Bill Text: TX HB540 | 2017-2018 | 85th Legislature | Introduced

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Bill Title: Relating to the award of attorney's fees in a judicial appeal of certain ad valorem tax determinations.

Sponsorship: Partisan Bill (Republican 2)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2017-02-16 - Referred to Ways & Means [HB540 Detail]

Download: Texas-2017-HB540-Introduced.html

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85R942 CJC-F
By: Metcalf H.B. No. 540

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the award of attorney's fees in a judicial appeal of
certain ad valorem tax determinations.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 42.29, Tax Code, is amended to read as
follows:
Sec. 42.29. ATTORNEY'S FEES. (a) A property owner who
prevails in an appeal to the court under Section 42.25 or 42.26, in
an appeal to the court of a determination of an appraisal review
board on a motion filed under Section 25.25, or in an appeal to the
court of a determination of an appraisal review board of a protest
of the denial in whole or in part of an exemption under Section
11.17, 11.22, 11.23, 11.231, or 11.24 may be awarded reasonable
attorney's fees. Except as provided by Subsection (c) and subject
to Subsection (b), the [The] amount of the award may not exceed the
greater of:
(1) $15,000; or
(2) 20 percent of the total amount by which the
property owner's tax liability is reduced as a result of the appeal.
(b) Except as provided by [Notwithstanding] Subsection (c)
[(a)], the amount of an award of attorney's fees may not exceed the
lesser of the following amounts if that amount is less than the
amount determined under Subsection (a):
(1) $100,000; or
(2) the total amount by which the property owner's tax
liability is reduced as a result of the appeal.
(c) The amount of an award of attorney's fees is not subject
to a limitation imposed by this section if:
(1) the appeal is under Section 42.25 or 42.26;
(2) the property owner claims the property as the
owner's residence homestead; and
(3) in each of the two preceding tax years:
(A) the property owner prevailed in an appeal
under either of those sections regarding the same property; and
(B) the amount of an award of attorney's fees to
the property owner was subject to a limitation imposed by this
section.
SECTION 2. The change in law made by this Act applies only
to an appeal under Chapter 42, Tax Code, that is filed on or after
the effective date of this Act. An appeal under Chapter 42, Tax
Code, that is filed before the effective date of this Act is
governed by the law in effect on the date the appeal is filed, and
the former law is continued in effect for that purpose.
SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2017.