Sec. 5.13. ADMINISTRATION OF PERFORMANCE AUDITS. (a) The comptroller shall complete an audit required by Section 5.12(a) within two years after the date of the publication of the second of the two studies the results of which required the audit to be conducted. The comptroller shall complete an audit requested under Section 5.12(b) or (c) as soon as practicable after the request is made.

(b) The comptroller may not audit the financial condition of an appraisal district or a district's tax collections. If the request is for an audit limited to one or more particular matters, the comptroller's audit must be limited to those matters.

(c) The comptroller must approve the specific plan for the performance audit of an appraisal district. Before approving an audit plan, the comptroller must provide any interested person an opportunity to appear before the comptroller and to comment on the proposed plan. Not later than the 20th day before the date the comptroller considers the plan for an appraisal district performance audit, the comptroller must notify the presiding officer of the appraisal district board of directors that the comptroller intends to consider the plan. The notice must include the time, date, and place of the meeting to consider the plan. Immediately after receiving the notice, the presiding officer shall deliver a copy of the notice to the other members of the appraisal district board of directors.

(d) In conducting a general audit, the comptroller shall consider and report on:

(1) the extent to which the district complies with applicable law or generally accepted standards of appraisal or other relevant practice, including appraisal standards and practices prescribed by any appraisal manuals required by law to be prepared and issued by the comptroller;

(2) the uniformity and level of appraisal of major kinds of property and the cause of any significant deviations from ideal uniformity and equality of appraisal of major kinds of property;

(3) duplication of effort and efficiency of operation;

(4) the general efficiency, quality of service, and qualification of appraisal district personnel; and

(5) except as otherwise provided by Subsection (b), any other matter included in the request for the audit.

(e) In conducting the audit, the comptroller is entitled to have access at all times to the books, appraisal and other records, reports, vouchers, and other information, whether confidential or not, of the appraisal district. The comptroller may require the assistance of appraisal district officers or employees that does not interfere significantly with the ordinary functions of the appraisal district. The comptroller may rely on any analysis it has made previously relating to the appraisal district if the previous analysis is useful or relevant to the audit.

(f) The comptroller shall report the results of its audit in writing to the governing body of each taxing unit that participates in the appraisal district, to the chief appraiser, and to the presiding officer of the appraisal district board of directors. If the audit was requested under Section 5.12(c) of this code, the comptroller shall also provide a report to a representative of the property owners who requested the audit.

(g) If the audit is required or requested under Section 5.12(a) or (b) of this code, the appraisal district shall reimburse the comptroller for the costs incurred in conducting the audit and making its report of the audit. The costs shall be allocated among the taxing units participating in the district in the same manner as an operating expense of the district. If the audit is requested under Section 5.12(c) of this code, the property owners who requested the audit shall reimburse the comptroller for the costs incurred in conducting the audit and making its report of the audit and shall allocate the costs among those property owners in proportion to the appraised value of each property owner's property in the district or on such other basis as the property owners may agree. If the audit confirms that the median level of appraisal for a class of property exceeds 1.10 or that the median level of appraisal for a class of property varies at least 10 percent from the overall median level of appraisal for all property in the district for which the comptroller determines a median level of appraisal, within 90 days after the date a request is made by the property owners for reimbursement the appraisal district shall reimburse the property owners who requested the audit for the amount paid to the comptroller for the costs incurred in conducting the audit and making the report. Before conducting an audit under Section 5.12(c), the comptroller may require the requesting taxing units or property owners to provide the comptroller with a bond, deposit, or other financial security sufficient to cover the expected costs of conducting the audit and making the report. For purposes of this subsection, "costs" include expenses related to salaries, professional fees, travel, reproduction or other printing services, and consumable supplies that are directly attributable to conducting the audit.

(h) At any time after the request for an audit is made, the comptroller may discontinue the audit in whole or in part if requested to do so by:

(1) the governing bodies of a majority of the taxing units participating in the district, if the audit was requested by a majority of those units;

(2) the governing bodies of a majority of the taxing units entitled to vote on the appointment of appraisal district directors, if the audit was requested by a majority of those units; or

(3) if the audit was requested under Section 5.12(c) of this code, by the taxpayers who requested the audit.

(i) The comptroller by rule may adopt procedures, audit standards, and forms for the administration of the performance audits.

Added by Acts 1987, 70th Leg., ch. 860, Sec. 1, eff. Jan. 1, 1990. Redesignated from Sec. 5.12(c) to (i) and amended by Acts 1989, 71st Leg., ch. 384, Sec. 12, eff. Sept. 1, 1989. Amended by Acts 1991, 72nd Leg., ch. 843, Sec. 11, eff. Sept. 1, 1991.

Amended by:

Acts 2009, 81st Leg., R.S., Ch. 288 (H.B. 8), Sec. 9, eff. January 1, 2010.

Acts 2019, 86th Leg., R.S., Ch. 944 (S.B. 2), Sec. 15, eff. January 1, 2020.