BILL ANALYSIS

C.S.H.B. 148

By: Turner

Ways & Means

Committee Report (Substituted)

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE

The bill author has informed the committee that, while an appraisal district boards of directors play a critical role in overseeing the property tax appraisal process and ensuring fair property tax assessments, some board members may not be fully aware of or understand their statutory responsibilities. Further, without proper training, these board members may not be able to fulfill their roles to the best of their abilities, which could negatively impact the efficiency and effectiveness of an appraisal district. C.S.H.B. 148 seeks to address this issue and strengthen the qualifications and preparedness of members of an appraisal district board of directors by implementing a mandatory training and certification program for all board members to be completed before each anniversary of the date the member takes office.

CRIMINAL JUSTICE IMPACT

It is the committee's opinion that this bill does not expressly create a criminal offense, increase the punishment for an existing criminal offense or category of offenses, or change the eligibility of a person for community supervision, parole, or mandatory supervision.

RULEMAKING AUTHORITY

It is the committee's opinion that this bill does not expressly grant any additional rulemaking authority to a state officer, department, agency, or institution.

ANALYSIS

C.S.H.B. 148 amends the Tax Code to require a member of an appraisal district board of directors to successfully complete a training program prescribed by the bill before each anniversary of the date the member takes office. The bill requires the training program to provide a board member with information regarding the following:

·the role and functions of the chief appraiser, the board of directors, the appraisal review board, and the taxpayer liaison officer;

·the role and functions of the comptroller of public accounts regarding the property tax system;

·the importance of maintaining the independence of an appraisal office from political pressure;

·the importance of prompt, courteous, and fair treatment of the public;

·the finance and budgeting requirements for an appraisal district, including appropriate controls to ensure that expenditures are proper;

·the procurement and contracting requirements for an appraisal district, including appropriate controls to ensure there are no conflicts of interest;

·the requirements of:

ostate open meetings law, state public information law, and the Administrative Procedure Act;

oother laws relating to public officials, including conflict-of-interest laws; and

othe standards of ethics imposed by the Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice; and

·the professions regulated under the Property Taxation Professional Certification Act.

The bill requires the training for a member of a board of directors of an appraisal district that has contracted to perform duties relating to the assessment or collection of taxes to include not less than eight hours of instruction on laws relating to those functions. The bill requires the training to be provided by an accredited institution of higher education, including an institution that is a part of or associated with an accredited institution of higher education, such as the V. G. Young Institute of County Government, and requires the institution providing the training to provide a certificate of completion to the board member on the member's completion of the training. The bill requires a board member  who completes the training to file the certificate of completion provided to the member with the appraisal district and requires the appraisal district to provide each certificate filed with the district since the comptroller completed the most recent review of the district under applicable state law to the comptroller as part of each such review conducted. The bill establishes that, for purposes of removal under Local Government Code provisions relating to the removal of county officers from office by petition and trial, "incompetency" in the case of a member of an appraisal district board of directors includes the failure to timely complete the training required by the bill.

C.S.H.B. 148 requires each candidate for an appointive or elective position on an appraisal district board of directors to sign a statement as specified in the bill acknowledging the duties and existing statutory responsibilities of a member of an appraisal district board of directors. The bill prohibits an individual from being appointed to an appointive position on an appraisal district board of directors and from filing an application for a place on the ballot for an elective position on an appraisal district board of directors unless the individual has signed the acknowledgement and submitted the signed acknowledgement to the chief appraiser of the appraisal district.

C.S.H.B. 148 applies only to a person appointed or elected to an appraisal district board of directors whose term begins on or after January 1, 2026.

EFFECTIVE DATE

September 1, 2025.

COMPARISON OF INTRODUCED AND SUBSTITUTE

While C.S.H.B. 148 may differ from the introduced in minor or nonsubstantive ways, the following summarizes the substantial differences between the introduced and committee substitute versions of the bill.

Whereas the introduced required the comptroller to approve curricula and provide materials for board member training and education, supervise a training and education course, issue certificates of completion, and make all training and education materials freely available online, the substitute requires the board member training instead to be provided by an accredited institution of higher education and requires the applicable institution to provide certificates of completion. The substitute omits the provisions from the introduced that authorized the comptroller to contract with service providers to assist with the comptroller's training-related duties and prohibited the course from being provided by an appraisal district, the chief appraiser or another employee of an appraisal district, a member of an appraisal district board of directors, a member of an appraisal review board, or a taxing unit.

While both the introduced and the substitute set out provisions relating to the required content of the training, the introduced required the course to include information on the duties and responsibilities of an appraisal district board member, whereas the substitute requires the training to provide members with information regarding the following:

·the role and functions of the chief appraiser, the board of directors, the appraisal review board, and the taxpayer liaison officer and of the comptroller regarding the property tax system;

·the importance of maintaining the independence of an appraisal office from political pressure and of prompt, courteous, and fair treatment of the public;

·the finance and budgeting requirements for an appraisal district, including appropriate controls to ensure that expenditures are proper;

·the procurement and contracting requirements for an appraisal district, including appropriate controls to ensure there are no conflicts of interest;

·the requirements of state open meetings law, state public information law, the Administrative Procedure Act, other laws relating to public officials, including conflict-of-interest laws, and the standards of ethics imposed by the Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice; and

·the professions regulated under the Property Taxation Professional Certification Act.

Whereas the introduced required the course to be at least four hours in length for each member of an appraisal district board of directors, the substitute requires the training for a board member of an appraisal district that has contracted to perform duties relating to the assessment or collection of taxes to include not less than eight hours of instruction on laws relating to those functions.

The substitute omits the provisions from the introduced that authorized the course to be provided online and to include a summary of state open meetings law and state public information law requirements but prohibited such a course from fully duplicating training provided by the attorney general on those requirements.  

Whereas the introduced required a board member to complete the course before the beginning of each term the member serves on the board, the substitute requires a board member to successfully complete the training before each anniversary of the date the member takes office. The substitute omits the provision from the introduced that prohibited a board member from voting, deliberating, or being counted as a member in attendance at a board meeting unless the person has completed the course and received a certificate of completion.

The substitute omits the provisions from the introduced that did the following:

·authorized the comptroller to assess a fee to recover a portion of the costs incurred for course, including providing training to an individual other than a board member, not to exceed $50 for each person trained; and

·established that the course material for the course is the comptroller's Appraisal District Director's Manual.

The substitute includes provisions absent from the introduced that do the following:

·require a board member who completes the training to file the certificate of completion with the appraisal district;

·require the appraisal district to provide each certificate filed with the district since the comptroller completed the most recent statutory review of the district to the comptroller as part of each such review conducted; and

·establish that, for purposes of removal under Local Government Code provisions relating to the removal of county officers from office by petition and trial, "incompetency" in the case of a board member includes the failure to timely complete the training.