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Property Tax Opinions Released in 2007Click here to view opinions released in 2006 Click here to view opinions released in 2005 Click here to view opinions released in 2004 Click here to view opinions released in 2003 Texas Courts of AppealWestern AH 406 Ltd. v. Central Appraisal District of Taylor County Contractual rent restrictions are an individual characteristic affecting the value of property.The owner of an apartment building entered into a contract to restrict the amount of rent charged to U.S. Air Force personnel. In a suit protesting appraised value, the appraisal district obtained a summary judgment preventing the use of the rent restriction in consideration of value. On appeal, the appellate court ruled that the agreement restricting rents was an “individual characteristic” of the property required to be considered in the property’s valuation pursuant to Section 23.01(b) of the Texas Tax Code and under the Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice. Attorney General OpinionsAttorney General Opinion No. GA-0514 Area must be "unproductive, underdeveloped, or blighted" to qualify for designation as a reinvestment zone.The Attorney General was asked whether an area must be "unproductive, underdeveloped, or blighted" to qualify for designation as a reinvestment zone if no bonds or notes were issued in connection with the financing plan. The query was based on an argument that the constitutional provisions allowing for the creation of tax increment financing districts only specified the requirement for "unproductive, underdeveloped, or blighted" property in the subsection relating to issuing of bonds and notes, while a second subsection allowing for "exemptions and other tax relief" did not contain the restriction. In examining the subsections, the Attorney General indicated that "exemptions" mean no tax assessment and "tax relief" means some type of reduction in taxes. Because tax increment financing districts do not provide for either an exemption or a reduction in taxes, but merely indicate where taxes paid will be spent, the subsection relating to bonds and notes was the only subsection allowing tax increment financing. Therefore, the Attorney General opined that the "unproductive, underdeveloped, or blighted" restriction applied regardless of the use of bonds or notes. Attorney General Opinion No. GA-0518 Delinquent taxes not reduced to judgment do not prohibit county fund disbursement, but may prevent awarding of contract.The Texas Local Government Code prohibits large counties from disbursing county funds to any person who is indebted to the state or county. A separate section of the Texas Local Government Code also authorizes counties to refuse to award a contract or enter into a transaction with a person indebted to the county, even if that person was the low bidder or otherwise would have submitted the successful proposal for the work. The Attorney General was asked whether delinquent property taxes not reduce to judgment would be considered an indebtedness for the purpose of these statutory provisions. The Attorney General determined that, until reduced to judgment, the delinquent taxes would not prohibit a disbursement of funds to the person. However, whether reduced to judgment or not, the delinquent taxes could be considered an indebtedness to the county for the purpose of denying a contract or other transaction to the person. |
