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Texas Statutes (Last Updated: January 4, 2014) |
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TAX CODE |
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Title 1. PROPERTY TAX CODE |
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Subtitle D. APPRAISAL AND ASSESSMENT |
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Chapter 26. ASSESSMENT |
Sec. 26.06. NOTICE, HEARING, AND VOTE ON TAX INCREASE
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(a) A public hearing required by Section 26.05 may not be held before the seventh day after the date the notice of the public hearing is given. The second hearing may not be held earlier than the third day after the date of the first hearing. Each hearing must be on a weekday that is not a public holiday. Each hearing must be held inside the boundaries of the unit in a publicly owned building or, if a suitable publicly owned building is not available, in a suitable building to which the public normally has access. At the hearings, the governing body must afford adequate opportunity for proponents and opponents of the tax increase to present their views.
(b) The notice of a public hearing may not be smaller than one-quarter page of a standard-size or a tabloid-size newspaper, and the headline on the notice must be in 24-point or larger type. The notice must contain a statement in the following form:
"NOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARING ON TAX INCREASE
"The (name of the taxing unit) will hold two public hearings on a proposal to increase total tax revenues from properties on the tax roll in the preceding tax year by (percentage by which proposed tax rate exceeds lower of rollback tax rate or effective tax rate calculated under this chapter) percent. Your individual taxes may increase at a greater or lesser rate, or even decrease, depending on the change in the taxable value of your property in relation to the change in taxable value of all other property and the tax rate that is adopted.
"The first public hearing will be held on (date and time) at (meeting place).
"The second public hearing will be held on (date and time) at (meeting place).
"(Names of all members of the governing body, showing how each voted on the proposal to consider the tax increase or, if one or more were absent, indicating the absences.)
"The average taxable value of a residence homestead in (name of taxing unit) last year was $____ (average taxable value of a residence homestead in the taxing unit for the preceding tax year, disregarding residence homestead exemptions available only to disabled persons or persons 65 years of age or older). Based on last year's tax rate of $____ (preceding year's adopted tax rate) per $100 of taxable value, the amount of taxes imposed last year on the average home was $____ (tax on average taxable value of a residence homestead in the taxing unit for the preceding tax year, disregarding residence homestead exemptions available only to disabled persons or persons 65 years of age or older).
"The average taxable value of a residence homestead in (name of taxing unit) this year is $____ (average taxable value of a residence homestead in the taxing unit for the current tax year, disregarding residence homestead exemptions available only to disabled persons or persons 65 years of age or older). If the governing body adopts the effective tax rate for this year of $____ (effective tax rate) per $100 of taxable value, the amount of taxes imposed this year on the average home would be $____ (tax on average taxable value of a residence homestead in the taxing unit for the current tax year, disregarding residence homestead exemptions available only to disabled persons or persons 65 years of age or older).
"If the governing body adopts the proposed tax rate of $____ (proposed tax rate) per $100 of taxable value, the amount of taxes imposed this year on the average home would be $____ (tax on the average taxable value of a residence in the taxing unit for the current year disregarding residence homestead exemptions available only to disabled persons or persons 65 years of age or older).
"Members of the public are encouraged to attend the hearings and express their views."
(c) The notice of a public hearing under this section may be delivered by mail to each property owner in the unit, or may be published in a newspaper. If the notice is published in a newspaper, it may not be in the part of the paper in which legal notices and classified advertisements appear. If the taxing unit operates an Internet website, the notice must be posted on the website from the date the notice is first published until the second public hearing is concluded.
(d) At the public hearings the governing body shall announce the date, time, and place of the meeting at which it will vote on the proposed tax rate. After each hearing the governing body shall give notice of the meeting at which it will vote on the proposed tax rate and the notice shall be in the same form as prescribed by Subsections (b) and (c), except that it must state the following:
"NOTICE OF TAX REVENUE INCREASE
"The (name of the taxing unit) conducted public hearings on (date of first hearing) and (date of second hearing) on a proposal to increase the total tax revenues of the (name of the taxing unit) from properties on the tax roll in the preceding year by (percentage by which proposed tax rate exceeds lower of rollback tax rate or effective tax rate calculated under this chapter) percent.
"The total tax revenue proposed to be raised last year at last year's tax rate of (insert tax rate for the preceding year) for each $100 of taxable value was (insert total amount of taxes imposed in the preceding year).
"The total tax revenue proposed to be raised this year at the proposed tax rate of (insert proposed tax rate) for each $100 of taxable value, excluding tax revenue to be raised from new property added to the tax roll this year, is (insert amount computed by multiplying proposed tax rate by the difference between current total value and new property value).
"The total tax revenue proposed to be raised this year at the proposed tax rate of (insert proposed tax rate) for each $100 of taxable value, including tax revenue to be raised from new property added to the tax roll this year, is (insert amount computed by multiplying proposed tax rate by current total value).
"The (governing body of the taxing unit) is scheduled to vote on the tax rate that will result in that tax increase at a public meeting to be held on (date of meeting) at (location of meeting, including mailing address) at (time of meeting)."
(e) The meeting to vote on the tax increase may not be earlier than the third day or later than the 14th day after the date of the second public hearing. The meeting must be held inside the boundaries of the taxing unit in a publicly owned building or, if a suitable publicly owned building is not available, in a suitable building to which the public normally has access. If the governing body does not adopt a tax rate that exceeds the lower of the rollback tax rate or the effective tax rate by the 14th day, it must give a new notice under Subsection (d) before it may adopt a rate that exceeds the lower of the rollback tax rate or the effective tax rate.
(f) Repealed by Acts 2005, 79th Leg., Ch. 1368, Sec. 6, eff. June 18, 2005.
(g) This section does not apply to a school district. A school district shall provide notice of a public hearing on a tax increase as required by Section 44.004, Education Code.