By: Bettencourt  S.B. No. 1286
         (In the Senate - Filed March 3, 2017; March 13, 2017, read
  first time and referred to Committee on Finance; April 12, 2017,
  reported adversely, with favorable Committee Substitute by the
  following vote:  Yeas 14, Nays 0; April 12, 2017, sent to printer.)
Click here to see the committee vote
 
  COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR S.B. No. 1286 By:  Bettencourt
 
 
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 
AN ACT
 
  relating to the system for protesting or appealing certain ad
  valorem tax determinations.
         BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
         SECTION 1.  Section 41.45, Tax Code, is amended by amending
  Subsections (h) and (o) and adding Subsection (p) to read as
  follows:
         (h)  Before the hearing on a protest or immediately after the
  hearing begins, the chief appraiser and the property owner or the
  owner's agent shall each provide the other with a copy of any
  written material or material preserved on a [any] portable device
  designed to maintain a [an electronic, magnetic, or digital]
  reproduction of a document or image that the person intends to offer
  or submit to the appraisal review board at the hearing.  Each person
  must provide the copy of material in the manner and form prescribed
  by comptroller rule.
         (o)  If the chief appraiser uses audiovisual equipment at a
  hearing on a protest, the appraisal office shall provide
  audiovisual equipment of the same general type, kind, and
  character, as prescribed by comptroller rule, for use during the
  hearing by the property owner or the property owner's agent.
         (p)  The comptroller by rule shall prescribe:
               (1)  the manner and form, including security
  requirements, in which a person must provide a copy of material
  under Subsection (h), which must allow the appraisal review board
  to retain the material as part of the board's hearing record; and
               (2)  specifications for the audiovisual equipment
  provided by an appraisal district for use by a property owner or the
  property owner's agent under Subsection (o).
         SECTION 2.  Section 41A.061(c), Tax Code, is amended to read
  as follows:
         (c)  The comptroller shall remove a person from the registry
  if:
               (1)  the person fails or declines to renew the person's
  agreement to serve as an arbitrator in the manner required by this
  section; or
               (2)  the comptroller determines by clear and convincing
  evidence that there is good cause to remove the person from the
  registry, including evidence of repeated bias or misconduct by the
  person while acting as an arbitrator.
         SECTION 3.  Section 41A.07, Tax Code, is amended by amending
  Subsection (a) and adding Subsections (e), (f), and (g) to read as
  follows:
         (a)  On receipt of the request and deposit under Section
  41A.05, the comptroller shall:
               (1)  appoint an eligible arbitrator who is listed in
  the comptroller's registry; and
               (2)  send notice to the appointed arbitrator requesting
  the individual to conduct the hearing on the arbitration [send the
  property owner and the appraisal district a copy of the
  comptroller's registry of qualified arbitrators and request that
  the parties select an arbitrator from the registry.   The
  comptroller may send a copy of the registry to the parties by
  regular mail in paper form or may send the parties written notice of
  the Internet address of a website at which the registry is
  maintained and may be accessed.   The parties shall attempt to select
  an arbitrator from the registry].
         (e)  To be eligible for appointment as an arbitrator under
  Subsection (a), the arbitrator must reside:
               (1)  in the county in which the property that is the
  subject of the appeal is located; or
               (2)  in this state if no available arbitrator on the
  registry resides in that county.
         (f)  A person is not eligible for appointment as an
  arbitrator under Subsection (a) if at any time during the preceding
  five years, the person has:
               (1)  represented a person for compensation in a
  proceeding under this title in the appraisal district in which the
  property that is the subject of the appeal is located;
               (2)  served as an officer or employee of that appraisal
  district; or
               (3)  served as a member of the appraisal review board
  for that appraisal district.
         (g)  The comptroller may not appoint an arbitrator under
  Subsection (a) if the comptroller determines that there is good
  cause not to appoint the arbitrator, including information or
  evidence indicating repeated bias or misconduct by the person while
  acting as an arbitrator.
         SECTION 4.  Sections 41A.07(b) and (c), Tax Code, are
  repealed.
         SECTION 5.  The comptroller shall adopt rules as provided by
  Section 41.45(p), Tax Code, as added by this Act, not later than
  January 1, 2018.
         SECTION 6.  The changes in law made by this Act to Section
  41.45, Tax Code, apply only to a protest for which the notice of
  protest was filed by a property owner with the appraisal review
  board established for an appraisal district on or after January 1,
  2018.
         SECTION 7.  The changes in law made by this Act to Section
  41A.07, Tax Code, apply only to a request for binding arbitration
  received by the comptroller from an appraisal district on or after
  the effective date of this Act.
         SECTION 8.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2017.
 
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