An act relating to the authority of a taxing unit to sell certain seized or foreclosed property to an owner of an abutting property without conducting a public sale. Be it enacted by the legislature of the state of Texas:

SECTION 1. Section 33.43(a), Tax Code, is amended to read as follows:

(a) A petition initiating a suit to collect a delinquent
property tax is sufficient if it alleges that:
(1) the taxing unit is legally constituted and
authorized to impose and collect ad valorem taxes on property;
(2) tax in a stated amount was legally imposed on each
separately described property for each year specified and on each
person named if known who owned the property on January 1 of the
year for which the tax was imposed;
(3) the tax was imposed in the county in which the suit
is filed;
(4) the tax is delinquent;
(5) penalties, interest, and costs authorized by law
in a stated amount for each separately assessed property are due;
(6) the taxing unit is entitled to recover each
penalty that is incurred and all interest that accrues on
delinquent taxes imposed on the property from the date of the
judgment to the date of the sale under Section 34.01 or 34.0101, or
under Section 253.010, Local Government Code, as applicable, if the
suit seeks to foreclose a tax lien;
(7) the person sued owned the property on January 1 of
the year for which the tax was imposed if the suit seeks to enforce
personal liability;
(8) the person sued owns the property when the suit is
filed if the suit seeks to foreclose a tax lien;
(9) the taxing unit asserts a lien on each separately
described property to secure the payment of all taxes, penalties,
interest, and costs due if the suit seeks to foreclose a tax lien;
(10) all things required by law to be done have been
done properly by the appropriate officials; and
(11) the attorney signing the petition is legally
authorized to prosecute the suit on behalf of the taxing unit.
SECTION 2. Subchapter A, Chapter 34, Tax Code, is amended by
adding Section 34.0101 to read as follows:
Sec. 34.0101. SALE OF CERTAIN PROPERTY TO OWNER OF ABUTTING
PROPERTY. (a) In this section:
(1) “Flood insurance rate map” means the most recent
flood hazard map published by the Federal Emergency Management
Agency under the National Flood Insurance Act of 1968 (42 U.S.C.
Section 4001 et seq.).
(2) “Floodway” means an area that is identified on the
flood insurance rate map as a regulatory floodway, including the
channel of a river or other watercourse and the adjacent land areas
that must be reserved for the discharge of a base flood, also
referred to as a 100-year flood, without cumulatively increasing
the water surface elevation more than a designated height.
(b) This section applies to real property:
(1) that is:
(A) seized under a tax warrant issued under
Subchapter E, Chapter 33; or
(B) ordered sold pursuant to foreclosure of a tax
lien; and
(2) that is:
(A) a narrow strip of land or other parcel of land
that because of its shape or small area cannot be used independently
under its current zoning classification or under applicable
subdivision or other development ordinances;
(B) landlocked without direct access to a public
road; or
(C) located in:
(i) an area designated by the Federal
Emergency Management Agency under the National Flood Insurance Act
of 1968 (42 U.S.C. Section 4001 et seq.) as having a two-tenths of
one percent or greater annual chance of flooding; or
(ii) a floodway.
(c) Sections 34.01(b), (c), (d), (e), (f), (g), (h), (i),
(m), (n), (q), and (s), 34.02, 34.03, 34.04, and 34.21 apply to a
sale of real property under this section.
(d) Notwithstanding any other law, including Sections
263.001 and 272.001, Local Government Code, and subject to
Subsection (e) of this section, a taxing unit that requested a tax
warrant or order of sale for real property subject to this section
may direct the officer charged with selling the property to sell the
property to an owner of abutting property at a private sale.
(e) A taxing unit may not direct the sale of real property at
a private sale under this section unless:
(1) the property is offered for sale at a public
auction; and
(2) a bid sufficient to pay the amount specified by
Subsection (h) is not received.
(f) A taxing unit that directs the private sale under this
section of real property that abuts two or more adjacent parcels of
real property having different owners must give notice of the sale
to each abutting owner. The notice must state that the taxing unit
will:
(1) offer the property for sale;
(2) accept sealed bids for the property; and
(3) sell the property to the highest bidder.
(g) A purchaser of property under this section must meet the
requirements of Section 34.015.
(h) A taxing unit that directs the sale of real property
under this section may not sell the property for an amount that is
less than the lesser of:
(1) the property’s market value, as specified in the
warrant or the judgment, as applicable; or
(2) the following amount, as applicable:
(A) the amount provided by Section 34.01(p), in
the case of property described by Subsection (b)(1)(A) of this
section; or
(B) the amount provided by Section 34.01(b), in
the case of property described by Subsection (b)(1)(B) of this
section.
(i) A taxing unit that requested a tax warrant or order of
sale for real property subject to this section may sell the property
under this section without the consent of any taxing unit entitled
to receive proceeds of the sale.
SECTION 3. Sections 34.02(a) and (d), Tax Code, are amended
to read as follows:
(a) The proceeds of a tax sale under Section 33.94, [or]
34.01, or 34.0101 shall be applied in the order prescribed by
Subsection (b). The amount included under each subdivision of
Subsection (b) must be fully paid before any of the proceeds may be
applied to the amount included under a subsequent subdivision.
(d) The officer conducting a sale under Section 33.94, [or]
34.01, or 34.0101 shall pay any excess proceeds after payment of all
amounts due all participants in the sale as specified by Subsection
(b) to the clerk of the court issuing the warrant or order of sale.
SECTION 4. Section 33.43(a), Tax Code, as amended by this
Act, applies only to a petition initiating a suit to collect a
delinquent property tax filed on or after the effective date of this
Act.
SECTION 5. This Act takes effect September 1, 2023.

This Act takes effect January 1, 2024.

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President of the Senate

_____________________________________

Speaker of the House

I hereby certify that S.B. No. 2091 passed the Senate on April 4, 2023, by the following vote: Yeas 30, Nays 1; and that the Senate concurred in House amendment on May 26, 2023, by the following vote: Yeas 28, Nays 3.

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Chief Clerk of the House

I hereby certify that S.B. No. 2091 passed the House, with amendment, on May 19, 2023, by the following vote: Yeas 102, Nays 41, two present not voting.

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Secretary of the Senate

APPROVED:

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Date

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Governor