89R10393 DRS-D
By: Parker S.B. No. 2489
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to property owner claims for compensation from certain
municipalities that fail to enforce certain laws.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Subchapter Z, Chapter 229, Local Government
Code, is amended by adding Section 229.902 to read as follows:
Sec. 229.902. COMPENSATION FOR FAILURE OF MUNICIPALITY TO
ENFORCE CERTAIN LAWS OR ABATE PUBLIC NUISANCE. (a) In this section:
(1) "Fair market value" means the price real property
will bring when offered for sale by one who desires to sell, but is
not obliged to sell, and is bought by one who desires to buy, but is
under no necessity of buying.
(2) "Nuisance violation" means a violation of a state
law or a municipal ordinance or regulation prohibiting public
camping, obstructing a public thoroughfare, loitering,
panhandling, public urination or defecation, public consumption of
an alcoholic beverage, possession or use of a controlled substance,
or retail theft.
(3) "Property owner" means a person:
(A) holding fee simple title in real property; or
(B) leasing real property for which the person is
required under the terms of the lease to pay all or part of the
property taxes on the property or the cost of maintenance or
insurance for the property.
(b) This section applies only to a municipality with a
population of 900,000 or more.
(c) Notwithstanding any other law and except as provided by
Subsection (d), a property owner may submit a claim to a
municipality for compensation from the municipality with respect to
property located in the municipality if the municipality:
(1) adopts and follows a policy, pattern, or practice
of refusing to enforce a state law or a municipal ordinance or
regulation prohibiting a nuisance violation; or
(2) maintains a public nuisance.
(d) This section does not apply to:
(1) a decision by a municipality to exercise
prosecutorial discretion not to prosecute a nuisance violation if:
(A) the exercise of discretion is based on the
circumstances of an individual case; and
(B) the municipality publishes a public notice of
the justification for the exercise of prosecutorial discretion
described by Paragraph (A); or
(2) a municipal action required by state or federal
law.
(e) Except as provided by Subsection (f), a property owner
shall elect the amount of compensation paid to the property owner
under this section as determined by:
(1) the reasonably necessary documented expenses
incurred by the property owner to mitigate the effect of the
nuisance violation on the property that is the subject of the claim;
or
(2) the diminution in the fair market value of the
property owner's real property that is the subject of the claim.
(f) The amount of compensation paid to a property owner
under this section may not exceed the amount of property taxes
assessed by the municipality on the property that is the subject of
the claim and paid by the property owner for the tax year in which
the property owner submits the claim for compensation.
(g) Not later than the 30th day after the date a
municipality receives a written claim for compensation under this
section, the municipality shall accept or reject the claim and
notify the property owner.
(h) If a municipality accepts a claim for compensation under
this section, the municipality shall pay the claim in the amount
determined under Subsection (e).
(i) If a municipality rejects a claim for compensation under
this section or does not respond to a claim within the time period
prescribed by Subsection (g), the property owner who submitted the
claim may file an action in a court of competent jurisdiction in the
county in which the property that is the subject of the claim is
located.
(j) In an action filed under Subsection (i):
(1) the court shall determine whether:
(A) the property owner is entitled to the
compensation claimed; and
(B) the amount of compensation claimed is
reasonable; and
(2) the municipality has the burden of establishing
that:
(A) the municipal response to the nuisance
violation that is the basis for the claim for compensation is
lawful; or
(B) the amount of compensation claimed is
unreasonable.
(k) In an action filed under Subsection (i):
(1) a municipality may not recover attorney's fees or
court costs; and
(2) a successful claimant may recover reasonable
attorney's fees and court costs from the municipality.
(l) A property owner may not submit more than one claim for
compensation in the same tax year under this section relating to a
property affected by a nuisance violation. A property owner may
submit another claim pertaining to that property in the following
tax year if:
(1) the municipality has not:
(A) stopped the policy, pattern, or practice or
abated the public nuisance that is the basis for the claim; or
(B) entered into an agreement with the property
owner to settle the claim; or
(2) the property owner submitted a claim for
compensation under this section in the preceding tax year in an
amount that exceeded the amount described by Subsection (f) for
that tax year.
(m) A property owner is not required to exhaust any other
remedies that may be available under other law before submitting a
claim for compensation under this section.
(n) A claim for compensation under this section is not
exclusive and does not preclude a property owner from seeking any
other remedy that may be available under other law.
SECTION 2. Section 229.902, Local Government Code, as added
by this Act, applies only to a claim for compensation from a
municipality based on expenses incurred by a property owner on or
after the effective date of this Act.
SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2025.