HBA-MPM H.B. 3526 77(R) BILL ANALYSIS Office of House Bill AnalysisH.B. 3526 By: Hochberg Public Education 4/16/2001 Introduced BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Beginning with the 2001-2002 school year, a school district's fiscal year begins on July 1 or September 1 of each year as determined by the board of trustees of the district. To adopt a budget prior to the beginning of the fiscal year, school districts must comply with truth-in-taxation requirements, including holding a public meeting. At least 10 days prior to the meeting, the district is required to publish a notice that includes certain calculations that currently use the district's taxable value as certified by the chief appraiser. However, the chief appraiser is not required by law to provide this information until July 25th, which does not allow for the timely publication of the notice for public hearing for districts whose fiscal year starts July 1. House Bill 3526 authorizes such a school district to use the chief appraiser's certified estimate of the taxable value of district property rather than the actual certified taxable value for purposes of publishing the notice of and holding a public meeting. 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. ANALYSIS House Bill 3526 amends the Education Code to provide that if the chief appraiser for a county which includes a school district with a fiscal year beginning July 1 is unable to provide by July 7 a certified taxable value, the district is authorized to substitute the chief appraiser's certified estimate of the taxable value in place of the certified taxable value in all calculations for the required notice of a budget and tax rate meeting. The bill authorizes a district using a certified estimate to adopt the budget at the public meeting designated in the notice, but prohibits the district from setting a tax rate until the chief appraiser has certified a taxable value. The bill provides that the district must publish a corrected notice and hold a second public meeting only if the tax rate to be adopted by the district exceeds either the proposed tax rate in the original notice or the district's rollback rate computed using the chief appraiser's certified taxable value. H.B. 3526 amends the Tax Code to require the chief appraiser to prepare and certify to the assessor for each school district participating in the appraisal district an estimate of the taxable value of school district property by June 7, rather than June 15. EFFECTIVE DATE On passage, or if the Act does not receive the necessary vote, the Act takes effect September 1, 2001.