| 1 | 1 | | By: Taylor of Galveston S.B. No. 1267 |
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| 2 | 2 | | (In the Senate - Filed March 3, 2017; March 13, 2017, read |
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| 3 | 3 | | first time and referred to Committee on Education; April 26, 2017, |
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| 4 | 4 | | reported favorably by the following vote: Yeas 10, Nays 0; |
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| 5 | 5 | | April 26, 2017, sent to printer.) |
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| 6 | 6 | | Click here to see the committee vote |
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| 7 | 7 | | |
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| 8 | 8 | | |
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| 9 | 9 | | A BILL TO BE ENTITLED |
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| 10 | 10 | | AN ACT |
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| 11 | 11 | | relating to school district ad valorem tax rates. |
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| 12 | 12 | | BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: |
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| 13 | 13 | | SECTION 1. Section 26.08, Tax Code, is amended by adding |
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| 14 | 14 | | Subsections (q) and (r) to read as follows: |
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| 15 | 15 | | (q) This subsection applies only to a school district |
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| 16 | 16 | | described by Subsection (n) whose adopted tax rate was approved at |
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| 17 | 17 | | an election under this section in the 2006 tax year or any |
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| 18 | 18 | | subsequent tax year. Notwithstanding Subsection (n), for purposes |
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| 19 | 19 | | of this section, the rollback tax rate of the school district is the |
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| 20 | 20 | | higher of: |
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| 21 | 21 | | (1) the amount computed under Subsection (n); or |
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| 22 | 22 | | (2) the sum of the following: |
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| 23 | 23 | | (A) the highest maintenance and operations tax |
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| 24 | 24 | | rate adopted by the district for the 2007 tax year or any subsequent |
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| 25 | 25 | | tax year in which the adopted tax rate of the district was approved |
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| 26 | 26 | | at an election under this section; and |
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| 27 | 27 | | (B) the district's current debt rate. |
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| 28 | 28 | | (r) Subsection (q) applies to a school district only if the |
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| 29 | 29 | | district has adopted a tax rate equal to or higher than the rate |
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| 30 | 30 | | provided by that subsection for any tax year in the preceding 10 tax |
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| 31 | 31 | | years. |
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| 32 | 32 | | SECTION 2. (a) The comptroller of public accounts shall |
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| 33 | 33 | | conduct a study to determine: |
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| 34 | 34 | | (1) the number of school districts that adopt an ad |
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| 35 | 35 | | valorem tax rate for the tax year in which this Act takes effect |
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| 36 | 36 | | that is lower than the district's ad valorem tax rate for the tax |
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| 37 | 37 | | year preceding that tax year and then, for the tax year following |
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| 38 | 38 | | the tax year in which this Act takes effect, adopt an ad valorem tax |
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| 39 | 39 | | rate that is higher than the district's ad valorem tax rate for the |
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| 40 | 40 | | tax year in which this Act takes effect; and |
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| 41 | 41 | | (2) the number of school districts that adopted an ad |
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| 42 | 42 | | valorem tax rate for the second tax year preceding the tax year in |
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| 43 | 43 | | which this Act takes effect that was lower than the district's ad |
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| 44 | 44 | | valorem tax rate for the tax year preceding that tax year and then, |
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| 45 | 45 | | for the tax year preceding the tax year in which this Act takes |
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| 46 | 46 | | effect, adopted an ad valorem tax rate that was higher than the |
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| 47 | 47 | | district's ad valorem tax rate for the second tax year preceding the |
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| 48 | 48 | | tax year in which this Act takes effect. |
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| 49 | 49 | | (b) The comptroller of public accounts shall report the |
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| 50 | 50 | | results of the study conducted under this section to each member of |
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| 51 | 51 | | the legislature not later than December 1, 2019. |
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| 52 | 52 | | SECTION 3. (a) The change in law made by this Act applies |
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| 53 | 53 | | to the ad valorem tax rate of a school district beginning with the |
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| 54 | 54 | | 2017 tax year, except as provided by Subsection (b) of this section. |
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| 55 | 55 | | (b) If the governing body of a school district adopted an ad |
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| 56 | 56 | | valorem tax rate for the school district for the 2017 tax year |
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| 57 | 57 | | before the effective date of this Act, the change in law made by |
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| 58 | 58 | | this Act applies to the ad valorem tax rate of that school district |
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| 59 | 59 | | beginning with the 2018 tax year, and the law in effect when the tax |
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| 60 | 60 | | rate was adopted applies to the 2017 tax year with respect to that |
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| 61 | 61 | | school district. |
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| 62 | 62 | | SECTION 4. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives |
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| 63 | 63 | | a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as |
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| 64 | 64 | | provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this |
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| 65 | 65 | | Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this |
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| 66 | 66 | | Act takes effect September 1, 2017. |
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| 67 | 67 | | * * * * * |
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