Texas 2021 87th Regular

Texas House Bill HB1556 Comm Sub / Bill

Filed 05/05/2021

                    87R24087 SMH-D
 By: Murphy, Burrows, Moody, Shine H.B. No. 1556
 Substitute the following for H.B. No. 1556:
 By:  Shine C.S.H.B. No. 1556


 A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 AN ACT
 relating to the Texas Economic Development Act; requiring the
 imposition of an authorized fee and changing the amounts of certain
 fees.
 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
 SECTION 1.  Section 313.007, Tax Code, is amended to read as
 follows:
 Sec. 313.007.  EXPIRATION.  Subchapters B and C expire
 December 31, 2032 [2022].
 SECTION 2.  Sections 313.021(1) and (2), Tax Code, are
 amended to read as follows:
 (1)  "Qualified investment" means:
 (A)  tangible personal property that is first
 placed in service in this state during the applicable qualifying
 time period that begins on or after January 1, 2002, without regard
 to whether the property is affixed to or incorporated into real
 property, and that is described as Section 1245 property by Section
 1245(a), Internal Revenue Code of 1986;
 (B)  tangible personal property that is first
 placed in service in this state during the applicable qualifying
 time period that begins on or after January 1, 2002, without regard
 to whether the property is affixed to or incorporated into real
 property, and that is used in connection with the manufacturing,
 processing, or fabrication in a cleanroom environment of a
 semiconductor product, without regard to whether the property is
 actually located in the cleanroom environment, including:
 (i)  integrated systems, fixtures, and
 piping;
 (ii)  all property necessary or adapted to
 reduce contamination or to control airflow, temperature, humidity,
 chemical purity, or other environmental conditions or
 manufacturing tolerances; and
 (iii)  production equipment and machinery,
 moveable cleanroom partitions, and cleanroom lighting;
 (C)  tangible personal property that is first
 placed in service in this state during the applicable qualifying
 time period that begins on or after January 1, 2002, without regard
 to whether the property is affixed to or incorporated into real
 property, and that is used in connection with the operation of a
 nuclear electric power generation facility, including:
 (i)  property, including pressure vessels,
 pumps, turbines, generators, and condensers, used to produce
 nuclear electric power; and
 (ii)  property and systems necessary to
 control radioactive contamination;
 (D)  tangible personal property that is first
 placed in service in this state during the applicable qualifying
 time period that begins on or after January 1, 2002, without regard
 to whether the property is affixed to or incorporated into real
 property, and that is used in connection with operating an
 integrated gasification combined cycle electric generation
 facility, including:
 (i)  property used to produce electric power
 by means of a combined combustion turbine and steam turbine
 application using synthetic gas or another product produced by the
 gasification of coal or another carbon-based feedstock; or
 (ii)  property used in handling materials to
 be used as feedstock for gasification or used in the gasification
 process to produce synthetic gas or another carbon-based feedstock
 for use in the production of electric power in the manner described
 by Subparagraph (i);
 (E)  tangible personal property that is first
 placed in service in this state during the applicable qualifying
 time period that begins on or after January 1, 2010, without regard
 to whether the property is affixed to or incorporated into real
 property, and that is used in connection with operating an advanced
 clean energy project, as defined by Section 382.003, Health and
 Safety Code; [or]
 (F)  a building or a permanent, nonremovable
 component of a building that is built or constructed during the
 applicable qualifying time period that begins on or after January
 1, 2002, and that houses tangible personal property described by
 Paragraph (A), (B), (C), (D), or (E); or
 (G)  a building or a permanent, nonremovable
 component of a building that, as part of a discrete project that
 increases the value of the building or component, is renovated,
 expanded, modernized, or otherwise improved during the applicable
 qualifying time period that begins on or after January 1, 2023, and
 that houses tangible personal property described by Paragraph (A),
 (B), (C), (D), or (E).
