Texas 2023 - 88th Regular

Texas Senate Bill SB1487 Compare Versions

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1	1	By: Bettencourt, et al. S.B. No. 1487
2	2
3	3
4	4	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
5	5	AN ACT
6	6	relating to the electronic delivery of certain communications
7	7	required or permitted under the Property Tax Code.
8	8	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
9	9	SECTION 1. Section 1.07(a), Tax Code, is amended to read as
10	10	follows:
11	11	(a) An official or agency required by this title to deliver
12	12	a notice to a property owner may deliver the notice by regular
13	13	first-class mail, with postage prepaid, unless this section or
14	14	another provision of this title requires or authorizes a different
15	15	method of delivery [or the parties agree that the notice must be
16	16	delivered as provided by Section 1.085 or 1.086].
17	17	SECTION 2. The heading to Section 1.085, Tax Code, is
18	18	amended to read as follows:
19	19	Sec. 1.085. ELECTRONIC DELIVERY OF COMMUNICATION [IN
20	20	ELECTRONIC FORMAT].
21	21	SECTION 3. Section 1.085, Tax Code, is amended by amending
22	22	Subsections (a), (d), (e), (f), (i), and (j) and adding Subsections
23	23	(a-1), (a-2), (a-3), (a-4), (a-5), (a-6), (d-1), and (n) to read as
24	24	follows:
25	25	(a) In this section:
26	26	(1) "Communication" means a notice, rendition,
27	27	application form, completed application, report, filing,
28	28	statement, appraisal review board order, bill, or other item of
29	29	information required or permitted to be delivered under a provision
30	30	of this title.
31	31	(2) "Tax official" means:
32	32	(A) a chief appraiser, an appraisal district, an
33	33	appraisal review board, an assessor, a collector, or a taxing unit;
34	34	or
35	35	(B) a person designated by a person listed in
36	36	Paragraph (A) to perform a function on behalf of that person.
37	37	(a-1) Notwithstanding any other provision in this title, a
38	38	communication [and except as provided by this section, any notice,
39	39	rendition, application form, or completed application, or
40	40	information requested under Section 41.461(a)(2),] that is
41	41	required or permitted by this title to be delivered between a tax
42	42	official [chief appraiser, an appraisal district, an appraisal
43	43	review board, or any combination of those persons] and a property
44	44	owner or a person designated by a property owner under Section
45	45	1.111(f) shall [may] be delivered electronically [in an electronic
46	46	format] if the property owner or person designated by the owner
47	47	elects to exchange communications with the tax official
48	48	electronically under Subsection (a-2) of [chief appraiser and the
49	49	property owner or person designated by the owner agree under] this
50	50	section.
51	51	(a-2) A tax official shall:
52	52	(1) establish a procedure that allows a property owner
53	53	or a person designated by a property owner under Section 1.111(f) to
54	54	make the election described by Subsection (a-1) of this section;
55	55	and
56	56	(2) for electronic communications between the
57	57	official and a property owner or the person designated by the owner
58	58	who elects under Subsection (a-1) to exchange communications with
59	59	the official electronically, specify:
60	60	(A) the manner in which communications will be
61	61	exchanged; and
62	62	(B) the method that will be used to confirm the
63	63	delivery of communications.
64	64	(a-3) An election described by Subsection (a-1) of this
65	65	section by a property owner or a person designated by a property
66	66	owner under Section 1.111(f) must be made in writing on a form
67	67	prescribed by the comptroller for that purpose and remains in
68	68	effect until rescinded in writing by the property owner or person
69	69	designated by the owner.
70	70	(a-4) A tax official may not charge a fee to accept a
71	71	communication delivered electronically to the official.
72	72	(a-5) A tax official may require a property owner or a
73	73	person designated by a property owner under Section 1.111(f) who
74	74	elects to exchange communications electronically to provide:
75	75	(1) an e-mail address; and
76	76	(2) other information necessary for the exchange of
77	77	communications.
78	78	(a-6) A tax official shall prominently display the
79	79	information necessary for proper electronic delivery of
80	80	communications to the official:
81	81	(1) on the official's Internet website, if applicable;
82	82	and
83	83	(2) if the official is a chief appraiser, in any notice
84	84	of appraised value delivered by the official under Section 25.19.
85	85	(d) The electronic [Unless otherwise provided by an
86	86	agreement, the] delivery of any communication by a tax official to a
87	87	property owner or a person designated by a property owner under
88	88	Section 1.111(f) [information in an electronic format] is effective
89	89	on delivery [receipt] by the tax official [a chief appraiser, an
90	90	appraisal district, an appraisal review board, a property owner, or
91	91	a person designated by a property owner. An agreement entered into
92	92	under this section remains in effect until rescinded in writing by
93	93	the property owner or person designated by the owner].
94	94	(d-1) The electronic delivery of a communication by a
95	95	property owner or a person designated by a property owner under
96	96	Section 1.111(f) to a tax official is timely if the communication
97	97	is:
98	98	(1) addressed to the correct delivery portal or
99	99	electronic delivery system; and
100	100	(2) received by the tax official's server on or before
101	101	the date on which the communication is due.
102	102	(e) The comptroller by rule[:
103	103	[(1)] shall prescribe acceptable media, formats,
104	104	content, and methods for the electronic delivery of communications
105	105	under this section and adopt guidelines for the implementation of
106	106	this section by tax officials [transmission of notices required by
107	107	Section 25.19; and
108	108	[(2) may prescribe acceptable media, formats,
109	109	content, and methods for the electronic transmission of other
110	110	notices, renditions, and applications].
