Tex. Tax Code § 26.012 — TX Code / Code tx / Chapter 26 / Section 26.012
§ 26.012. DEFINITIONS.
Status: in_force

In this chapter:

(1) "Additional sales and use tax" means an additional sales and use tax imposed by:

(A) a city under Section 321.101(b);

(B) a county under Chapter 323; or

(C) a hospital district, other than a hospital district:

(i) created on or after September 1, 2001, that:

(a) imposes the sales and use tax under Subchapter I, Chapter 286, Health and Safety Code; or

(b) imposes the sales and use tax under Subchapter L, Chapter 285, Health and Safety Code; or

(ii) that imposes the sales and use tax under Subchapter G, Chapter 1061, Special District Local Laws Code.

(1-a) "Affected taxing unit" means a taxing unit that is wholly or partly located in a county that:

(A) has a population of less than 500,000; and

(B) is located on the Gulf of Mexico.

(1-b) "Anticipated substantial litigation" means one or more appeals filed or intended to be filed under Chapter 42 for a tax year by a single property owner or by one or more associated business entities of a single property owner of one or more orders of an appraisal review board determining one or more protests by the owner or entities of the taxable value of one or more parcels of property located in an affected taxing unit, if any of the properties:

(A) had a taxable value in the preceding tax year that was one of the 20 highest in the appraisal district in which the property is located; and

(B) has a current year taxable value that exceeds 125 percent of the amount of the uncontested taxable value of the property.

(1-c) "Associated business entity" means a subsidiary or other associated business entity of a property owner.

(2) "Collection rate" means the amount, expressed as a percentage, calculated by:

(A) adding together estimates of the following amounts:

(i) the total amount of taxes to be levied in the current year and collected before July 1 of the next year, including any penalties and interest on those taxes that will be collected during that period;

(ii) any additional taxes imposed under Chapter 23 collected between July 1 of the current year and June 30 of the following year; and

(iii) the total amount of delinquent taxes levied in any preceding year that will be collected between July 1 of the current year and June 30 of the following year, including any penalties and interest on those taxes that will be collected during that period; and

(B) dividing the amount calculated under Paragraph (A) by the total amount of taxes that will be levied in the current year.

(2-a) "Contested taxable value" means for a tax year the difference between:

(A) the current year taxable value of a property; and

(B) the:

(i) taxable value of the property asserted by the owner of the property in an appeal of the appraisal review board order under Chapter 42; or

(ii) if the owner has not filed an appeal, a good faith determination of the taxable value the owner will assert in the appeal.

(2-b) "Current year taxable value" means the taxable value of a property stated in or determined from:

(A) an order issued by the appraisal review board hearing a protest pertaining to the property for the tax year under Chapter 41; or

(B) if the appraisal review board has not issued an order determining the protest, the notice of appraised value for the property delivered under Section 25.19 for the most recent tax year.

(3) "Current debt service" means the minimum dollar amount required to be expended for debt service for the current year.

(4) "Current debt rate" means a rate expressed in dollars per $100 of taxable value and calculated according to the following formula:

(5) "Current junior college levy" means the amount of taxes the governing body proposes to dedicate in the current year to a junior college district under Section 45.105(e), Education Code.

(6) "Current total value" means the total taxable value of property listed on the appraisal roll for the current year, including all appraisal roll supplements and corrections as of the date of the calculation, less the taxable value of property exempted for the current tax year for the first time under Section 11.31 or 11.315, except that:

(A) the current total value for a school district excludes:

(i) the total value of homesteads that qualify for a tax limitation as provided by Section 11.26;

(ii) new property value of property that is subject to an agreement entered into under former Subchapter B or C, Chapter 313; and

(iii) new property value of property that is subject to an agreement entered into under Subchapter T, Chapter 403, Government Code;

(B) the current total value for a county, municipality, or junior college district excludes the total value of homesteads that qualify for a tax limitation provided by Section 11.261; and

(C) the current total value for an affected taxing unit excludes the portion of the aggregate taxable value of all of the property located in the taxing unit that is included as part of anticipated substantial litigation that consists of contested taxable value.

