88S30042 DRS-D
	By: Bell, Cecil	H.B. No. 13

	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 on the 91st day after the
	last day of the legislative session.

Statutes affected:
Introduced: Tax Code 41.43, Penal Code 37.10 (Penal Code 37, Tax Code 41)