homestead value could drop to its actual sales price

The text as introduced · 731 words

89R16125 CJC-F

By: Phelan
H.B. No. 4399

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to the authority of an appraisal review board to direct

changes in the appraisal roll and related appraisal records if a

residence homestead is sold for less than the appraised value.

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

SECTION 1. Section 25.25, Tax Code, is amended by adding

Subsection (c-2) and amending Subsections (e), (l), and (m) to read

as follows:

(c-2) The appraisal review board, on motion of the chief

appraiser or of a property owner, may direct by written order

changes in the appraisal roll or related records as provided by this

subsection. The board may order the appraised value of the owner's

property in the current tax year and either of the two preceding tax

years to be changed to the sales price of the property in the

current tax year if, for each tax year for which the change is to be

made:

(1) the property qualifies as that owner's residence

homestead;

(2) the sales price of the property is at least 10

percent less than the appraised value of the property; and

(3) the board makes a finding that the sales price

reflects the market value of the property.

(e) If the chief appraiser and the property owner do not

agree to the correction before the 15th day after the date the

motion is filed, a party bringing a motion under Subsection (c),

(c-1), (c-2), or (d) is entitled on request to a hearing on and a

determination of the motion by the appraisal review board. A party

bringing a motion under this section must describe the error or

errors or other matter that the motion is seeking to correct. If a

request for hearing is made on or after January 1 but before

September 1, the appraisal review board shall schedule the hearing

to be held as soon as practicable but not later than the 90th day

after the date the board approves the appraisal records as provided

by Section 41.12. If a request for hearing is made on or after

September 1 but before January 1 of the following tax year, the

appraisal review board shall schedule the hearing to be held as soon

as practicable but not later than the 90th day after the date the

request for the hearing is made. Not later than 15 days before the

date of the hearing, the board shall deliver written notice of the

date, time, and place of the hearing to the chief appraiser, the

property owner, and the presiding officer of the governing body of

each taxing unit in which the property is located. The chief

appraiser, the property owner, and each taxing unit are entitled to

present evidence and argument at the hearing and to receive written

notice of the board's determination of the motion. The property

owner is entitled to elect to present the owner's evidence and

argument before, after, or between the cases presented by the chief

appraiser and each taxing unit. A property owner who files the

motion must comply with the payment requirements of Section 25.26

or forfeit the right to a final determination of the motion.

(l) A motion may be filed under Subsection (c) or (c-2)

regardless of whether, for a tax year to which the motion relates,

the owner of the property protested under Chapter 41 an action

relating to the value of the property that is the subject of the

motion.

(m) The hearing on a motion under Subsection (c), (c-1),

(c-2), or (d) shall be conducted in the manner provided by

Subchapter C, Chapter 41.

SECTION 2. The changes in law made by this Act apply only to

a motion to correct an appraisal roll filed on or after the

effective date of this Act. A motion to correct an appraisal roll

filed before the effective date of this Act is governed by the law

in effect on the date the motion was filed, and the former law is

continued in effect for that purpose.

SECTION 3. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives

a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as

provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this

Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this

Act takes effect September 1, 2025.