84R6300 TJB-D
By: Deshotel H.B. No. 1995
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the authority to modify an ad valorem tax abatement
agreement to extend the abatement period if a disaster prevents the
property owner from complying with the agreement.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 312.208, Tax Code, is amended by
amending Subsection (a) and adding Subsection (c) to read as
follows:
(a) At any time before the expiration of an agreement made
under this subchapter, the agreement may be modified by the parties
to the agreement to include other provisions that could have been
included in the original agreement or to delete provisions that
were not necessary to the original agreement. The modification must
be made by the same procedure by which the original agreement was
approved and executed. Except as provided by Subsection (c), the
[The] original agreement may not be modified to extend beyond 10
years from the date of the original agreement.
(c) The parties to an agreement made under this subchapter
may modify the agreement to extend the abatement period for a period
not to exceed 10 years from the date the modified agreement is
executed if:
(1) the area in which the property that is the subject
of the agreement is located is declared to be a disaster area by the
governor;
(2) the owner of the property sustains a casualty loss
to the property as a result of the disaster; and
(3) the casualty loss prevents the owner of the
property from complying with the original agreement.
SECTION 2. The change in law made by this Act applies to the
modification of an ad valorem tax abatement agreement regardless of
whether the disaster prompting the modification of the agreement
occurred before, on, or after the effective date of this Act.
SECTION 3. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives
a vote of two-thirds of all the 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, 2015.