111	111	(f) A tax official [In an agreement entered into under this
112	112	section, a chief appraiser] may select the medium, format, content,
113	113	and method to be used by the tax official and a property owner or a
114	114	person designated by a property owner under Section 1.111(f) to
115	115	exchange communications electronically [appraisal district] from
116	116	among those prescribed by the comptroller under Subsection (e).
117	117	[If the comptroller has not prescribed the media, format, content,
118	118	and method applicable to the communication, the chief appraiser may
119	119	determine the medium, format, content, and method to be used.]
120	120	(i) A property owner or a person designated by the property
121	121	owner under Section 1.111(f) who elects to exchange communications
122	122	electronically with a tax official [enters into an agreement] under
123	123	this section and who [that] has not [been] rescinded the election
124	124	shall notify the tax official [appraisal district] of a change in
125	125	the e-mail [electronic mail] address provided by the property owner
126	126	or person designated by the owner [specified in the agreement]
127	127	before the first April 1 that occurs following the change. If
128	128	notification is not received by the tax official [appraisal
129	129	district] before that date, until notification is received, any
130	130	communications [notices] delivered electronically [under the
131	131	agreement] to the property owner or person designated by the owner
132	132	are considered to be timely delivered.
133	133	(j) An electronic signature that is included in any
134	134	communication delivered electronically under this section is
135	135	[notice, rendition, application form, or completed application
136	136	subject to an agreement under this section and that is required by
137	137	Chapters 11, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, and 41 shall be] considered to be a
138	138	digital signature for purposes of Section 2054.060, Government
139	139	Code, and that section applies to the electronic signature.
140	140	(n) A tax official shall acknowledge the receipt of a
141	141	communication delivered electronically to the official by a
142	142	property owner or a person designated by the property owner under
143	143	Section 1.111(f).
144	144	SECTION 4. Section 25.192(d), Tax Code, is amended to read
145	145	as follows:
146	146	(d) The [If a property owner has elected to receive notices
147	147	by e-mail as provided by Section 1.086, the] notice required by this
148	148	section must be sent [in that manner] separately from any other
149	149	notice sent to the property owner by the chief appraiser.
150	150	SECTION 5. Section 25.193(b), Tax Code, is amended to read
151	151	as follows:
152	152	(b) The [If a property owner has elected to receive notices
153	153	by e-mail as provided by Section 1.086, the] notice required by this
154	154	section must be sent [in that manner] regardless of whether the
155	155	information was also included in a notice under Section 25.19 and
156	156	must be sent separately from any other notice sent to the property
157	157	owner by the chief appraiser.
158	158	SECTION 6. Section 41.461(c), Tax Code, is amended to read
159	159	as follows:
160	160	(c) A chief appraiser shall deliver information requested
161	161	by a property owner or the agent of the owner under Subsection
162	162	(a)(2):
163	163	(1) by regular first-class mail, deposited in the
164	164	United States mail, postage prepaid, and addressed to the property
165	165	owner or agent at the address provided in the request for the
166	166	information;
167	167	(2) electronically, if the property owner or agent of
168	168	the owner has elected to receive electronic communications from the
169	169	chief appraiser [in an electronic format as provided by an
170	170	agreement] under Section 1.085; or
171	171	(3) subject to Subsection (d), by referring the
172	172	property owner or the agent of the owner to a secure Internet
173	173	website with user registration and authentication or to the exact
174	174	Internet location or uniform resource locator (URL) address on an
175	175	Internet website maintained by the appraisal district on which the
176	176	requested information is identifiable and readily available.
177	177	SECTION 7. Section 41.47(d), Tax Code, is amended to read as
178	178	follows:
179	179	(d) The board shall deliver electronically, if the property
180	180	owner or agent of the owner has elected to receive electronic
181	181	communications under Section 1.085, or by certified mail:
182	182	(1) a notice of issuance of the order and a copy of the
183	183	order to the property owner and the chief appraiser; and
184	184	(2) a copy of the appraisal review board survey
185	185	prepared under Section 5.104 and instructions for completing and
186	186	submitting the survey to the property owner.
187	187	SECTION 8. The following provisions of the Tax Code are
188	188	repealed:
189	189	(1) Sections 1.085(b), (c), (g), (h), (k), (l), and
190	190	(m);
191	191	(2) Section 1.086;
192	192	(3) Section 41.46(e); and
193	193	(4) Section 41.47(d-1).
194	194	SECTION 9. The changes in law made by this Act apply only to
195	195	a tax year that begins on or after the effective date of this Act.
196	196	SECTION 10. (a) A tax official of an appraisal district
197	197	established in a county with a population of 120,000 or more or of a
198	198	taxing unit located wholly or primarily in such an appraisal
199	199	district shall comply with Section 1.085, Tax Code, as amended by
200	200	this Act, beginning with the 2024 tax year.
201	201	(b) A tax official of an appraisal district established in a
202	202	county with a population of less than 120,000 or of a taxing unit
203	203	located wholly or primarily in such an appraisal district shall
204	204	comply with Section 1.085, Tax Code, as amended by this Act,
205	205	beginning with the 2025 tax year.
206	206	SECTION 11. This Act takes effect January 1, 2024.