allocation and the amount of
tax imposed on the property with the allocation.
(c) The chief appraiser shall make an entry on the appraisal
records for the property indicating the property owner's liability
for the penalty and shall deliver a written notice of imposition of
the penalty, explaining the reason for its imposition, to the
property owner.
(d) The tax assessor for a taxing unit that taxes the
property shall add the amount of the penalty to the property owner's
tax bill, and the tax collector for the unit shall collect the
penalty at the time and in the manner the collector collects the
tax. The amount of the penalty constitutes a lien against the
property against which the penalty is imposed, as if it were a tax,
and accrues penalty and interest in the same manner as a delinquent
tax.
SECTION 7. SECTION 41.45(n), Tax Code, is added to read as
follows:
(n) A property owner does not waive the right to appear in
person by the filing of an affidavit and the affidavit shall be used
by the appraisal review board only in the event the property owner
does not appear in person. For purposes of the scheduling of a
hearing, a property owner shall designate on the affidavit that the
property owner does not intend to appear at the hearing or shall
designate that the affidavit shall be used only in the event that
the property owner does not appear at the hearing. If the property
owner states that the property owner does not intend to appear at
the hearing, the appraisal review board is not required to consider
the affidavit at the scheduled hearing and may consider the
affidavit at a hearing designated for the specific purpose of
processing affidavits.
SECTION 8. SECTION 41.66, Tax Code, is amended by adding
subsections (i), (j), (k), (1), (m), (n) and (o) to read as follows:
(i) A protest hearing shall be set for a time and date
certain. If the protest hearing for a property owner not
represented by an agent designated under Section 1.111 is not
commenced within two hours of the time certain, the hearing upon
request shall be postponed. If a protest hearing is not commenced
on the date noticed, a designated agent may request a postponement
of the protest hearing and the request is automatically granted.
The postponed hearing may be set no sooner than 14 days from the
original hearing date unless by other agreement and the appraisal
review board shall provide written notice of the new hearing.
(j) At the written request of a property owner filed with
the protest, the appraisal review board shall schedule requested
protest hearings for that property owner for consecutive hearings.
At the written request of an attorney or an agent designated under
Section 1.111 filed with the protest, the appraisal review board
shall schedule the requested protest hearings for that attorney,
agent, or agent's company for consecutive hearings. The district
is not required to schedule more than twenty hearings
consecutively. A district may use more than one panel for
scheduling the hearings for an agent's company. In a county in
which an attorney or an agent designated under Section 1.111
protests fewer than twenty properties, the hearings upon request
shall be on the same day.
(k) At the request of a property owner or an agent
designated under Section 1.111, the appraisal review board shall
schedule all parcels for a property or economic unit of real
property for the same protest hearing. The parcels comprising a
single property or economic unit shall be identified in the
protest.
(l) Property owners or their designated agents shall be
randomly assigned to panels. However, the assignment may consider
the property type subject to protest for utilization of panel
expertise for a particular property type. If a property owner or
designated agent is assigned to a panel for a day, the property
owner or designated agent may not be reassigned to another panel
without the property owner or designated agent's consent.
Reassignment without consent is good cause for postponement of a
hearing.
(m) Evidence and argument provided by a property owner,
attorney or agent in support of a protest brought under Section
41.41(a) (1) or (2) is not subject to Chapter 1103, Occupation Code,
unless the person offering such evidence or argument states that
they are offering evidence or argument as a person holding a license
or certification under Chapter 1103, Occupation Code. A person
licensed under Chapter 1103, Occupation Code shall state the
capacity in which they are appearing before the appraisal review
board.
(n) Appraisal districts and appraisal review boards may not
make decisions with regard to membership on a panel or chairmanship
of a panel based upon consideration of a member's voting record in
previous cases.
(o) An appraisal review board shall respond in writing to a
request for postponement of a hearing within seven days of receipt
of the request.
(p) The chairman of an appraisal review board or member
designated by the chairman may make decisions with regard to the
scheduling or postponement of a protest hearing. The chief
appraiser or person designated by the chief appraiser may agree to a
postponement of an appraisal review board hearing.
SECTION 9. Section 41A.01, Tax Code, is amended to read as
follows:
(a) To appeal an appraisal review board order under this
chapter, a property owner must file with the appraisal district not
later than the 45th day after the date the property owner receives
notice of the order:
(1) a completed request for binding arbitration under
this chapter in the form prescribed by Section 41A.04; and
(2) an arbitration deposit made payable to the
comptroller in the amount of[รท]
[(A)] $500 [; or
[(B) $250, if the property owner requests
expedited arbitration under Section 41A.031].
SECTION 10. SECTION 42.21, Tax Code, is amended by adding
subsections (f) and (g) to read as follows:
(f) A petition may include multiple properties owned or
leased by the same plaintiff.
(g) A petition may include multiple plaintiffs if the
plaintiffs are or related entities. Related entities include
parents and subsidiaries, affiliates, joint ventures, partnerships
with overlapping partners or companies with overlapping members.
The court upon motion may sever the action of related entities upon
a showing that the entities are not related. Evidence of a related
entity includes identical management of the entities, identical
principal place of business of the entities, same representative
for purposes of an entity representative for an entity deposition
and same person retaining the attorney for purposes of filing the
lawsuit.
(h) A petition may be amended within the time period set
forth in subsection (a) for the same year to include additional
properties owned by the same owner or related entities that are the
subject of an appraisal review board order.
(i) The court has jurisdiction over an appeal under this
chapter regardless of the plaintiff identified in the petition if
the property was the subject of an appraisal review board hearing
for the current year and the petition was filed within the time
period set forth in subsection (a). A petition may be amended at
any time to insure proper parties in interest to the lawsuit or to
correct an error in the identification of the property. Upon
motion, the court shall determine proper parties in interest to the
suit. An incorrect party or property shall be the subject of a
special exception and correction through amendment.
SECTION 11. SECTION 42.26 is amended by adding subsection
(e) to read as follows:
(e) For purposes of this section, the appraised value of the
property the subject of the suit and the appraised value of the
comparable properties is the appraised value determined by the
appraisal review board. This subsection does not apply to chemical
processing property, utility property, or other properties in which
a reasonable number of comparable properties constitutes all the
comparable properties.
SECTION 12. Section 42.23, Tax Code, is amending by adding
subsection (h) to read as follows:
(h) Evidence, argument and other testimony offered at an
appraisal review board hearing by a property owner or agent is not
admissible under this chapter except to establish the court's
jurisdiction or for purposes of evidence in a no evidence motion for
summary judgment.
SECTION 13. Section 41A.031 is repealed.
SECTION 14. The changes in law made by this Act are
procedural changes to existing law and are applicable to any
proceedings pending or not finalized as of the effective date of
this bill.
SECTION 15. Sections 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 8, and 9 take effect
January 1, 2014.
SECTION 16. This Act takes effect immediately if it
receives a vote of two-thirds of all members elected to each house,
as provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this
Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this
Act takes effect September 1, 2013.