By: Burton S.B. No. 448
(In the Senate - Filed January 9, 2017; February 6, 2017,
read first time and referred to Committee on Finance;
March 16, 2017, reported favorably by the following vote: Yeas 15,
Nays 0; March 16, 2017, sent to printer.)
Click here to see the committee vote
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the procedure for canceling a deferral or abatement of
collection of ad valorem taxes on the residence homestead of an
elderly person.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 1.07(d), Tax Code, is amended to read as
follows:
(d) A notice required by Section 11.43(q), 11.45(d),
23.44(d), 23.46(c) or (f), 23.54(e), 23.541(c), 23.55(e),
23.551(a), 23.57(d), 23.76(e), 23.79(d), [or] 23.85(d), or
33.06(h) must be sent by certified mail.
SECTION 2. Section 33.06, Tax Code, is amended by adding
Subsection (h) to read as follows:
(h) The chief appraiser may not make a determination that an
individual who is 65 years of age or older is no longer entitled to
receive a deferral or abatement under this section because the
property for which the deferral or abatement was obtained is no
longer the individual's principal residence without first
providing written notice to the individual stating that the chief
appraiser believes the property may no longer be the individual's
principal residence. The notice must include a form on which the
individual may indicate that the property remains the individual's
principal residence and a self-addressed postage prepaid envelope
with instructions for returning the form to the chief appraiser.
The chief appraiser shall consider the individual's response on the
form in determining whether the property remains the individual's
principal residence. If the chief appraiser does not receive a
response on or before the 60th day after the date the notice is
mailed, the chief appraiser may make a determination that the
property is no longer the individual's principal residence on or
after the 30th day after the expiration of the 60-day period, but
only after making a reasonable effort to locate the individual and
determine whether the property remains the individual's principal
residence. For purposes of this subsection, sending an additional
notice that includes, in bold font equal to or greater in size than
the surrounding text, the date on which the chief appraiser is
authorized to make the determination to the individual receiving
the deferral or abatement immediately after the expiration of the
60-day period by first class mail in an envelope on which is
written, in all capital letters, "RETURN SERVICE REQUESTED," or
another appropriate statement directing the United States Postal
Service to return the notice if it is not deliverable as addressed,
or providing the additional notice in another manner that the chief
appraiser determines is appropriate, constitutes a reasonable
effort on the part of the chief appraiser. The chief appraiser may
include a notice required under this subsection in a notice
required under Section 11.43(q), if applicable.
SECTION 3. The change in law made by this Act applies only
to a determination by a chief appraiser that an individual who is 65
years of age or older is no longer entitled to receive a deferral or
abatement of collection of ad valorem taxes under Section 33.06,
Tax Code, because the property for which the deferral or abatement
was obtained is no longer the individual's principal residence that
is made on or after the effective date of this Act. A determination
by a chief appraiser that an individual who is 65 years of age or
older is no longer entitled to receive a deferral or abatement of
collection of ad valorem taxes under Section 33.06, Tax Code,
because the property for which the deferral or abatement was
obtained is no longer the individual's principal residence that is
made before the effective date of this Act is governed by the law in
effect at the time the determination was made, and that law is
continued in effect for that purpose.
SECTION 4. This Act takes effect September 1, 2017.
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