Relating to the filing for record of a plat, replat, or amended plat or replat of a subdivision of real property or a condominium.
ModeratePlan for compliance
Low Cost
Effective:2025-09-01
Enforcing Agencies
County Clerks
01
Compliance Analysis
Key implementation requirements and action items for compliance with this legislation
Implementation Timeline
Effective Date: September 1, 2025
Compliance Deadline: September 1, 2025. Any plat submitted for recording on or after this date is subject to the new rules, regardless of when the application was originally filed.
Agency Rulemaking: None. This is a statutory change to the Property Code. However, individual County Clerks will need to update their internal intake procedures immediately.
Immediate Action Plan
1.Update Intake Forms: Immediately revise internal "Plat Recording Requirements" documents to remove references to current-year tax estimates.
2.Create a Statutory "One-Pager": Prepare a PDF containing the text of HB 2025, highlighting the repealed section. Equip all filing runners with this document to resolve disputes at the counter immediately.
3.Audit Pending Pipelines: Identify all projects scheduled for final plat recording between September 1, 2025, and December 31, 2025. Flag them to ensure the new documentation standard is applied.
4.Proactive Outreach: For major developments, have your counsel send a formal letter to the County Clerk's recording department in August 2025, confirming their readiness for the statutory change.
Operational Changes Required
Contracts
Purchase & Sale Agreements (PSAs): Review "Conditions to Closing" in raw land contracts. If your standard PSA requires the Seller to provide "statements of estimated taxes" or "tax certificates covering the current year" for fall closings, strike this language. It creates a contractual obligation to provide a document that is no longer legally required or easily obtainable.
Development Agreements: Ensure tax proration clauses are robust. With the removal of the statutory lever to force current-year tax consideration at the time of platting, the contract becomes the sole mechanism for ensuring tax liability is properly divided.
Hiring/Training
Title Runners & filing Clerks: Train staff to push back against rejection. County Deputy Clerks are habit-driven and may reject September/October filings that lack the "current year" tax statement based on outdated training.
Surveyors: Inform your surveying partners that they no longer need to coordinate the collection of "Statement of Taxes Not Calculated" letters from tax assessors.
Reporting & Record-Keeping
Filing Checklists: Update your pre-recording checklist.
Remove: "Current Year Tax Estimate" or "Statement of Non-Calculation."
Retain: Original Tax Certificate showing no *delinquent* taxes.
Add: "Preceding Year Tax Receipt" (Required *only* if the standard tax certificate does not yet reflect payment for the preceding year).
Fees & Costs
Cost Reduction: Administrative costs associated with obtaining estimated tax statements from multiple taxing jurisdictions are eliminated.
No Fee Changes: Filing fees remain unchanged.
Strategic Ambiguities & Considerations
The "Legacy Clerk" Risk:
The statute is clear, but implementation across Texas's 254 counties will be inconsistent. The primary ambiguity is not in the text, but in the operational readiness of rural County Clerks.
Risk: A clerk rejects a compliant filing in September 2025 because their internal "cheat sheet" has not been updated to reflect the repeal of the bracketed text in Property Code Sec. 12.002(e).
Mitigation: Do not rely on the Clerk to know the law. You must provide the proof.
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Information presented is for general knowledge only and is provided without warranty, express or implied. Consult qualified government affairs professionals and legal counsel before making compliance decisions.
The bill author has informed the committee that, under current law, if a person files a plat, replat, or amended plat with the county clerk after September 1 of a year, the person must attach to it a tax receipt issued by each taxing unit with jurisdiction over the property indicating that the taxes imposed by the taxing unit for the current year have been paid or, if the taxes for the current year have not been calculated, a statement from the taxing unit indicating that the taxes to be imposed for the current year have not been calculated. However, if taxes are calculated after the person files the plat but before the county clerk records the plat, the county clerk may reject the plat. H.B. 2025 seeks to ensure that a filing for a plat, replat, or amended plat is not rejected if the taxes owed for a property for which a plat was filed are calculated after a person files a plat but before the county clerk records the plat.
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
H.B. 2025 amends the Property Code to remove the requirement for a plat, replat, or amended plat or replat of a subdivision of real property or a condominium that is filed for record after September 1 of a year to have attached to it a tax receipt issued by the collector for each taxing unit with jurisdiction of the property indicating that the taxes imposed by the taxing unit for the current year have been paid or, if the taxes for the current year have not been calculated, a statement from the collector for the taxing unit indicating that the taxes to be imposed by that taxing unit for the current year have not been calculated.
Honorable Gary Gates, Chair, House Committee on Land & Resource Management
FROM:
Jerry McGinty, Director, Legislative Budget Board
IN RE:
HB2025 by Tepper (Relating to the filing for record of a plat, replat, or amended plat or replat of a subdivision of real property or a condominium.), As Introduced
No fiscal implication to the State is anticipated.
Local Government Impact
No significant fiscal implication to units of local government is anticipated.
Source Agencies:
LBB Staff:
JMc, SZ, CMA
Related Legislation
Explore more bills from this author and on related topics
Effective September 1, 2025, HB 2025 eliminates the "September 1 to December 31" bottleneck for recording subdivision and condominium plats. Developers are no longer required to obtain statements regarding current-year tax estimates or "not calculated" letters to record plats during the fall; the requirement is now strictly limited to proof that no delinquent taxes are owed. Implementation Timeline Effective Date: September 1, 2025 Compliance Deadline: September 1, 2025.
Q
Who authored HB2025?
HB2025 was authored by Texas Representative Carl Tepper during the Regular Session.
Q
When was HB2025 signed into law?
HB2025 was signed into law by Governor Greg Abbott on June 20, 2025.
Q
Which agencies enforce HB2025?
HB2025 is enforced by County Clerks.
Q
How urgent is compliance with HB2025?
The compliance urgency for HB2025 is rated as "moderate". Businesses and organizations should review the requirements and timeline to ensure timely compliance.
Q
What is the cost impact of HB2025?
The cost impact of HB2025 is estimated as "low". This may vary based on industry and implementation requirements.
Q
What topics does HB2025 address?
HB2025 addresses topics including county government, county government--land use & zoning, property interests, property interests--real property and taxation.
Legislative data provided by LegiScanLast updated: November 25, 2025
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