Texas 2025 - 89th Regular

Texas Senate Bill SB2489 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.

Old	New	Differences
1	1	89R10393 DRS-D
2	2	By: Parker S.B. No. 2489
3	3
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5	5
6	6
7	7	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
8	8	AN ACT
9	9	relating to property owner claims for compensation from certain
10	10	municipalities that fail to enforce certain laws.
11	11	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
12	12	SECTION 1. Subchapter Z, Chapter 229, Local Government
13	13	Code, is amended by adding Section 229.902 to read as follows:
14	14	Sec. 229.902. COMPENSATION FOR FAILURE OF MUNICIPALITY TO
15	15	ENFORCE CERTAIN LAWS OR ABATE PUBLIC NUISANCE. (a) In this section:
16	16	(1) "Fair market value" means the price real property
17	17	will bring when offered for sale by one who desires to sell, but is
18	18	not obliged to sell, and is bought by one who desires to buy, but is
19	19	under no necessity of buying.
20	20	(2) "Nuisance violation" means a violation of a state
21	21	law or a municipal ordinance or regulation prohibiting public
22	22	camping, obstructing a public thoroughfare, loitering,
23	23	panhandling, public urination or defecation, public consumption of
24	24	an alcoholic beverage, possession or use of a controlled substance,
25	25	or retail theft.
26	26	(3) "Property owner" means a person:
27	27	(A) holding fee simple title in real property; or
28	28	(B) leasing real property for which the person is
29	29	required under the terms of the lease to pay all or part of the
30	30	property taxes on the property or the cost of maintenance or
31	31	insurance for the property.
32	32	(b) This section applies only to a municipality with a
33	33	population of 900,000 or more.
34	34	(c) Notwithstanding any other law and except as provided by
35	35	Subsection (d), a property owner may submit a claim to a
36	36	municipality for compensation from the municipality with respect to
37	37	property located in the municipality if the municipality:
38	38	(1) adopts and follows a policy, pattern, or practice
39	39	of refusing to enforce a state law or a municipal ordinance or
40	40	regulation prohibiting a nuisance violation; or
41	41	(2) maintains a public nuisance.
42	42	(d) This section does not apply to:
43	43	(1) a decision by a municipality to exercise
44	44	prosecutorial discretion not to prosecute a nuisance violation if:
45	45	(A) the exercise of discretion is based on the
46	46	circumstances of an individual case; and
47	47	(B) the municipality publishes a public notice of
48	48	the justification for the exercise of prosecutorial discretion
49	49	described by Paragraph (A); or
50	50	(2) a municipal action required by state or federal
51	51	law.
52	52	(e) Except as provided by Subsection (f), a property owner
53	53	shall elect the amount of compensation paid to the property owner
54	54	under this section as determined by:
55	55	(1) the reasonably necessary documented expenses
56	56	incurred by the property owner to mitigate the effect of the
57	57	nuisance violation on the property that is the subject of the claim;
58	58	or
59	59	(2) the diminution in the fair market value of the
60	60	property owner's real property that is the subject of the claim.
61	61	(f) The amount of compensation paid to a property owner
62	62	under this section may not exceed the amount of property taxes
63	63	assessed by the municipality on the property that is the subject of
64	64	the claim and paid by the property owner for the tax year in which
65	65	the property owner submits the claim for compensation.
66	66	(g) Not later than the 30th day after the date a
67	67	municipality receives a written claim for compensation under this
68	68	section, the municipality shall accept or reject the claim and
69	69	notify the property owner.
70	70	(h) If a municipality accepts a claim for compensation under
71	71	this section, the municipality shall pay the claim in the amount
72	72	determined under Subsection (e).
73	73	(i) If a municipality rejects a claim for compensation under
74	74	this section or does not respond to a claim within the time period
75	75	prescribed by Subsection (g), the property owner who submitted the
76	76	claim may file an action in a court of competent jurisdiction in the
77	77	county in which the property that is the subject of the claim is
78	78	located.
79	79	(j) In an action filed under Subsection (i):
80	80	(1) the court shall determine whether:
81	81	(A) the property owner is entitled to the
82	82	compensation claimed; and
83	83	(B) the amount of compensation claimed is
84	84	reasonable; and
85	85	(2) the municipality has the burden of establishing
86	86	that:
87	87	(A) the municipal response to the nuisance
88	88	violation that is the basis for the claim for compensation is
89	89	lawful; or
90	90	(B) the amount of compensation claimed is
91	91	unreasonable.
92	92	(k) In an action filed under Subsection (i):
93	93	(1) a municipality may not recover attorney's fees or
94	94	court costs; and
95	95	(2) a successful claimant may recover reasonable
96	96	attorney's fees and court costs from the municipality.
97	97	(l) A property owner may not submit more than one claim for
98	98	compensation in the same tax year under this section relating to a
99	99	property affected by a nuisance violation. A property owner may
100	100	submit another claim pertaining to that property in the following
101	101	tax year if:
102	102	(1) the municipality has not:
103	103	(A) stopped the policy, pattern, or practice or
104	104	abated the public nuisance that is the basis for the claim; or
105	105	(B) entered into an agreement with the property
106	106	owner to settle the claim; or
107	107	(2) the property owner submitted a claim for
108	108	compensation under this section in the preceding tax year in an
109	109	amount that exceeded the amount described by Subsection (f) for
110	110	that tax year.
111	111	(m) A property owner is not required to exhaust any other
112	112	remedies that may be available under other law before submitting a
113	113	claim for compensation under this section.
114	114	(n) A claim for compensation under this section is not
115	115	exclusive and does not preclude a property owner from seeking any
116	116	other remedy that may be available under other law.
117	117	SECTION 2. Section 229.902, Local Government Code, as added
118	118	by this Act, applies only to a claim for compensation from a
119	119	municipality based on expenses incurred by a property owner on or
120	120	after the effective date of this Act.
121	121	SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2025.