S.B. No. 873

AN ACT
relating to a requirement that certain appraisal districts provide
for electronic filing of and electronic communications regarding a
protest of appraised value by the owner of a residence homestead.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Subchapter C, Chapter 41, Tax Code, is amended by
adding Section 41.415 to read as follows:
Sec. 41.415. ELECTRONIC FILING OF NOTICE OF PROTEST.
(a) This section applies only to an appraisal district that:
(1) on January 1, 2008, maintained an Internet website
accessible to the public; or
(2) after that date established or establishes such an
Internet website.
(b) Each appraisal district shall implement a system that
allows the owner of a property that for the current tax year has
been granted a residence homestead exemption under Section 11.13,
in connection with the property, to electronically:
(1) file a notice of protest under Section 41.41(a)(1)
or (2) with the appraisal review board;
(2) receive and review comparable sales data and other
evidence that the chief appraiser intends to use at the protest
hearing before the board;
(3) receive, as applicable:
(A) a settlement offer from the district to
correct the appraisal records by changing the market value and, if
applicable, the appraised value of the property to the value as
redetermined by the district; or
(B) a notice from the district that a settlement
offer will not be made; and
(4) accept or reject a settlement offer received from
the appraisal district under Subdivision (3)(A).
(c) With each notice sent under Section 25.19 to an eligible
property owner, the chief appraiser shall include information about
the system required by this section, including instructions for
accessing and using the system.
(d) A notice of protest filed electronically under this
section must include, at a minimum:
(1) a statement as to whether the protest is brought
under Section 41.41(a)(1) or under Section 41.41(a)(2);
(2) a statement of the property owner’s good faith
estimate of the value of the property; and
(3) an electronic mail address that the district may
use to communicate electronically with the property owner in
connection with the protest.
(e) If the property owner accepts a settlement offer made by
the appraisal district, the chief appraiser shall enter the
settlement in the appraisal records as an agreement made under
Section 1.111(e).
(f) If the property owner rejects a settlement offer, the
appraisal review board shall hear and determine the property
owner’s protest in the manner otherwise provided by this subchapter
and Subchapter D.
(g) An appraisal district is not required to make the system
required by this section available to an owner of a residence
homestead located in an area in which the chief appraiser
determines that the factors affecting the market value of real
property are unusually complex.
(h) An electronic mail address provided by a property owner
to an appraisal district under Subsection (d)(3) is confidential
and may not be disclosed by the district.
(i) Notwithstanding Subsection (b), an appraisal district
established for a county having a population of 250,000 or less is
not required to implement the system required by this section
before January 1, 2013. This subsection expires January 1, 2014.
SECTION 2. Section 41.415, Tax Code, as added by this Act,
applies only to a tax year that begins on or after the effective
date of this Act.
SECTION 3. This Act takes effect January 1, 2011.

______________________________ ______________________________
President of the Senate Speaker of the House

I hereby certify that S.B. No. 873 passed the Senate on
April 23, 2009, by the following vote: Yeas 30, Nays 0.

______________________________
Secretary of the Senate

I hereby certify that S.B. No. 873 passed the House on
May 26, 2009, by the following vote: Yeas 146, Nays 0, one
present not voting.

______________________________
Chief Clerk of the House

Approved:

______________________________
Date

______________________________
Governor