Sec. 11.35. TEMPORARY EXEMPTION FOR QUALIFIED PROPERTY DAMAGED BY DISASTER. (a) In this section, "qualified property" means property that:

(1) consists of:

(A) tangible personal property used for the production of income;

(B) an improvement to real property; or

(C) a manufactured home as that term is defined by Section 1201.003, Occupations Code, that is used as a dwelling, regardless of whether the owner of the manufactured home elects to treat the manufactured home as real property under Section 1201.2055, Occupations Code;

(2) is located in an area declared by the governor to be a disaster area following a disaster;

(3) is at least 15 percent damaged by the disaster, as determined by the chief appraiser under this section; and

(4) for property described by Subdivision (1)(A), is the subject of a rendition statement or property report filed by the property owner under Section 22.01 that demonstrates that the property had taxable situs in the disaster area for the tax year in which the disaster occurred.

(b) A person is entitled to an exemption from taxation by a taxing unit of a portion of the appraised value of qualified property that the person owns in an amount determined under Subsection (h).

(c) Notwithstanding Subsection (b), if the governor first declares territory in a taxing unit to be a disaster area as a result of a disaster on or after the date a taxing unit adopts a tax rate for the tax year in which the declaration is issued, a person is not entitled to the exemption for that tax year unless the governing body of the taxing unit adopts the exemption in the manner provided by law for official action by the body.

(d) An exemption adopted by the governing body of a taxing unit under Subsection (c) must:

(1) specify the disaster to which the exemption pertains; and

(2) be adopted not later than the 60th day after the date the governor first declares territory in the taxing unit to be a disaster area as a result of the disaster.

(e) A taxing unit the governing body of which adopts an exemption under Subsection (c) shall, not later than the seventh day after the date the governing body adopts the exemption, notify the chief appraiser of each appraisal district in which the taxing unit participates, the assessor for the taxing unit, and the comptroller of the adoption of the exemption.

(f) On receipt of an application for the exemption authorized by this section, the chief appraiser shall determine whether any item of qualified property that is the subject of the application is at least 15 percent damaged by the disaster and assign to each such item of qualified property a damage assessment rating of Level I, Level II, Level III, or Level IV, as appropriate, as provided by Subsection (g). In determining the appropriate damage assessment rating, the chief appraiser may rely on information provided by a county emergency management authority, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, or any other source the chief appraiser considers appropriate.

(g) The chief appraiser shall assign to an item of qualified property:

(1) a Level I damage assessment rating if the property is at least 15 percent, but less than 30 percent, damaged, meaning that the property suffered minimal damage and may continue to be used as intended;

(2) a Level II damage assessment rating if the property is at least 30 percent, but less than 60 percent, damaged, which, for qualified property described by Subsection (a)(1)(B) or (C), means that the property has suffered only nonstructural damage, including nonstructural damage to the roof, walls, foundation, or mechanical components, and the waterline, if any, is less than 18 inches above the floor;

(3) a Level III damage assessment rating if the property is at least 60 percent damaged but is not a total loss, which, for qualified property described by Subsection (a)(1)(B) or (C), means that the property has suffered significant structural damage requiring extensive repair due to the failure or partial failure of structural elements, wall elements, or the foundation, or the waterline is at least 18 inches above the floor; or

(4) a Level IV damage assessment rating if the property is a total loss, meaning that repair of the property is not feasible.

(h) Subject to Subsection (i), the amount of the exemption authorized by this section for an item of qualified property is determined by multiplying the appraised value, determined for the tax year in which the disaster occurred, of the property by:

(1) 15 percent, if the property is assigned a Level I damage assessment rating;

(2) 30 percent, if the property is assigned a Level II damage assessment rating;

(3) 60 percent, if the property is assigned a Level III damage assessment rating; or

(4) 100 percent, if the property is assigned a Level IV damage assessment rating.

(i) If a person qualifies for the exemption authorized by this section after the beginning of the tax year, the amount of the exemption is calculated by multiplying the amount determined under Subsection (h) by a fraction, the denominator of which is 365 and the numerator of which is the number of days remaining in the tax year after the day on which the governor first declares the area in which the person's qualified property is located to be a disaster area, including the day on which the governor makes the declaration.

(j) If a person qualifies for the exemption authorized by this section after the amount of the tax due on the qualified property is calculated and the effect of the qualification is to reduce the amount of the tax due on the property, the assessor for each applicable taxing unit shall recalculate the amount of the tax due on the property and correct the tax roll. If the tax bill has been mailed and the tax on the property has not been paid, the assessor shall mail a corrected tax bill to the person in whose name the property is listed on the tax roll or to the person's authorized agent. If the tax on the property has been paid, the tax collector for the taxing unit shall refund to the person who paid the tax the amount by which the payment exceeded the tax due. No interest is due on an amount refunded under this subsection.

(k) The exemption authorized by this section expires as to an item of qualified property on January 1 of the first tax year in which the property is reappraised under Section 25.18.

Added by Acts 2019, 86th Leg., R.S., Ch. 1034 (H.B. 492), Sec. 1, eff. January 1, 2020.