April 20, 2017 Ways and Means Passes Out New Version of the “Dark Stores” Appraisal Bill The House Committee on Ways and Means met today and passed out a revised version of HB 27, the “dark stores” bill. This bill addresses an appraisal theory that uses vacant buildings as a comparison property used to determine…

April 6, 2017 Comparing the Senate and House Budget Plans With the House currently working through the afternoon and probably well into the night on their version of the state budget, some assessment of how the House and Senate versions compare is in order. At session start, the House and Senate general revenue budgets as…

Property Poor Districts File Suit on Commissioner’s Recapture Rule Yesterday, attorneys for La Feria ISD and Joaquin ISD filed a petition in Travis County District Court to stop Commissioner of Education Mike Morath from recognizing 50% of optional homestead exemption value when TEA calculates the taxable property wealth level of school districts for recapture purposes….

March 24, 2017 In this issue Senate Passes SB 2 Property Tax Reform Bill Senate Passes SB 17 Franchise Tax Phase Out Bill “Dark Store” Bill Discussions Continue CETRZ Repeal Out of Committee School Choice Bill Goes to Full Senate Senate Passes Property Tax Reform Bill SB 2 On Tuesday, Senate Bill 2 by Senator…

March 17, 2017 In this issue Senate Finance Committee Reports SB 2 Favorably from Committee Ways and Means Committee Hearing Comptroller Releases Draft Sales for Resale Rule Session Information and Meeting Materials Available on TTARA’s Website Senate Finance Committee Reports SB 2 Favorably from Committee Property tax took center stage at this week’s Senate Finance…