HBA-MPM H.B. 1745 76(R) BILL ANALYSIS Office of House Bill AnalysisH.B. 1745 By: Flores Public Education 4/19/1999 Introduced BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Current law allows a large single taxpayer to withhold payment of taxes during a challenge to appraised values until the contest is resolved. Poor school districts who rely heavily on this funding can be affected by the taxpayer's contesting and refusal to pay taxes. H.B. 1745 amends the Education Code to make modifications to certain formulas with respect to this issue. RULEMAKING AUTHORITY It is the opinion of the Office of House Bill Analysis that this bill does not expressly delegate any additional rulemaking authority to a state officer, department, agency, or institution. SECTION BY SECTION ANALYSIS SECTION 1. Amends Section 42.253(i), Education Code, to require the commissioner of education (commissioner) to determine the actual amount of state funds to which each school district receiving credit under Section 42.302(b) (Allotment), Education Code, for taxes unpaid pending appraisal appeals was entitled under the allocation formulas under this chapter for the school year in which the district received the credit. Further requires the commissioner to compare that amount with the amount of the warrants issued to each district for that year. Requires the commissioner to adjust the districts entitlement for the next fiscal year if the amount of the warrant differs from the amount to which the district is entitled without respect to variations in the district's tax rate, student enrollment, or taxable value of property. SECTION 2. Amends Section 42.302, Education Code, as follows: Sec. 42.302. ALLOTMENT. (a) Expands the definition of "DTR" as the district enrichment and facilities tax rate of the school district (district), which is determined by subtracting the amounts specified in Subsection (b) from the sum of the total amount, rather than the total amount, of taxes collected by the district for the applicable school year and the total amount of taxes unpaid pending appraisal appeals for that year and dividing the difference by the quotient of the district's taxable value of property as determined under Subchapter M (Study of School District Property Values), Chapter 403, Government Code, divided by 100. (b) Provides that for purposes of Subsection (a) the total amount of taxes unpaid pending appraisal appeals is the difference between the total amount of taxes levied by the school district on property that is the subject of a protest under Section 41.41 (Right of Protest), Tax Code, or an appeal under Section 42.01(a)(1) (Right of Appeal by Property Owner), Tax Code, as of the date for which the computation is made less the total amount of taxes paid on that property as of that date. Provides that, for the purposes of this subsection, the amount of taxes levied on property that is the subject of a protest or appeal is determined using the taxable value of the property according to the appraisal roll certified to the district. (c) Provides that in computing a district's DTR, the total amount of taxes collected by the district does not include the amount of taxes collected on property for a tax year for which the district previously included taxes levied on the property in the total amount of taxes unpaid pending appraisal appeals. Makes a conforming change. SECTION 3. Effective date: September 1, 1999. SECTION 4. Emergency clause.