New year, new laws

Effective Jan. 1, a host of new House and Senate bills will become state law.

The 88th Texas Legislature, at the end of lawmakers’ fourth special session, have 30 House and Senate bills set to go into effect this year — more than 20 related to property, appraisals and taxes, according to Capital.Texas.Gov. New laws include:

• HB 260 requires the chief appraiser of an appraisal district to consider the effect of diseases and pests on the net income of the land when calculating net to land of open-space land in or next to a designated wildlife or livestock disease or pest area.

• HB 456 relates to an exemption from ad valorem taxation of certain interests in a mineral in place owned by certain charitable organizations.

• HB 614 amends the Property Code to require a property owners' association board to adopt an enforcement policy regarding the levying of fines by the association.

• HB 796 requires the chief appraiser of an appraisal district to create and maintain an internet database of information regarding protest hearings conducted by the appraisal review board established for the district.

• HB 1058 amends the Tax Code to entitle a taxable entity to a credit against the franchise tax if the entity owns a direct or indirect interest in a low-income housing development in Texas that the Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs (TDHCA) determines is eligible for a federal low-income housing tax credit.

• HB 1228 requires a chief appraiser to to deliver a notice to a property owner may deliver the notice by regular firstclass mail, with postage prepaid, unless this section or another provision of this title requires or authorizes a different method of delivery. It gives the property owner or owner’s agent the ability to request an electronic or mailed copy of the information used to appraise the owner’s property, when applicable.

• HB 1285 expands the duties of a taxpayer liaison officer to include resolving complaints related to the appraisal district (with a population of more than 120,0000) or its review board that do not involve property appraisals and also provides for the appointment of deputy taxpayer liaison officers. Also, the bill revises the procedures for removing the chair of an appraisal review board.

• HB 2121 allows for the filing of a rendition statement or property report on behalf of a property owner who is rendering personal property used for the income and who estimates the property is not worth more than $150,000, without needing to be sworn to before a notary or other oath-qualified officer.

• HB 2354 amends the Tax Code to establish when qualified open-space land is transferred from an owner to their surviving spouse, the land is not considered to have changed ownership when determining if the land is eligible to continue to be appraised for property tax purposes.

• HB 3273 requires that the chief appraiser of each appraisal district shall deliver by regular mail or e-mail to each owner of property a notice that the estimated amount of taxes to be imposed on the owner's property by each taxing unit in which the property is located may be found in the property tax database maintained by the appraisal district.

• HB 4077 amends the Tax Code to revise the provision entitling a person who receives a residence homestead property taxation exemption in a tax year to receive the mandatory residence homestead exemption for age 65 or older, as well as any local option exemption for age 65 or older, on the same property in the next tax year without applying for the exemption if the person becomes 65 in that next year, as shown by certain records.

• HB 4101 amends the Tax Code to expand the scope of the authorization for a property owner who files a notice of a property tax protest to compel the chief appraiser or review board to comply with hearing procedures adopted by the review board.

• HB 4456 removes from the Tax Code the requirement for the comptroller of public accounts to prescribe tax rate calculation forms for use by public school districts.

• HB 4645 provides a property tax exemption for qualifying 501(c)(3) taxexempt organization that construct or rehabilitate low-income housing and leases land under a ground lease to an exemption from property taxation of the improvements owned by the organization.

• SB 3 states a taxable entity is not required to pay any tax and is not considered to owe any tax for a period if the amount of tax computed for the taxable entity is less than $1,000 or the amount of the taxable entity's total revenue from its entire business is less than or equal to $2.47 million.

• SB 539 requires the collector for a taxing unit to abate a suit to collect a delinquent tax or abate a sale to foreclose a tax lien on the individual's residence homestead that is listed on the delinquent tax roll.

• SB 719 provides for the property tax exemption for qualifying charitable organizations that have services related to planning for placing children in foster or adoptive homes or providing support or relief to women who are pregnant and considering placing their children for adoption, if they are organized exclusively to perform for religious, charitable, scientific, literary, or educational purposes and are engaged exclusively in performing.

• SB 1340 requires the comptroller to create and make accessible on the internet a consolidated searchable database, to be known as the Local Development (Chapter 380 and 381) Agreement Database, that contains information regarding all agreements entered under the Property Redevelopment and Tax Abatement Act.

• SB 1381 allows the surviving spouse of a person receiving a homestead property tax exemption for a person age 65 or older to receive that exemption in the next tax year on the same property without applying for the exemption.

• SB 1577 renames the Real Estate Research Center as the Texas Real Estate Research Center and makes changes to the advisory committee rules.

• SB 1999 replaces the formula used to calculate a taxing unit’s unused increment tax rate for property tax purposes.

• SB 2355 allows for requests for binding arbitration to be filed directly with the comptroller of public accounts instead of requiring that it be filed with the appraisal district.

• SB 2440 replaces the authority of a municipal authority responsible for approving plats and of a county commissioner’s court to require a plat application for the subdivision of a tract of land with groundwater to have an attached statement regarding the availability of groundwater.