 (2)  "Qualified property" means:
 (A)  land:
 (i)  that is located in an area designated as
 a reinvestment zone under Chapter 311 or 312 or as an enterprise
 zone under Chapter 2303, Government Code;
 (ii)  on which a person proposes to:
 (a)  construct a new building or erect
 or affix a new improvement that does not exist before the date the
 person submits a complete application for a limitation on appraised
 value under this subchapter; or
 (b)  renovate, expand, modernize, or
 otherwise improve an existing building or improvement;
 (iii)  that is not subject to a tax abatement
 agreement entered into by a school district under Chapter 312; and
 (iv)  on which, in connection with the [new]
 building or [new] improvement described by Subparagraph (ii), the
 owner or lessee of, or the holder of another possessory interest in,
 the land proposes to:
 (a)  make a qualified investment in an
 amount equal to at least the minimum amount required by Section
 313.023; and
 (b)  create at least 25 new qualifying
 jobs;
 (B)  the [new] building or other [new] improvement
 described by Paragraph (A)(ii); and
 (C)  tangible personal property:
 (i)  that is not subject to a tax abatement
 agreement entered into by a school district under Chapter 312;
 (ii)  for which a sales and use tax refund is
 not claimed under Section 151.3186; and
 (iii)  except for new equipment described in
 Section 151.318(q) or (q-1), that is first placed in service in the
 new building, in the newly renovated, expanded, modernized, or
 improved building, or in or on the new or newly renovated, expanded,
 modernized, or improved improvement described by Paragraph
 (A)(ii), or on the land on which that [new] building or [new]
 improvement is located, if the personal property is ancillary and
 necessary to the business conducted in that [new] building or in or
 on that [new] improvement.
 SECTION 3.  Section 313.024(c), Tax Code, is amended to read
 as follows:
 (c)  For purposes of determining an applicant's eligibility
 for a limitation under this subchapter:
 (1)  the land on which a building or component of a
 building described by Section 313.021(1)(F) or (G) [313.021(1)(E)]
 is located is not considered a qualified investment;
 (2)  property that is leased under a capitalized lease
 may be considered a qualified investment;
 (3)  property that is leased under an operating lease
 may not be considered a qualified investment; [and]
 (4)  property that is owned by a person other than the
 applicant and that is pooled or proposed to be pooled with property
 owned by the applicant may not be included in determining the amount
 of the applicant's qualifying investment; and
 (5)  a building or component of a building that is
 renovated, expanded, modernized, or otherwise improved as
 described by Section 313.021(1)(G) is not considered a qualified
 investment unless:
 (A)  the building or component would qualify as a
 qualified investment if the building or component were to be built
 or constructed during the applicable qualifying time period; and
 (B)  the agreement between the property owner and
 the school district describes with specificity as required by
 Section 313.027(e) the manner in which the building or component
 will be renovated, expanded, modernized, or otherwise improved.
 SECTION 4.  Section 313.025, Tax Code, is amended by
 amending Subsections (a), (a-1), and (b) and adding Subsection
 (a-2) to read as follows:
 (a)  The owner or lessee of, or the holder of another
 possessory interest in, any qualified property described by Section
 313.021(2)(A), (B), or (C) may apply to the governing body of the
 school district in which the property is located for a limitation on
 the appraised value for school district maintenance and operations
 ad valorem tax purposes of the person's qualified property.  An
 application must be made on the form prescribed by the comptroller
 and [include the information required by the comptroller, and it
 must] be accompanied by a [:
 [(1)  the application] fee in the amount of $60,000
 payable to [established by the governing body of] the school
 district[;
 [(2)  information sufficient to show that the real and
 personal property identified in the application as qualified
 property meets the applicable criteria established by Section
 313.021(2); and
 [(3)  any information required by the comptroller for
 the purposes of Section 313.026].
