HBA-ALS, BTC C.S.H.B. 374 76(R)BILL ANALYSIS Office of House Bill AnalysisC.S.H.B. 374 By: Culberson Ways and Means 4/19/1999 Committee Report (Substituted) BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Under current law, an individual who is 65 or older may defer paying delinquent homestead property taxes by filing a tax deferral affidavit with the appraisal district. However, a tax deferral affidavit may not be filed until the property taxes become delinquent. A property owner becomes subject to financial penalties if the property taxes become delinquent. Therefore, an individual who files for a deferral is subject to a late penalty. C.S.H.B. 374 allows a deferral to be filed before the taxes become delinquent, thereby preventing the imposition of penalties. RULEMAKING AUTHORITY It is the opinion of the Office of House Bill Analysis that this bill does not expressly delegate any additional rulemaking authority to a state officer, department, agency, or institution. SECTION BY SECTION ANALYSIS SECTION 1. Amends Section 33.06, Tax Code, by amending Subsections (a), (b), and (d) and adding Subsections (f)-(h), as follows: (a) Entitles an individual who is 65 years or older and who owns and occupies as a residence homestead the property on which the taxes are imposed, on which taxes are delinquent. Makes nonsubstantive changes. (b) Prohibits the individual described in Subsection (a) from filing the affidavit before the date the taxes on the property become delinquent if the appraised property value exceeds $100,000. Authorizes the individual to file the affidavit before, on, or after the date the taxes on the property become delinquent if the appraised property value does not exceed $100,000. Makes a nonsubstantive change. (d) Authorizes the imposition of a penalty for each month or portion of a month a delinquent tax remains unpaid before the date the affidavit is filed. Makes nonsubstantive changes. (f) Provides that if an individual dies in a year in which the individual received a deferral or abatement and the individual is survived by a spouse who was 55 years of age or older when the individual died, the deferral or abatement continues in effect as long as the property remains the residence homestead of the surviving spouse, notwithstanding Subsections (b) and (c). (g) Requires a clerk of the court in which probate proceedings relating to the estate of an individual who was receiving a deferral or abatement are pending to notify the chief appraiser for the appraisal district in which the property is located that the individual has died, if the clerk can determine from documents filed in the proceedings that the individual was receiving a deferral or abatement. (h) Requires a title company that transacts to convey property by an individual who is receiving a deferral or abatement to notify the chief appraiser for the appraisal district in which the property is located. SECTION 2. Emergency clause. Effective date: upon passage. COMPARISON OF ORIGINAL TO SUBSTITUTE The substitute modifies the original SECTION 1 (Section 33.06, Tax Code), as follows: The substitute amends Subsection (b) by prohibiting an individual who is 65 years or older and who owns and occupies as a residence homestead the property on which the taxes are imposed from filing the affidavit before the date the taxes on the property become delinquent if the appraised property value exceeds $100,000. Authorizes the individual to file the affidavit before, on, or after the date the taxes on the property become delinquent if the appraised property value does not exceed $100,000. The substitute amends Subsection (d) by authorizing the imposition of a penalty for each month or portion of a month a delinquent tax remains unpaid before the date the affidavit is filed. Subsection (d) was not addressed by the original. The substitute modifies the original to add proposed Subsection (f) to provide that if an individual dies in a year in which the individual received a deferral or abatement and the individual is survived by a spouse who was 55 years of age or older when the individual died, the deferral or abatement continues in effect as long as the property remains the residence homestead of the surviving spouse, notwithstanding specified Subsection. The substitute modifies the original to add proposed Subsection (g) to require a clerk of the court in which probate proceedings relating to the estate of an individual who was receiving a deferral or abatement are pending to notify the chief appraiser for the appraisal district in which the property is located that the individual has died, if the clerk can determine from documents filed in the proceedings that the individual was receiving a deferral or abatement. The substitute modifies the original to add proposed Subsection (h) to require a title company that transacts to convey property by an individual who is receiving a deferral or abatement to notify the chief appraiser for the appraisal district in which the property is located.