HBA-CBW H.B. 1732 77(R)    BILL ANALYSIS


Office of House Bill AnalysisH.B. 1732
By: King, Tracy
Ways & Means
3/22/2001
Introduced



BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE 

Currently, if the chief appraiser discovers that property has been omitted
from the tax roll in any of the five previous years, the appraiser may add
it to the appraisal roll.   A property owner may file a motion with an
appraisal review board to correct certain errors in the appraisal roll for
any of the prior five years, but the taxpayer must do so before the end of
five years after January 1st of a tax year. For the 2000 tax year, the last
day for a property owner to file a motion is January 1, 2005 but the last
day that a chief appraiser may add omitted property to the appraisal roll
is December 31, 2005.    Thus, the chief appraiser has almost a year longer
to add omitted property to the appraisal roll than property owners have to
correct the appraisal roll. 

Some courts have held that a property owner may not file a motion to
correct the appraisal roll, unless the error is evident on the appraisal
roll.  These rulings have precluded a motion by a property owner to correct
a clerical error that resulted in an erroneous appraised value, because the
error could only be detected by reviewing evidence of the value of the
property and could not  be detected on the face of the appraisal roll.
House Bill 1732 requires the appraisal review board to change the appraisal
roll for any of the five preceding years on the motion of a property owner. 

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

House Bill 1732 amends the Tax Code to require, instead of authorize, the
appraisal review board to direct specified changes in the appraisal roll
for any of the five preceding years,  on motion of  a property owner. The
bill removes the provision that authorizes the appraisal review board, on
motion of the chief appraiser, to direct specified changes in the appraisal
roll at any time before the end of five years after January 1 of a tax
year.  The bill prohibits the roll from being changed if the property was
the subject of a protest brought by the property owner under local review,
a hearing on the protest was conducted in which the property owner offered
evidence or argument, and the appraisal review board made a determination
of the protest on the merits.  The bill requires that the appraisal review
board, in determining whether to direct that an appraisal roll be changed,
to consider any evidence offered by the property owner to establish that an
error resulted in an incorrect appraised value in the appraisal roll,
including appraisal records, appraisal cards, tax maps, and other written
material.  The bill removes the provision that authorizes the chief
appraiser to file a specified motion with the appraisal review board. 

EFFECTIVE DATE

On passage, or if the Act does not receive the necessary vote, the Act
takes effect September 1, 2001.