HB 2083 (Darby/Hancock) relating to the determination of the appraised value of property for purposes of an ad valorem tax protest or appeal. The bill addresses selection of comparable properties for determining appraised value under the “equal and uniform” appraisal provisions. The bill was signed by the Governor May 23, 2015 and becomes effective January 1, 2016.
SB 1760 (Creighton/D. Bonnen) The bill requires:
- In order for a governing body to set a property tax rate that exceeds the sum of the effective maintenance and operations tax rate and the current debt rate, a 60-percent vote of the governing body is required.
- Language of motions, ordinances and notices are specified including language that includes the description of the purpose of the increase. The description of the purpose of the increase must also be specified in the ballot.
- Amends Chapter 42 of the Tax Code, regarding judicial review of property tax appraisals, to permit a court to give preference to testimony, regarding excessive or unequal property appraisal, of an appraisal district employee who is authorized to appraise real estate.
- Amends Section 42.23 to modify the interest rate on a refund to a taxpayer after a court determination that lowers the taxpayer's tax bill to an annual rate of 9.5 percent, rather than 2 percent plus the prime rate but not more than 8 percent.
- The bill was signed by the Governor June 15, 2015 and becomes effective January 1, 2016.
HB 1378 (Flynn/Bettencourt) relating to the fiscal transparency and accountability of political subdivisions. The bill would require detailed reporting on a variety of debt information: all authorized debt, combined principal and interest required to pay all and each outstanding debt issue, stated in total and per capita amounts for debt secured by property taxes, and current credit rating by national rating service, issued and unissued amounts, spent and unspent amounts, maturity date and stated purpose for which debt was authorized. The bill was signed by the Governor June 18, 2015 and becomes effective January 1, 2016.
SB 1985 (Uresti/D. Bonnen) makes technical corrections as to data sources and timing of information used in appraising oil and natural gas reserves. The bill was signed by the Governor May 5, 2015 and becomes effective January 1, 2016.
HB 2712 (Geren/Hancock) exempts tangible personal property that is necessary to the operation of qualifying large data centers from sales and use taxation. The bill was signed by the Governor June 10, 2015 and became effective immediately.