 (a-1)  The application form may require the applicant to
 provide only the following information:
 (1)  the name and taxpayer identification number of the
 applicant and each parent, subsidiary, or affiliate of the
 applicant;
 (2)  contact information for the applicant;
 (3)  the name of the school district in which the
 qualified property is located;
 (4)  a description of the project, including the
 category of the applicable North American Industry Classification
 System that describes the activities in which the applicant will
 engage in connection with the project;
 (5)  the location of the project;
 (6)  for each ad valorem tax year covered by the
 proposed agreement between the applicant and the school district:
 (A)  an estimate of the amount of the qualified
 investment to be spent or allocated for the project;
 (B)  the number of qualifying jobs the applicant
 commits to create and the total amount of wages that will be paid to
 the persons holding those jobs;
 (C)  an estimate of the appraised value of the
 project if the project were not subject to the proposed agreement;
 (D)  an estimate of the amount of ad valorem taxes
 for maintenance and operations and for debt that would be imposed by
 the school district on the project if the project were not subject
 to the proposed agreement;
 (E)  an estimate of the appraised value of the
 project for school district maintenance and operations ad valorem
 tax purposes as determined in accordance with the proposed
 agreement; and
 (F)  an estimate of the amount of ad valorem taxes
 for maintenance and operations that will be imposed by the school
 district on the project as determined in accordance with the
 proposed agreement; and
 (7)  any information that the comptroller:
 (A)  requires for the purposes of Section 313.026;
 or
 (B)  otherwise determines to be necessary to
 determine the applicant's eligibility for a limitation on appraised
 value.
 (a-2)  Within seven days of the receipt of each document, the
 school district shall submit to the comptroller a copy of the
 application and the proposed agreement between the applicant and
 the school district.  If the applicant submits an economic analysis
 of the proposed project to the school district, the district shall
 submit a copy of the analysis to the comptroller.  In addition, the
 school district shall submit to the comptroller any subsequent
 revision of or amendment to any of those documents within seven days
 of its receipt.  The comptroller shall publish each document
 received from the school district under this subsection on the
 comptroller's Internet website.  If the school district maintains a
 generally accessible Internet website, the district shall provide
 on its website a link to the location of those documents posted on
 the comptroller's website in compliance with this subsection.  This
 subsection does not require the comptroller to post information
 that is confidential under Section 313.028.
 (b)  The governing body of a school district is not required
 to consider an application for a limitation on appraised value.  If
 the governing body of the school district elects not to consider the
 application, the governing body shall refund $10,000 of the payment
 described by Subsection (a) to the applicant. If the governing body
 of the school district elects to consider an application, the
 governing body shall deliver a copy of the application and $10,000
 of the payment described by Subsection (a) to the comptroller and
 request that the comptroller conduct an economic impact evaluation
 of the investment proposed by the application.  The comptroller
 shall conduct or contract with a third person to conduct the
 economic impact evaluation, which shall be completed and provided
 to the governing body of the school district, along with the
 comptroller's certificate or written explanation under Subsection
 (d), as soon as practicable but not later than the 90th day after
 the date the comptroller receives the application.  The governing
 body shall provide to the comptroller or to a third person
 contracted by the comptroller to conduct the economic impact
 evaluation any requested information.  A methodology to allow
 comparisons of economic impact for different schedules of the
 addition of qualified investment or qualified property may be
 developed as part of the economic impact evaluation.  The governing
 body shall provide a copy of the economic impact evaluation to the
 applicant on request.  [The comptroller may charge the applicant a
 fee sufficient to cover the costs of providing the economic impact
 evaluation.]  The governing body of a school district shall approve
 or disapprove an application not later than the 150th day after the
 date the application is filed, unless the economic impact
 evaluation has not been received or an extension is agreed to by the
 governing body and the applicant.
 SECTION 5.  Sections 313.027(a-1), (f), and (i), Tax Code,
 are amended to read as follows:
 (a-1)  The agreement must:
 (1)  provide that the limitation under Subsection (a)
 applies for a period of 10 years; and
 (2)  specify the beginning date of the limitation,
 which must be January 1 of the first tax year that begins after:
 (A)  the application date;
 (B)  the qualifying time period; or
 (C)  the following applicable date:
 (i)  in the case of a project involving the
 construction of a new building or the erection or affixing of a new
 improvement, the date commercial operations begin at the site of
 the project; or
 (ii)  in the case of a project involving the
 renovation, expansion, modernization, or other improvement of an
 existing building or improvement, the date the renovation,
 expansion, modernization, or other improvement is completed.
