By: Watson S.B. No. 593
(In the Senate - Filed February 17, 2015; February 23, 2015,
read first time and referred to Committee on Finance;
April 27, 2015, reported adversely, with favorable Committee
Substitute by the following vote: Yeas 11, Nays 0, 1 present not
voting; April 27, 2015, sent to printer.)
Click here to see the committee vote
COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR S.B. No. 593 By: Watson
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to pretrial settlement discussions during a judicial
appeal of certain ad valorem tax determinations and the effect of
certain pretrial settlement offers on the calculation of an award
of attorney's fees in such an appeal.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Subchapter B, Chapter 42, Tax Code, is amended by
adding Section 42.227 to read as follows:
Sec. 42.227. PRETRIAL SETTLEMENT DISCUSSIONS. (a) On
motion by a party to an appeal under this chapter for which a
discovery request to designate one or more expert witnesses is
made, the court shall enter an order requiring the parties to engage
in settlement discussions before the trial begins. The motion must
be made not later than the 210th day before the date the discovery
period in the appeal ends.
(b) If a motion is made under this section, the court shall
order the settlement discussions to be conducted not later than the
90th day after the date the motion is made. The court may provide in
the order that settlement discussions be conducted in a specific
manner, including as part of an informal settlement conference or
another form of alternative dispute resolution.
(c) Each party ordered to engage in settlement discussions
must make a good faith effort to resolve the matter under appeal
during the discussions.
SECTION 2. Section 42.29, Tax Code, is amended by adding
Subsection (c) to read as follows:
(c) This subsection applies only if the appraisal district
or the chief appraiser made a written settlement offer to the
property owner on or before the 45th day before the date the trial
began and a record of the offer was submitted to the court. For the
purposes of Subsections (a)(2) and (b)(2), the amount by which the
property owner's tax liability is reduced as a result of the appeal
is computed by subtracting the property owner's tax liability
resulting from the court's final determination of the appeal from
the property owner's tax liability that would have resulted had the
property owner accepted the most recent settlement offer meeting
the requirements of this subsection. This subsection may not be
construed to preclude a provision that waives attorney's fees or a
refund of interest from being included in a settlement offer.
SECTION 3. The change in law made by this Act to Section
42.29, Tax Code, applies only to an appeal filed under Chapter 42,
Tax Code, on or after the effective date of this Act. An appeal
filed under Chapter 42, Tax Code, before the effective date of this
Act is governed by the law in effect when the appeal was filed, and
the former law is continued in effect for that purpose.
SECTION 4. 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.
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