Menéndez Food Desert Bill Cuts Grocery Property Taxes Five Percent

The text as introduced · 782 words

89R16267 DRS-D

By: Menéndez
S.B. No. 2474

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to a credit against the ad valorem taxes imposed on real

property used for a grocery store or healthy corner store located in

a food desert.

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

SECTION 1. Chapter 31, Tax Code, is amended by adding

Section 31.039 to read as follows:

Sec. 31.039. TAX CREDIT FOR GROCERY STORE OR HEALTHY CORNER

STORE LOCATED IN FOOD DESERT. (a) In this section:

(1) "Food desert" means a census tract, based on

information published by the United States Bureau of the Census for

the most recent decennial census, in which:

(A) the poverty rate is 20 percent or higher or

the median family income is at or below 80 percent of the area

median family income; and

(B) at least 500 people or at least 33 percent of

the census area's population reside more than:

(i) one mile from a grocery store, in the

case of a census tract other than a rural census tract; or

(ii) 10 miles from a grocery store, in the

case of a rural census tract.

(2) "Grocery store" means a store that has at least:

(A) 66 percent of the store's retail space

reserved for the sale of food products;

(B) 50 percent of the store's food retail space

reserved for the sale of non-prepared foods or foods intended for

home preparation and consumption; and

(C) 30 percent of the store's food retail space

reserved for the sale of perishable foods, including dairy

products, fresh produce, fresh meats, poultry, fish, and frozen

foods.

(3) "Healthy corner store" means a store that:

(A) has less than 2,000 square feet of retail

space;

(B) offers a wide variety of fresh produce for

sale; and

(C) allocates at least 20 percent of the store's

retail space to fresh produce and other perishable foods, including

dairy products.

(b) A person who owns real property is entitled to a credit

against the taxes imposed on the property by each taxing unit that

taxes the property if the property is:

(1) located in a food desert; and

(2) used to operate a grocery store or healthy corner

store.

(c) The amount of the credit to which a property owner is

entitled under this section against the taxes imposed on the

property by a taxing unit in a tax year is equal to the amount,

expressed in decimal form rounded to the nearest hundredth,

computed by multiplying the amount of taxes imposed on the property

by the taxing unit in the tax year by five percent.

(d) A property owner may receive a credit under this section

against the taxes imposed on the property by a taxing unit until the

first tax year after the tax year in which the United States Bureau

of the Census publishes information from a decennial census under

which the census tract in which the property is located is no longer

a food desert.

(e) To receive a credit under this section, a property owner

must file an application with the chief appraiser of the appraisal

district in which the property is located.

(f) The chief appraiser shall approve or deny an application

under this section for each taxing unit for which the appraisal

district appraises property. A determination of the chief

appraiser is subject to protest and appeal in the same manner as a

determination to approve or deny an exemption.

(g) The chief appraiser shall forward a copy of the

application to the assessor for each taxing unit that imposes taxes

on the property and certify to the assessor whether the chief

appraiser has approved or denied the application.

(h) A credit under this section, once allowed, need not be

claimed in subsequent years and applies to the property regardless

of any subsequent change in ownership of the property, provided

that the property otherwise continues to qualify for the credit.

(i) The comptroller shall adopt rules for the

administration of this section, including rules prescribing the

form of an application for the credit.

SECTION 2. This Act applies only to ad valorem taxes imposed

for a tax year beginning on or after the effective date of this Act.

SECTION 3. This Act takes effect January 1, 2026, but only

if the constitutional amendment proposed by the 89th Legislature,

Regular Session, 2025, to authorize the legislature to provide for

a credit against the ad valorem taxes imposed on real property used

for a grocery store or healthy corner store located in a food desert

is approved by the voters. If that amendment is not approved by the

voters, this Act has no effect.