HBA-SEP H.B. 824 77(R)    BILL ANALYSIS


Office of House Bill AnalysisH.B. 824
By: Ellis, Dan
Ways & Means
3/15/2001
Introduced



BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE 

Current law does not exempt county fair associations that own land and
buildings from ad valorem taxation (taxation) of the property.  While most
county fair association property is owned by a county and is therefore
exempt, and other counties give the county tax assessors discretion to
exempt the property owned by the county fair association, a statewide
policy to exempt county fair associations from taxation of property would
benefit those county fair associations that are not presently exempt.
House Bill 824 entitles a nonprofit county fair association organized to
hold agricultural fairs and encourage agricultural pursuits to a tax
exemption on the land and buildings it owns and uses to hold agricultural
fairs.   

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 824 amends the Tax Code to entitle a county fair association
organized to hold agricultural fairs and encourage agricultural pursuits to
a tax exemption on the land and buildings it owns and uses to hold
agricultural fairs.  The bill provides that, to qualify for an exemption, a
county fair association must: 

_be a nonprofit corporation as defined by the Texas Non-Profit Corporation
Act; 

_be exempt from federal income taxes as an organization; 

_qualify for an exemption from the franchise tax under the exemption for a
nonprofit corporation organized for agricultural purposes; and 

_meet the qualifications of a charitable organization.

EFFECTIVE DATE

January 1, 2002.