 (f)  In addition, the agreement:
 (1)  must incorporate each relevant provision of this
 subchapter [and, to the extent necessary, include provisions for
 the protection of future school district revenues through the
 adjustment of the minimum valuations, the payment of revenue
 offsets, and other mechanisms agreed to by the property owner and
 the school district];
 (2)  must require the property owner to provide a
 stabilization payment to the school district in each tax year
 during the period for which the limitation under Subsection (a)
 applies in an amount equal to a portion, not to exceed 38 percent,
 as specified by the agreement of the amount computed by subtracting
 from the market value of the person's qualified property as
 described in the agreement for that tax year the value of the
 property as limited by the agreement and multiplying the difference
 by the maintenance and operations tax rate of the school district
 for that tax year [may provide that the property owner will protect
 the school district in the event the district incurs extraordinary
 education-related expenses related to the project that are not
 directly funded in state aid formulas, including expenses for the
 purchase of portable classrooms and the hiring of additional
 personnel to accommodate a temporary increase in student enrollment
 attributable to the project];
 (3)  must require the property owner to maintain a
 viable presence in the school district for at least five years after
 the date the limitation on appraised value of the owner's property
 expires;
 (4)  must provide for the termination of the agreement,
 the recapture of ad valorem tax revenue lost as a result of the
 agreement if the owner of the property fails to comply with the
 terms of the agreement, and payment of a penalty or interest, or
 both, on that recaptured ad valorem tax revenue;
 (5)  may specify any conditions the occurrence of which
 will require the district and the property owner to renegotiate all
 or any part of the agreement;
 (6)  must specify the ad valorem tax years covered by
 the agreement; and
 (7)  must be in a form approved by the comptroller.
 (i)  A person and the school district may not enter into an
 agreement pursuant to an application filed on or after January 1,
 2023, under which the person agrees to provide supplemental
 payments to a school district or any other entity on behalf of a
 school district. A stabilization payment as described by
 Subsection (f)(2) is not considered to be a supplemental payment
 for purposes of an agreement entered into by a person and a school
 district pursuant to an application filed before January 1, 2023,
 under which the person agrees to provide supplemental payments to
 the school district or another entity on behalf of the school
 district [in an amount that exceeds an amount equal to the greater
 of $100 per student per year in average daily attendance, as defined
 by Section 48.005, Education Code, or $50,000 per year, or for a
 period that exceeds the period beginning with the period described
 by Section 313.021(4) and ending December 31 of the third tax year
 after the date the person's eligibility for a limitation under this
 chapter expires.  This limit does not apply to amounts described by
 Subsection (f)(1) or (2)].
 SECTION 6.  Section 313.0276(e), Tax Code, is amended to
 read as follows:
 (e)  Notwithstanding Subsections (c) and (d), a penalty
 imposed under this section may not exceed an amount equal to the
 difference between the amount of the ad valorem tax benefit
 received by the person under the agreement in the preceding year and
 the amount of any stabilization [supplemental] payments as
 described by Section 313.027(f)(2) made to the school district in
 that year.
 SECTION 7.  The heading to Section 313.031, Tax Code, is
 amended to read as follows:
 Sec. 313.031.  RULES AND FORMS[; FEES].
 SECTION 8.  Section 313.031, Tax Code, is amended by adding
 Subsection (a-1) to read as follows:
 (a-1)  The comptroller shall adopt a single annual reporting
 form to be used by a recipient or former recipient of a limitation
 on appraised value under this chapter for the purpose of submitting
 information necessary for the comptroller to complete the reports
 required by this chapter. A recipient or former recipient shall
 submit the form to the applicable school district at the same time
 the recipient or former recipient submits the form to the
 comptroller. This subsection does not apply to the form described
 by Section 313.033.
