homeowner’s appraisal wins the protest

The text as introduced · 530 words

89R1245 DRS-D

By: Bell of Montgomery
H.B. No. 329

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to a requirement that an appraisal review board rely on an

appraisal of residential real property prepared by an appraiser and

submitted to the board by the property owner to determine a protest

regarding the value of the property.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:

SECTION 1. Section 41.43, Tax Code, is amended by amending

Subsections (a) and (a-2) and adding Subsection (a-6) to read as

follows:

(a) Except as provided by Subsections (a-1), (a-3), (a-6),

and (d), in a protest authorized by Section 41.41(a)(1) or (2), the

appraisal district has the burden of establishing the value of the

property by a preponderance of the evidence presented at the

hearing. If the appraisal district fails to meet that standard, the

protest shall be determined in favor of the property owner.

(a-2) To be valid, an appraisal filed under Subsection (a-1)

or (a-6) must be attested to before an officer authorized to

administer oaths and include:

(1) the name and business address of the certified

appraiser;

(2) a description of the property that was the subject

of the appraisal;

(3) a statement that the appraised or market value of

the property:

(A) was, as applicable, the appraised or market

value of the property as of January 1 of the current tax year; and

(B) was determined using a method of appraisal

authorized or required by Chapter 23; and

(4) a statement that the appraisal was performed in

accordance with the Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal

Practice.

(a-6) Notwithstanding Subsection (a-1), if in the protest

relating to a parcel of residential real property the property

owner files with the appraisal review board and, not later than the

14th day before the date of the first day of the hearing, delivers

to the chief appraiser a copy of an appraisal of the property

performed not later than the 180th day before the date of the first

day of the hearing by an appraiser certified under Chapter 1103,

Occupations Code, that supports the appraised or market value of

the property asserted by the property owner, the appraisal review

board shall:

(1) determine the protest in favor of the property

owner; and

(2) issue an order changing the property's appraised

or market value in the appraisal records to the value determined by

the appraisal of the property filed by the property owner.

SECTION 2. Section 37.10(c)(4), Penal Code, is amended to

read as follows:

(4) An offense under this section is a Class B

misdemeanor if it is shown on the trial of the offense that the

governmental record is a written appraisal filed with an appraisal

review board under Section 41.43(a-1) or (a-6) , Tax Code, that was

performed by a person who had a contingency interest in the outcome

of the appraisal review board hearing.

SECTION 3. The changes in law made by this Act apply only to

a protest under Chapter 41, Tax Code, for which a notice of protest

is filed on or after the effective date of this Act.

SECTION 4. This Act takes effect September 1, 2025.