Bill Text: TX SB1986 | 2019-2020 | 86th Legislature | Introduced

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Bill Title: Relating to the selection and administration of an appraisal review board; authorizing a fee.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2019-04-16 - Left pending in committee [SB1986 Detail]

Download: Texas-2019-SB1986-Introduced.html

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86R6363 JES-D
By: Creighton S.B. No. 1986

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the selection and administration of an appraisal review
board; authorizing a fee.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 5.103(b), Tax Code, is amended to read as
follows:
(b) The model hearing procedures shall address:
(1) the statutory duties of an appraisal review board;
(2) the process for conducting a hearing;
(3) the scheduling of hearings;
(4) the postponement of hearings;
(5) the notices required under this title;
(6) the determination of good cause under Section
41.44(b);
(7) the determination of good cause under Sections
41.45(e) and (e-1);
(8) a party's right to offer evidence and argument;
(9) a party's right to examine or cross-examine
witnesses or other parties;
(10) a party's right to appear by an agent;
(11) the prohibition of an appraisal review board's
consideration of information not provided at a hearing;
(12) ex parte and other prohibited communications;
(13) the exclusion of evidence at a hearing as
required by Section 41.67(d);
(14) the postponement of a hearing as required by
Section 41.66(h);
(15) conflicts of interest; and
(16) [the process for the administration of
applications for membership on an appraisal review board; and
[(17)] any other matter related to fair and efficient
appraisal review board hearings.
SECTION 2. Sections 6.41(a), (b), (c), (d), (f), (j), and
(k), Tax Code, are amended to read as follows:
(a) An [The] appraisal review board is established for each
appraisal district.
(b) The board consists of three members elected by the
voters of the county in which the district is established at the
general election for state and county officers. The members serve
two-year terms beginning on January 1 of odd-numbered years.
[However, the district board of directors by resolution of a
majority of its members may increase the size of the appraisal
review board to the number of members the board of directors
considers appropriate.]
(c) To be eligible to serve on the board, an individual must
be a resident of the county in which the appraisal district is
established and must have resided in the county [district] for at
least two years before the date of the individual's election or
appointment.
(d) [Except as provided by Subsection (d-1), members of the
board are appointed by resolution of a majority of the appraisal
district board of directors.] A vacancy on the board is filled by
appointment by a resolution of a majority of the appraisal district
board of directors [in the same manner] for the unexpired portion of
the term.
(f) For purposes of Chapter 87, Local Government Code,
grounds [A member of the board may be removed from the board by a
majority vote of the appraisal district board of directors, or by
the local administrative district judge or the judge's designee, as
applicable, that appointed the member. Grounds] for removal of a
member of an appraisal review board include [are]:
(1) a violation of Section 6.412, 6.413, 41.66(f), or
41.69;
(2) good cause relating to the attendance of members
at called meetings of the board as established by written policy
adopted by a majority of the appraisal district board of directors;
[or]
(3) clear and convincing evidence of repeated bias or
misconduct; or
(4) failure to complete a course required by Section
5.041.
(j) A chief appraiser or another employee or agent of an
appraisal district commits an offense if the person communicates
with a member of the appraisal review board for the appraisal
district or[,] a member of the board of directors of the appraisal
district[, or, if the appraisal district is an appraisal district
described by Subsection (d-1), the local administrative district
judge] regarding a ranking, scoring, or reporting of the percentage
by which the appraisal review board or a panel of the board reduces
the appraised value of property.
(k) An offense under Subsection [(i) or] (j) is a Class A
misdemeanor.
SECTION 3. Subchapter C, Chapter 6, Tax Code, is amended by
adding Section 6.4101 to read as follows:
Sec. 6.4101. BALLOT PROCEDURES FOR APPRAISAL REVIEW BOARD
MEMBER; FILING FEE. (a) Except as provided by this section,
Chapter 144, Election Code, applies to a candidate for the office of
member of the appraisal review board of an appraisal district.
(b) An application for a place on the ballot must be filed
with the county judge of the county in which the appraisal district
is established and be accompanied by a filing fee of $250.
(c) A candidate's name may appear on the ballot only as an
independent candidate.
(d) A filing fee received under this section shall be
deposited in the county treasury to the credit of the county general
fund.
SECTION 4. Section 6.411(c-1), Tax Code, is amended to read
as follows:
(c-1) This section does not apply to communications with a
member of an appraisal review board by the chief appraiser or
another employee or a member of the board of directors of an
appraisal district or a property tax consultant or attorney
representing a party to a proceeding before the appraisal review
board:
(1) during a hearing on a protest or other proceeding
before the appraisal review board;
