By: Hughes S.B. No. 1163
(In the Senate - Filed February 7, 2025; February 28, 2025,
read first time and referred to Committee on Local Government;
March 31, 2025, reported favorably by the following vote: Yeas 5,
Nays 0; March 31, 2025, sent to printer.)
Click here to see the committee vote
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the circumstances under which an appraisal review board
is required to postpone a protest hearing.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Sections 41.45(e) and (e-1), Tax Code, are
amended to read as follows:
(e) On request made to the appraisal review board before the
date of the hearing, a property owner or a person [who has not]
designated by the property owner as the owner's [an] agent under
Section 1.111 to represent the owner at the hearing is entitled to
one postponement of the hearing to a later date without showing
cause. In addition and without limitation as to the number of
postponements, the board shall postpone the hearing to a later date
if the property owner or the owner's agent at any time shows good
cause for the postponement or if the chief appraiser consents to the
postponement. The hearing may not be postponed to a date less than
five or more than 30 days after the date scheduled for the hearing
when the postponement is sought unless the date and time of the
hearing as postponed are agreed to by the chairman of the appraisal
review board or the chairman's representative, the property owner,
and the chief appraiser. A request by a property owner for a
postponement under this subsection may be made in writing,
including by facsimile transmission or electronic mail, by
telephone, or in person to the appraisal review board, a panel of
the board, or the chairman of the board. The chairman or the
chairman's representative may take action on a postponement under
this subsection without the necessity of action by the full board if
the hearing for which the postponement is requested is scheduled to
occur before the next regular meeting of the board. The granting by
the appraisal review board, the chairman, or the chairman's
representative of a postponement under this subsection does not
require the delivery of additional written notice to the property
owner.
(e-1) A property owner or a person designated by the
property owner as the owner's agent to represent the owner at the
hearing who fails to appear at the hearing is entitled to a new
hearing if the property owner or the owner's agent files, not later
than the fourth day after the date the hearing occurred, a written
statement with the appraisal review board showing good cause for
the failure to appear and requesting a new hearing. For purposes of
this subsection, "good cause" includes that the property owner or
the owner's agent was unable to attend the scheduled hearing
because the owner or agent was appearing before a different panel of
the same appraisal review board at the time of the scheduled
hearing.
SECTION 2. This Act takes effect September 1, 2025.
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