Texas 2015 - 84th Regular

Texas Senate Bill SB1687 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.

Old	New	Differences
1	1	By: Ellis S.B. No. 1687
2	2
3	3
4	4	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
5	5	AN ACT
6	6	relating to the exemption from ad valorem taxation of property
7	7	owned by charitable organizations that engage in or support the
8	8	planting, growing, cultivation, or maintenance of trees in public
9	9	areas.
10	10	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
11	11	SECTION 1. Section 11.18(d), Tax Code, is amended to read as
12	12	follows:
13	13	(d) A charitable organization must be organized exclusively to
14	14	perform religious, charitable, scientific, literary, or
15	15	educational purposes and, except as permitted by Subsections (h)
16	16	and (l), engage exclusively in performing one or more of the
17	17	following charitable functions:
18	18	(1) providing medical care without regard to the beneficiaries'
19	19	ability to pay, which in the case of a nonprofit hospital or
20	20	hospital system means providing charity care and community benefits
21	21	in accordance with Section 11.1801;
22	22	(2) providing support or relief to orphans, delinquent,
23	23	dependent, or handicapped children in need of residential care,
24	24	abused or battered spouses or children in need of temporary
25	25	shelter, the impoverished, or victims of natural disaster without
26	26	regard to the beneficiaries' ability to pay;
27	27	(3) providing support without regard to the beneficiaries'
28	28	ability to pay to:
29	29	(A) elderly persons, including the provision of:
30	30	(i) recreational or social activities; and
31	31	(ii) facilities designed to address the special needs of elderly
32	32	persons; or
33	33	(B) the handicapped, including training and employment:
34	34	(i) in the production of commodities; or
35	35	(ii) in the provision of services under 41 U.S.C. Sections 46-48c;
36	36	(4) preserving a historical landmark or site;
37	37	(5) promoting or operating a museum, zoo, library, theater of the
38	38	dramatic or performing arts, or symphony orchestra or choir;
39	39	(6) promoting or providing humane treatment of animals;
40	40	(7) acquiring, storing, transporting, selling, or distributing
41	41	water for public use;
42	42	(8) answering fire alarms and extinguishing fires with no
43	43	compensation or only nominal compensation to the members of the
44	44	organization;
45	45	(9) promoting the athletic development of boys or girls under the
46	46	age of 18 years;
47	47	(10) preserving or conserving wildlife;
48	48	(11) promoting educational development through loans or
49	49	scholarships to students;
50	50	(12) providing halfway house services pursuant to a certification
51	51	as a halfway house by the parole division of the Texas Department of
52	52	Criminal Justice;
53	53	(13) providing permanent housing and related social, health care,
54	54	and educational facilities for persons who are 62 years of age or
55	55	older without regard to the residents' ability to pay;
56	56	(14) promoting or operating an art gallery, museum, or collection,
57	57	in a permanent location or on tour, that is open to the public;
58	58	(15) providing for the organized solicitation and collection for
59	59	distributions through gifts, grants, and agreements to nonprofit
60	60	charitable, education, religious, and youth organizations that
61	61	provide direct human, health, and welfare services;
62	62	(16) performing biomedical or scientific research or biomedical
63	63	or scientific education for the benefit of the public;
64	64	(17) operating a television station that produces or broadcasts
65	65	educational, cultural, or other public interest programming and
66	66	that receives grants from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting
67	67	under 47 U.S.C. Section 396, as amended;
68	68	(18) providing housing for low-income and moderate-income
69	69	families, for unmarried individuals 62 years of age or older, for
70	70	handicapped individuals, and for families displaced by urban
71	71	renewal, through the use of trust assets that are irrevocably and,
72	72	pursuant to a contract entered into before December 31, 1972,
73	73	contractually dedicated on the sale or disposition of the housing
74	74	to a charitable organization that performs charitable functions
75	75	described by Subdivision (9);
76	76	(19) providing housing and related services to persons who are 62
77	77	years of age or older in a retirement community, if the retirement
78	78	community provides independent living services, assisted living
79	79	services, and nursing services to its residents on a single campus:
80	80	(A) without regard to the residents' ability to pay; or
81	81	(B) in which at least four percent of the retirement community's
82	82	combined net resident revenue is provided in charitable care to its
83	83	residents;
84	84	(20) providing housing on a cooperative basis to students of an
85	85	institution of higher education if:
86	86	(A) the organization is exempt from federal income taxation under
87	87	Section 501(a), Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended, by being
88	88	listed as an exempt entity under Section 501(c)(3) of that code;
89	89	(B) membership in the organization is open to all students
90	90	enrolled in the institution and is not limited to those chosen by
91	91	current members of the organization;
92	92	(C) the organization is governed by its members; and
93	93	(D) the members of the organization share the responsibility for
94	94	managing the housing;
95	95	(21) acquiring, holding, and transferring unimproved real
96	96	property under an urban land bank demonstration program established
97	97	under Chapter 379C, Local Government Code, as or on behalf of a land
98	98	bank;
99	99	(22) acquiring, holding, and transferring unimproved real
100	100	property under an urban land bank program established under Chapter
101	101	379E, Local Government Code, as or on behalf of a land bank;
102	102	(23) providing housing and related services to individuals who:
103	103	(A) are unaccompanied and homeless and have a disabling condition;
104	104	and
105	105	(B) have been continuously homeless for a year or more or have had
106	106	at least four episodes of homelessness in the preceding three
107	107	years; [or]
108	108	(24) operating a radio station that broadcasts educational,
109	109	cultural, or other public interest programming, including
110	110	classical music, and that in the preceding five years has received
111	111	or been selected to receive one or more grants from the Corporation
112	112	for Public Broadcasting under 47 U.S.C. Section 396, as amended; or
113	113	(25) planting, growing, transplanting, cultivating and
114	114	maintaining trees that are located or to be located exclusively on
115	115	public rights-of-way, in public easements, on public school
116	116	grounds, in public parks, or on other public lands or neighborhood
117	117	common areas or other areas available for the use and enjoyment of
118	118	the public.
119	119	SECTION 2. This Act applies only to ad valorem taxes imposed for a
120	120	tax year beginning on or after the effective date of this Act.
121	121	SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2015.