(2) that constitute social conversation;
(3) that are specifically limited to and involve
administrative, clerical, or logistical matters related to the
scheduling and operation of hearings, the processing of documents,
the issuance of orders, notices, and subpoenas, and the operation,
appointment, composition, or attendance at training of the
appraisal review board; or
(4) that are necessary and appropriate to enable the
appraisal review board [of directors of the appraisal district] to
determine whether to appoint, reappoint, or remove a person as [a
member or] the chairman or secretary of the appraisal review board.
SECTION 5. Section 6.413(a), Tax Code, is amended to read as
follows:
(a) An individual is not eligible to be elected or appointed
to or to serve on the appraisal review board established for an
appraisal district if the individual or a business entity in which
the individual has a substantial interest is a party to a contract
with the appraisal district or with a taxing unit that participates
in the appraisal district.
SECTION 6. Sections 6.414(a) and (b), Tax Code, are amended
to read as follows:
(a) An [The board of directors of an] appraisal review board
[district] by resolution of a majority of the members may provide
for a number of auxiliary appraisal review board members that the
board considers appropriate to hear taxpayer protests before the
appraisal review board and to assist the board in performing its
duties. The appraisal review board shall prepare a list of names of
potential auxiliary board members who meet the qualifications for
appointment as an auxiliary board member and submit the list to the
commissioners court of the county in which the appraisal district
is established.
(b) An auxiliary board member is appointed by the
commissioners court of the county in which the appraisal district
is established from the list of potential members provided by the
appraisal review board under Subsection (a) [in the same manner and
for the same term as an appraisal review board member under Section
6.41] and is subject to the same eligibility requirements and
restrictions as a board member under Sections 6.41, 6.411, 6.412,
and 6.413. An auxiliary board member is appointed for a two-year
term. A vacancy among the auxiliary board members is filled in the
same manner as the original appointment to the appraisal review
board.
SECTION 7. Section 6.42(a), Tax Code, is amended to read as
follows:
(a) A majority of the appraisal review board constitutes a
quorum. The board [of directors of the appraisal district] by
resolution shall select a chairman and a secretary from among the
board's [the] members [of the appraisal review board]. The board
[of directors of the appraisal district] is encouraged to select as
chairman [of the appraisal review board] a member of the [appraisal
review] board, if any, who has a background in law and property
appraisal.
SECTION 8. Section 41.66(g), Tax Code, is amended to read as
follows:
(g) At the beginning of a hearing on a protest, each member
of the appraisal review board hearing the protest must sign an
affidavit stating that the board member has not communicated with
another person in violation of Subsection (f). If a board member
has communicated with another person in violation of Subsection
(f), the member must be recused from the proceeding and may not
hear, deliberate on, or vote on the determination of the protest.
The appraisal review board [of directors of the appraisal district]
shall adopt and implement a policy concerning the temporary
replacement of an appraisal review board member who has
communicated with another person in violation of Subsection (f).
SECTION 9. The following provisions of the Tax Code are
repealed:
(1) Section 6.052(f);
(2) Sections 6.41(d-1), (d-2), (d-3), (d-4), (d-5),
(d-6), (d-7), (d-8), (d-9), (e), and (i); and
(3) Section 6.412(e).
SECTION 10. (a) Appraisal review board members shall be
elected under Section 6.41, Tax Code, as amended by this Act,
beginning with the general election conducted in 2020. Members
then elected take office January 1, 2021.
(b) The change in the manner of selection of appraisal
review board members made by Section 6.41, Tax Code, as amended by
this Act, does not affect the selection of members who serve on the
board before January 1, 2021.
(c) The term of an appraisal review board member serving on
December 31, 2020, expires on January 1, 2021.
(d) Auxiliary members may be appointed under Section 6.414,
Tax Code, as amended by this Act, by a commissioners court on or
after January 1, 2021.
(e) The change in the manner of selection of auxiliary
members made by Section 6.414, Tax Code, as amended by this Act,
does not affect the selection of auxiliary members who serve before
January 1, 2021.
(f) The term of an auxiliary member serving on December 31,
2020, expires on January 1, 2021.
SECTION 11. The repeal by this Act of Section 6.41(i), Tax
Code, and the change in law made by this Act to Section 6.41(j), Tax
Code, do not apply to an offense committed under either of those
subsections before January 1, 2021. An offense committed before
January 1, 2021, is governed by the applicable subsection as it
existed on the date the offense was committed, and the former law is
continued in effect for that purpose. For purposes of this section,
an offense was committed before January 1, 2021, if any element of
the offense occurred before that date.
SECTION 12. (a) Except as otherwise provided by this
section, this Act takes effect January 1, 2021.
(b) This section and Sections 3 and 10 of this Act take
effect January 1, 2020.