 SECTION 9.  Section 313.032(a), Tax Code, is amended to read
 as follows:
 (a)  Before the beginning of each regular session of the
 legislature, the comptroller shall submit to the lieutenant
 governor, the speaker of the house of representatives, and each
 other member of the legislature a report on the agreements entered
 into under this chapter that includes:
 (1)  an assessment of the following with regard to the
 agreements entered into under this chapter, considered in the
 aggregate, from the year in which each agreement was entered into to
 the most recent year for which actual data is available:
 (A)  the total number of qualifying jobs created[,
 direct and otherwise,] in this state;
 (B)  [the total effect on personal income, direct
 and otherwise, in this state;
 [(C)]  the total amount of qualified investment in
 this state;
 (C) [(D)]  the total taxable value for purposes of
 school district ad valorem taxes for maintenance and operations and
 for debt of property on the tax rolls in this state, including
 property for which the limitation period has expired, and the total
 amount of school district ad valorem taxes for maintenance and
 operations and for debt imposed on that property;
 (D) [(E)]  the total value of property not on the
 tax rolls in this state as a result of agreements entered into under
 this chapter and the total amount of school district maintenance
 and operations ad valorem taxes that would have been imposed on that
 value if that value were on the tax rolls; and
 (E)  the total amount of stabilization payments as
 described by Section 313.027(f)(2) made to school districts
 [(F)  the total fiscal effect on the state and local governments];
 and
 (2)  an assessment of the progress of each agreement
 made under this chapter that states for each agreement from the year
 in which the agreement was entered into to the most recent year for
 which actual data has been certified:
 (A)  the number of qualifying jobs each recipient
 of a limitation on appraised value committed to create;
 (B)  the number of qualifying jobs each recipient
 created;
 (C)  the total amount of wages [and the median
 wage] of the new qualifying jobs each recipient created;
 (D)  the amount of the qualified investment each
 recipient committed to spend or allocate for each project;
 (E)  the amount of the qualified investment each
 recipient spent or allocated for each project;
 (F)  the market value of the qualified property of
 each recipient as determined by the applicable chief appraiser,
 including property that is no longer eligible for a limitation on
 appraised value under the agreement;
 (G)  the limitation on appraised value for the
 qualified property of each recipient;
 (H)  the dollar amount of the school district ad
 valorem taxes for maintenance and operations and for debt that
 would have been imposed on the qualified property if the property
 had not received a limitation on appraised value; [and]
 (I)  the dollar amount of the school district ad
 valorem taxes for maintenance and operations and for debt imposed
 on the qualified property; and
 (J)  the amount of stabilization payments as
 described by Section 313.027(f)(2) each recipient made to the
 applicable school district.
 SECTION 10.  Section 48.256(d), Education Code, is amended
 to read as follows:
 (d)  This subsection applies to a school district in which
 the board of trustees entered into a written agreement with a
 property owner under Section 313.027, Tax Code, for the
 implementation of a limitation on appraised value under Subchapter
 B or C, Chapter 313, Tax Code. For purposes of determining "DPV"
 under Subsection (a) for a school district to which this subsection
 applies, the commissioner shall exclude a portion of the market
 value of property not otherwise fully taxable by the district under
 Subchapter B or C, Chapter 313, Tax Code, before the expiration of
 the subchapter. The comptroller shall provide information to the
 agency necessary for this subsection. A revenue protection payment
 described by Section 313.027(f)(1), Tax Code, as that subdivision
 existed before January 1, 2023, required as part of an agreement for
 a limitation on appraised value shall be based on the district's
 taxable value of property for the preceding tax year.
 SECTION 11.  The following provisions of the Tax Code are
 repealed:
 (1)  Section 313.031(b); and
 (2)  Section 313.032(b-1).
 SECTION 12.  (a) The changes in law made by this Act apply
 only to an agreement entered into under Chapter 313, Tax Code,
 pursuant to an application filed under that chapter on or after the
 effective date of this Act. An agreement entered into under that
 chapter pursuant to an application filed before the effective date
 of this Act is governed by the law in effect on the date the
 application was filed, and the former law is continued in effect for
 that purpose.
 (b)  The change in law made by this Act to Section 48.256(d),
 Education Code, applies beginning with the 2023-2024 school year.
 SECTION 13.  This Act takes effect January 1, 2023.