Property Tax Assistance Division Director's Quarterly Update
to Property Tax Professionals
As part of Texas Comptroller Susan Combs’ commitment to assist property owners and local governments, the Property Tax Assistance Division (PTAD) provides updates on its activities. The following information summarizes our work for the past few months, as well as planned activities for the fourth quarter of 2011.
2011 Rules and Forms
Since the 82nd Legislative Session ended, PTAD has worked on updating rules and forms that were impacted by the legislature’s passage of property tax legislation. Specifically, PTAD has proposed rules relating to the Manual for Discounting Oil and Gas Income, installment payments of taxes for property located in a disaster area and posting tax rates on counties’ websites. You can see a complete list of the proposed rules at www.window.state.tx.us/taxinfo/proptax/rules.html.
The Residence Homestead Application was updated to reflect new documentation requirements. For a summary of the changes, please visit PTAD’s frequently asked questions at www.window.state.tx.us/taxinfo/proptax/homestead-exemption.html.
The exemption applications were updated to allow charitable organization applicants to provide the organization’s federal tax identification number instead of a driver’s license number, personal identification certificate number or Social Security account number.
For a listing of all updated forms, please visit www.window.state.tx.us/taxinfo/taxforms/02-form19.html.
Heavy Equipment Manual
House Bill 2476 made numerous changes to the appraisal of dealer’s heavy equipment inventory, including adding lease and rental payments to the calculation of market value. PTAD is updating the Heavy Equipment Dealer’s Special Inventory Manual, the Dealer’s Heavy Equipment Inventory Declaration and Dealer's Heavy Equipment Inventory Tax Statement to reflect these changes.
Property Taxes in Drought and Disaster Areas
The entire state has been impacted by the continuing drought, and many properties were damaged or destroyed because of wildfires. In response to questions regarding property valuations and appraisals impacted by drought or located in a disaster area, PTAD has compiled a summary of the different tax code provisions that apply to property located in drought and disaster areas at www.window.state.tx.us/taxinfo/proptax/naturaldisasters.html.
2011 Property Tax Institute (PTI)
This year’s PTI is scheduled on the 12th and 13th of December. The conference will be held at the AT&T Executive Center on The University of Texas at Austin campus. As we look forward to seeing each other again, let us not forget the founder of PTI, Professor Lynn Anderson. He passed away September surrounded by his family. While he will be greatly missed, his contributions to the public service arena will not be forgotten.
Conclusion
PTAD continues to promote the Comptroller’s vision of efficiency and transparency in government by providing information and assistance to taxpayers, appraisal districts, appraisal review boards, tax assessor-collectors and elected officials in the most accessible manner possible.
If you have comments or questions, please contact PTAD Director Debbie Cartwright at deborah.cartwright@cpa.state.tx.us.