HBA-CBW C.S.H.B. 2226 77(R)BILL ANALYSIS


Office of House Bill AnalysisC.S.H.B. 2226
By: Davis, John
Ways & Means
4/30/2001
Committee Report (Substituted)




BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE 

Under current law, the chief appraiser of each county is required to
prepare and certify the tax roll to the assessor of each taxing unit (unit)
annually.  The chief appraiser is also required to provide other items of
information to each unit necessary for the unit to estimate the total
taxable value of property in the unit for the purpose of setting an
appropriate tax rate.  One such item is an estimate of the value of
properties under protest that have not been certified.  The sum of the
value of the noncertified property under protest and the certified tax roll
amount, plus other adjustments, accounts for the value of all taxable
property in the taxing unit and this total taxable value is necessary to
calculate the unit's effective and rollback tax rate. 

In Harris County, because of the delay in certifying property values caused
by the large number of land parcels in the county and the frequency of the
sale of these parcels, the chief appraiser has established a category of
property that is neither certified nor under protest.  Such property is
omitted from the total taxable value of property within the unit for the
purpose of calculating the unit's effective and rollback tax rate, which
results in the unit collecting more than the budgeted property tax revenue
while  avoiding the necessity for a public hearing on their proposed tax
rate.  C.S.H.B. 2226 requires the chief appraiser to prepare and certify to
the assessor for each unit a  list of those properties of which the chief
appraiser has knowledge that are reasonably likely to be taxable by the
unit but that are not  included on the appraisal roll or listing certified
by the assessor. 

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. 

ANALYSIS

C.S.H.B. 2226 amends the Tax Code to require the chief appraiser to prepare
and certify to the assessor for each taxing unit (unit) a list of those
properties of which the chief appraiser has knowledge that are reasonably
likely to be taxable by the unit but that are not included on the appraisal
roll certified to the assessor or included on the listing certified to the
assessor.  The bill requires the chief appraiser to include on the list for
each property the market value, appraised value, and kind and amount of any
partial exemptions as determined by the appraisal district for the
preceding year and a reasonable estimate of the market value, appraised
value, and kind and amount of any partial exemptions for the current year.
Until the property is added to the appraisal roll, the bill requires the
assessor for the unit to include each property on the list in prescribed
calculations and requires the assessor, for that purpose, to use the lower
market value, appraised value, or taxable value, as appropriate, included
on or computed using the information included on the list for the property. 

EFFECTIVE DATE

January 1, 2002.

 COMPARISON OF ORIGINAL TO SUBSTITUTE

C.S.H.B. 2226 differs from the original bill by requiring the chief
appraiser to prepare and certify to the assessor for each taxing unit
(unit)  a list of those properties of which the chief appraiser has
knowledge that are reasonably likely to be taxable, rather than properties
taxable by that unit, but not on the appraisal roll.  The substitute
requires the chief appraiser to include on the list for each property the
kind and amount of any partial exemptions for the preceding year and the
current year as determined by the appraisal district. The substitute
provides that the assessor for a unit may use values computed using the
information included on the list for the purpose of prescribed
calculations.