Several new state laws take effect in 2024

Our property tax code is undergoing a ton of changes as we head into the new year, thanks to several bills passed by the Texas Legislature last session that officially take effect this week.

A total of 31 new laws will hit the books starting Monday, Jan. 1, 2024.

Another two laws—one that bans employers from forcing COVID vaccines on their workers, and the other which increases penalties for those found guilty of human smuggling—will take effect early the following month on Feb. 6, 2024.

Still another batch of laws—these marking an all-new era for immigration law in Texas—won’t hit the books until March 5, 2024, the same day Texans will be asked to cast ballots in the 2024 Presidential primaries here in Lone Star State.

One of those immigration bills allocates about $1.5 billion in state dollars to resume border wall construction along the Texas-Mexico border, while the other empowers state officials to deport from Texas anyone found to be here illegally.

That latter bill is already facing legal challenges in the federal court system, and it will likely be the source of heated debate, the closer it gets to its effective launch date.

Opponents have branded the bill a return to racial profiling in the state, while proponents say it’s a last-ditch effort to protect Texas from being overrun by foreign nationals who have been arriving unchecked—and, many have alleged, were assisted by federal agents, whose mission up until January 2021 had been to apprehend and detain those who crossed into our nation illegally—those same individuals are crossing into Texas by the thousands in steady procession, ever since Joe Biden assumed the presidency.

If the federal government had done its job, many South Texas law enforcement officials have said, none of this would have even come up. As it stands, however, Texas could become the first state in modern history with laws on the books permitting it to expel people from its borders, a right that’s typically reserved for federal entities only.

Until then, new laws taking effect come Monday will include:

• HB 260 relates to the calculation of "net to land" in the appraisal of open-space land for ad valorem tax purposes, meaning that effect of diseases, pests, and even management practices (like overgrazing, for instance) which impact the land’s net income must also be considered when the chief appraiser makes calculations on a piece of property’s overall worth.

• HB 456 relates to an exemption from ad valorem taxation of specific interests in a minerals one certain places owned by certain charitable organizations.

• HB 614 relates to property owners’ association fines.

• HB 796 relates to the creation and maintenance of a publicly available database of information regarding all protest hearings set for the appraisal review board. That database will get set up and maintained by each county’s chief appraiser at each respective appraisal district office in Texas.

• HB 1058 relates to a franchise or insurance premium tax credit for certain housing developments.

• HB 1228 relates to the delivery of certain information under the Property Tax Code.

• HB 1285 relates to the training and duties of a local taxpayer liaison officer for the appraisal districts.

• HB 1922 relates to periodic reauthorization of municipal building permit fees.

• HB 2121 relates to the form of a rendition statement or property report used to render property for ad valorem tax purposes.

• HB 2323 relates to the issuance of specialty license plates commemorating the 100th anniversary of the writing of the state song.

• HB 2354 relates to the eligibility of land to continue to be appraised for ad valorem tax purposes as qualified open-space land following a transfer to a surviving spouse.

• HB 3186 relates to youth diversion strategies and procedures for children accused of certain fine-only offenses in municipal and justice courts and other related criminal justice matters, including authoring certain fees associated with those courts.

• HB 3273 relates to public notice of the availability on the internet of property-tax-related information.

• HB 4077 relates to the procedure for qualifying for an exemption from ad valorem taxation of the residence homestead of an elderly person.

• HB 4101 relates to the matters that may be the subject of limited binding arbitration to compel compliance with procedural requirements about protests before appraisal review boards.

• HB 4456 relates to the calculation of specific ad valorem tax rates of a school district.

• HB 4500 relates to electronic verification of health benefits by health benefit plan issuers for certain physicians and health care providers.

• HB 4645 relates to the exemption from ad valorem taxation of specific property used to provide low-income or moderate-income housing.

• HB 4758 relates to a prohibition on all e-cigarette products that contain any cartoon-like characters or pictures of celebrities on their packaging, making it a criminal offense to both sell them or have them in your possession.

• SB 539 relates to how an individual who has elected to defer collection of a tax, abate a suit to collect a delinquent tax or abate a sale to foreclose a tax lien on the individual's residence homestead is listed on the outstanding tax roll of a taxing unit.

• SB 719 relates to an exemption from ad valorem taxation of property owned by a charitable organization that provides services related to the placement of a child in a foster or adoptive home.

• SB 1340 relates to the local development agreement database maintained by the comptroller of public accounts.

• SB 1381 relates to the eligibility of the surviving spouse of an elderly person who qualified for a local option exemption from ad valorem taxation by a taxing unit of a portion of the appraised value of the deceased person's residence homestead to continue to receive an exemption for the same property from the same taxing unit in an amount equal to that of the exemption for which the deceased person qualified without having to apply for another exemption.

• SB 1577 relates to the Texas Real Estate Research Center, the Real Estate Research Advisory Committee, the Texas Real Estate Commission, and the Texas Appraiser Licensing and Certification Board increasing their fees and authoring certain payments.

• SB 1780 relates to online notarizations.

• SB 1999 relates to the calculation of the unused increment rate of a taxing unit.

• SB 2355 relates to the appeal of specific ad valorem tax determinations through binding arbitration.

• SB 2440 relates to a requirement that certain lands approved designated for the subdivision of land include evidence that a groundwater supply exists.

• SB 2603 relates to the creation of the Montgomery County Municipal Utility District No. 216, granting the new entity a limited power of eminent domain, permitting it to issue certain bonds to fund its infrastructure needs, and giving it the authority to impose certain assessments, fees, and taxes.

• SB 3 relates to the amount of the total revenue exemption for the franchise tax and the exclusion of certain taxable entities from the requirement to file a franchise tax report.

• SB 17 effectively bans diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives at public universities and colleges.