H.B. No. 3496

AN ACT

relating to the delivery or filing of certain ad valorem tax
notices.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Sections 25.19(a) and (g), Tax Code, are amended
to read as follows:
(a) By April 1 or as soon thereafter as practicable if the
property is a single-family residence that qualifies for an
exemption under Section 11.13, or by May 1 [15] or as soon
thereafter as practicable in connection with any other property,
the chief appraiser shall deliver a clear and understandable
written notice to a property owner of the appraised value of the
property owner’s property if:
(1) the appraised value of the property is greater
than it was in the preceding year;
(2) the appraised value of the property is greater
than the value rendered by the property owner; or
(3) the property was not on the appraisal roll in the
preceding year.
(g) By April 1 or as soon thereafter as practicable if the
property is a single-family residence that qualifies for an
exemption under Section 11.13, or by May 1 [15] or as soon
thereafter as practicable in connection with any other property,
the chief appraiser shall deliver a written notice to the owner of
each property not included in a notice required to be delivered
under Subsection (a), if the property was reappraised in the
current tax year, if the ownership of the property changed during
the preceding year, or if the property owner or the agent of a
property owner authorized under Section 1.111 makes a written
request for the notice. The chief appraiser shall separate real
from personal property and include in the notice for each property:
(1) the appraised value of the property in the
preceding year;
(2) the appraised value of the property for the
current year and the kind of each partial exemption, if any,
approved for the current year;
(3) a detailed explanation of the time and procedure
for protesting the value; and
(4) the date and place the appraisal review board will
begin hearing protests.
SECTION 2. Section 31.01, Tax Code, is amended by adding
Subsection (d-2) to read as follows:
(d-2) This subsection applies only to a school district and
only in connection with taxes imposed by the district in 2007. This
subsection expires January 1, 2008. In addition to any other
information required by this section, the tax bill or separate
statement shall separately state:
(1) the amount of tax that would be imposed by applying
the district’s maintenance and operations rate for the 2005 tax
year to current total value for 2007;
(2) the amount of tax that would be imposed by applying
the district’s maintenance and operations rate for the 2007 tax
year to current total value for 2007; and
(3) the amount, if any, by which the amount calculated
under Subdivision (1) exceeds the amount calculated under
Subdivision (2), which must be labeled “Estimate of school district
maintenance and operations property tax savings attributable to
House Bill No. 1, Acts of the 79th Legislature, 3rd Called Session,
2006, and appropriations of state funds by the 80th Legislature.”
SECTION 3. Section 41.11(a), Tax Code, is amended to read as
follows:
(a) Not later than the date the appraisal review board
approves the appraisal records as provided by Section 41.12, the
secretary of the board shall deliver written notice to a property
owner of any change in the records that is ordered by the board as
provided by this subchapter and that will result in an increase in
the tax liability of the property owner. An owner who receives a
notice as provided by this section shall be entitled to protest such
action as provided by Section 41.44(a)(3) [41.44(a)(2)].
SECTION 4. (a) Section 41.411(c), Tax Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(c) A property owner who protests as provided by this
section must comply with the payment requirements of Section 42.08
or the property owner [he] forfeits the property owner’s [his]
right to a final determination of the [his] protest. The
delinquency date for purposes of Section 42.08(b) for the taxes on
the property subject to a protest under this section is postponed to
the 125th day after the date that one or more taxing units first
delivered written notice of the taxes due on the property, as
determined by the appraisal review board at a hearing under Section
41.44(c-3).
(b) Section 41.44, Tax Code, is amended by adding Subsection
(c-3) to read as follows:
(c-3) Notwithstanding Subsection (c), a property owner who
files a protest under Section 41.411 on or after the date the taxes
on the property to which the notice applies become delinquent, but
not later than the 125th day after the property owner, in the
protest filed, claims to have first received written notice of the
taxes in question, is entitled to a hearing solely on the issue of
whether one or more taxing units timely delivered a tax bill. If at
the hearing the appraisal review board determines that all of the
taxing units failed to timely deliver a tax bill, the board shall
determine the date on which at least one taxing unit first delivered
written notice of the taxes in question, and for the purposes of
this section the delinquency date is postponed to the 125th day
after that date.
(c) The change in law made by this section applies only to an
ad valorem tax protest filed on or after the effective date of this
Act. An ad valorem tax protest filed before the effective date of
this Act is governed by the law in effect at the time the protest was
filed, and the former law is continued in effect for that purpose.
SECTION 5. Section 41.44, Tax Code, is amended by amending
Subsections (a) and (c) and adding Subsection (b-1) to read as
follows:
(a) Except as provided by Subsections (b), (b-1), (c),
(c-1), and (c-2), to be entitled to a hearing and determination of a
protest, the property owner initiating the protest must file a
written notice of the protest with the appraisal review board
having authority to hear the matter protested:
(1) before May 1 or not later than the 30th day after
the date that notice to the property owner was delivered to the
property owner as provided by Section 25.19, if the property is a
single-family residence that qualifies for an exemption under
Section 11.13, whichever is later;
(2) before June 1 or not later than the 30th day after
the date that notice was delivered to the property owner as provided
by Section 25.19 in connection with any other property, whichever
is later;
(3) [(2)] in the case of a protest of a change in the
appraisal records ordered as provided by Subchapter A of this
chapter or by Chapter 25, not later than the 30th day after the date
notice of the change is delivered to the property owner; or
(4) [(3)] in the case of a determination that a change
in the use of land appraised under Subchapter C, D, E, or H, Chapter
23, has occurred, not later than the 30th day after the date the
notice of the determination is delivered to the property owner.
(b-1) Notwithstanding Subsection (a)(1), an owner of
property described by that subsection who files a notice of protest
after the deadline prescribed by that subsection but before the
appraisal review board approves the appraisal records is entitled
to a hearing and determination of the protest if the property owner
files the notice before June 1.
(c) A property owner who files notice of a protest
authorized by Section 41.411 is entitled to a hearing and
determination of the protest if the property owner [he] files the
notice prior to the date the taxes on the property to which the
notice applies become delinquent. An owner of land who files a
notice of protest under Subsection (a)(4) [(a)(3)] is entitled to a
hearing and determination of the protest without regard to whether
the appraisal records are approved.
SECTION 6. This Act applies only to an ad valorem tax year
that begins on or after the effective date of this Act.
SECTION 7. This Act takes effect January 1, 2008.

______________________________ ______________________________
President of the Senate Speaker of the House

I certify that H.B. No. 3496 was passed by the House on April
27, 2007, by the following vote: Yeas 133, Nays 0, 2 present, not
voting; and that the House concurred in Senate amendments to H.B.
No. 3496 on May 25, 2007, by the following vote: Yeas 135, Nays 0,
2 present, not voting.

______________________________
Chief Clerk of the House

I certify that H.B. No. 3496 was passed by the Senate, with
amendments, on May 22, 2007, by the following vote: Yeas 30, Nays
0.

______________________________
Secretary of the Senate
APPROVED: __________________
Date

__________________
Governor