S.B. No. 2091

	AN ACT
	relating to the authority of a taxing unit to sell certain seized or
	foreclosed property to an owner of an abutting property without
	conducting a public sale.
	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
	SECTION 1.  Section 33.43(a), Tax Code, is amended to read as
	follows:
	(a)  A petition initiating a suit to collect a delinquent
	property tax is sufficient if it alleges that:
	(1)  the taxing unit is legally constituted and
	authorized to impose and collect ad valorem taxes on property;
	(2)  tax in a stated amount was legally imposed on each
	separately described property for each year specified and on each
	person named if known who owned the property on January 1 of the
	year for which the tax was imposed;
	(3)  the tax was imposed in the county in which the suit
	is filed;
	(4)  the tax is delinquent;
	(5)  penalties, interest, and costs authorized by law
	in a stated amount for each separately assessed property are due;
	(6)  the taxing unit is entitled to recover each
	penalty that is incurred and all interest that accrues on
	delinquent taxes imposed on the property from the date of the
	judgment to the date of the sale under Section 34.01 or 34.0101, or
	under Section 253.010, Local Government Code, as applicable, if the
	suit seeks to foreclose a tax lien;
	(7)  the person sued owned the property on January 1 of
	the year for which the tax was imposed if the suit seeks to enforce
	personal liability;
	(8)  the person sued owns the property when the suit is
	filed if the suit seeks to foreclose a tax lien;
	(9)  the taxing unit asserts a lien on each separately
	described property to secure the payment of all taxes, penalties,
	interest, and costs due if the suit seeks to foreclose a tax lien;
	(10)  all things required by law to be done have been
	done properly by the appropriate officials; and
	(11)  the attorney signing the petition is legally
	authorized to prosecute the suit on behalf of the taxing unit.
	SECTION 2.  Subchapter A, Chapter 34, Tax Code, is amended by
	adding Section 34.0101 to read as follows:
	Sec. 34.0101.  SALE OF CERTAIN PROPERTY TO OWNER OF ABUTTING
	PROPERTY. (a)  In this section:
	(1)  "Flood insurance rate map" means the most recent
	flood hazard map published by the Federal Emergency Management
	Agency under the National Flood Insurance Act of 1968 (42 U.S.C.
	Section 4001 et seq.).
	(2)  "Floodway" means an area that is identified on the
	flood insurance rate map as a regulatory floodway, including the
	channel of a river or other watercourse and the adjacent land areas
	that must be reserved for the discharge of a base flood, also
	referred to as a 100-year flood, without cumulatively increasing
	the water surface elevation more than a designated height.
	(b)  This section applies to real property:
	(1)  that is:
	(A)  seized under a tax warrant issued under
	Subchapter E, Chapter 33; or
	(B)  ordered sold pursuant to foreclosure of a tax
	lien; and
	(2)  that is:
	(A)  a narrow strip of land or other parcel of land
	that because of its shape or small area cannot be used independently
	under its current zoning classification or under applicable
	subdivision or other development ordinances;
	(B)  landlocked without direct access to a public
	road; or
	(C)  located in:
	(i)  an area designated by the Federal
	Emergency Management Agency under the National Flood Insurance Act
	of 1968 (42 U.S.C. Section 4001 et seq.) as having a two-tenths of
	one percent or greater annual chance of flooding; or
	(ii)  a floodway.
	(c)  Sections 34.01(b), (c), (d), (e), (f), (g), (h), (i),
	(m), (n), (q), and (s), 34.02, 34.03, 34.04, and 34.21 apply to a
	sale of real property under this section.
	(d)  Notwithstanding any other law, including Sections
	263.001 and 272.001, Local Government Code, and subject to
	Subsection (e) of this section, a taxing unit that requested a tax
	warrant or order of sale for real property subject to this section
	may direct the officer charged with selling the property to sell the
	property to an owner of abutting property at a private sale.
	(e)  A taxing unit may not direct the sale of real property at
	a private sale under this section unless:
	(1)  the property is offered for sale at a public
	auction; and
	(2)  a bid sufficient to pay the amount specified by
	Subsection (h) is not received.
	(f)  A taxing unit that directs the private sale under this
	section of real property that abuts two or more adjacent parcels of
	real property having different owners must give notice of the sale
	to each abutting owner. The notice must state that the taxing unit
	will:
	(1)  offer the property for sale;
	(2)  accept sealed bids for the property; and
	(3)  sell the property to the highest bidder.
	(g)  A purchaser of property under this section must meet the
	requirements of Section 34.015.
	(h)  A taxing unit that directs the sale of real property
	under this section may not sell the property for an amount that is
	less than the lesser of:
	(1)  the property's market value, as specified in the
	warrant or the judgment, as applicable; or
	(2)  the following amount, as applicable:
	(A)  the amount provided by Section 34.01(p), in
	the case of property described by Subsection (b)(1)(A) of this
	section; or
	(B)  the amount provided by Section 34.01(b), in
	the case of property described by Subsection (b)(1)(B) of this
	section.
	(i)  A taxing unit that requested a tax warrant or order of
	sale for real property subject to this section may sell the property
	under this section without the consent of any taxing unit entitled
	to receive proceeds of the sale.
	SECTION 3.  Sections 34.02(a) and (d), Tax Code, are amended
	to read as follows:
	(a)  The proceeds of a tax sale under Section 33.94, [or]
	34.01, or 34.0101 shall be applied in the order prescribed by
	Subsection (b).  The amount included under each subdivision of
	Subsection (b) must be fully paid before any of the proceeds may be
	applied to the amount included under a subsequent subdivision.
	(d)  The officer conducting a sale under Section 33.94, [or]
	34.01, or 34.0101 shall pay any excess proceeds after payment of all
	amounts due all participants in the sale as specified by Subsection
	(b) to the clerk of the court issuing the warrant or order of sale.
	SECTION 4.  Section 33.43(a), Tax Code, as amended by this
	Act, applies only to a petition initiating a suit to collect a
	delinquent property tax filed on or after the effective date of this
	Act.
	SECTION 5.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2023.
	______________________________	______________________________
	President of the Senate	Speaker of the House
	I hereby certify that S.B. No. 2091 passed the Senate on
	April 4, 2023, by the following vote: Yeas 30, Nays 1; and that
	the Senate concurred in House amendment on May 26, 2023, by the
	following vote: Yeas 28, Nays 3.
	______________________________
	Secretary of the Senate
	I hereby certify that S.B. No. 2091 passed the House, with
	amendment, on May 19, 2023, by the following vote: Yeas 102,
	Nays 41, two present not voting.
	______________________________
	Chief Clerk of the House
	Approved:
	______________________________
	Date
	______________________________
	Governor