(7) "Debt" means:

(A) a bond, warrant, certificate of obligation, or other evidence of indebtedness owed by a taxing unit that:

(i) is payable from property taxes in installments over a period of more than one year, not budgeted for payment from maintenance and operations funds, and secured by a pledge of property taxes; and

(ii) meets one of the following requirements:

(a) has been approved at an election;

(b) includes self-supporting debt;

(c) evidences a loan under a state or federal financial assistance program;

(d) is issued for designated infrastructure;

(e) is a refunding bond;

(f) is issued in response to an emergency under Section 1431.015, Government Code;

(g) is issued for renovating, improving, or equipping existing buildings or facilities;

(h) is issued for vehicles or equipment; or

(i) is issued for a project under Chapter 311, Tax Code, or Chapter 222, Transportation Code, that is located in a reinvestment zone created under one of those chapters; or

(B) a payment made under contract to secure indebtedness of a similar nature issued by another political subdivision on behalf of the taxing unit.

(8) "Debt service" means the total amount expended or to be expended by a taxing unit from property tax revenues to pay principal of and interest on debts or other payments required by contract to secure the debts and, if the unit is created under Section 52, Article III, or Section 59, Article XVI, Texas Constitution, payments on debts that the unit anticipates incurring in the next calendar year.

(8-a) "De minimis rate" means the rate equal to the sum of:

(A) a taxing unit's no-new-revenue maintenance and operations rate;

(B) the rate that, when applied to a taxing unit's current total value, will impose an amount of taxes equal to $500,000; and

(C) a taxing unit's current debt rate.

(9) "Designated infrastructure" means infrastructure, including a facility, equipment, rights-of-way, or land, for the following purposes:

(A) streets, roads, highways, bridges, sidewalks, parks, landfills, parking structures, or airports;

(B) telecommunications, wireless communications, information technology systems, applications, hardware, or software;

(C) cybersecurity;

(D) as part of any utility system, water supply project, water plant, wastewater plant, water and wastewater distribution or conveyance facility, wharf, dock, or flood control and drainage project;

(E) police stations, fire stations, or other public safety facilities, jails, juvenile detention facilities, or judicial facilities, and any facilities that are physically attached to the facilities described by this paragraph;

(F) as part of any school district; or

(G) as part of any hospital district created by general or special law that includes a teaching hospital.

(10) "Excess collections" means the amount, if any, by which debt taxes collected in the preceding year exceeded the amount anticipated in the preceding year's calculation of the voter-approval tax rate, as certified by the collector under Section 26.04(b).

(11) "Last year's debt levy" means the total of:

(A) the amount of taxes that would be generated by multiplying the total taxable value of property on the appraisal roll for the preceding year, including all appraisal roll supplements and corrections, other than corrections made pursuant to Section 25.25(d) of this code, as of the date of calculation, by the debt rate adopted by the governing body in the preceding year under Section 26.05(a)(1) of this code; and

(B) the amount of debt taxes refunded by the taxing unit in the preceding year for tax years before that year.

(12) "Last year's junior college levy" means the amount of taxes dedicated by the governing body in the preceding year for use of a junior college district under Section 45.105(e), Education Code.

(13) "Last year's levy" means the total of:

(A) the amount of taxes that would be generated by multiplying the total tax rate adopted by the governing body in the preceding year by the total taxable value of property on the appraisal roll for the preceding year, including:

(i) taxable value that was reduced in an appeal under Chapter 42;

(ii) all appraisal roll supplements and corrections other than corrections made pursuant to Section 25.25(d), as of the date of the calculation, except that last year's taxable value for a school district excludes the total value of homesteads that qualified for a tax limitation as provided by Section 11.26 and last year's taxable value for a county, municipality, or junior college district excludes the total value of homesteads that qualified for a tax limitation as provided by Section 11.261; and

(iii) the portion of taxable value of property that is the subject of an appeal under Chapter 42 on July 25 that is not in dispute; and

(B) the amount of taxes refunded by the taxing unit in the preceding year for tax years before that year.

(14) "Last year's total value" means the total taxable value of property listed on the appraisal roll for the preceding year, including all appraisal roll supplements and corrections, other than corrections made pursuant to Section 25.25(d), as of the date of the calculation, except that:

(A) last year's taxable value for a school district excludes the total value of homesteads that qualified for a tax limitation as provided by Section 11.26; and

(B) last year's taxable value for a county, municipality, or junior college district excludes the total value of homesteads that qualified for a tax limitation as provided by Section 11.261.

(15) "Lost property levy" means the amount of taxes levied in the preceding year on property value that was taxable in the preceding year but is not taxable in the current year because the property is exempt in the current year under a provision of this code other than Section 11.251, 11.253, or 11.35, the property has qualified for special appraisal under Chapter 23 in the current year, or the property is located in territory that has ceased to be a part of the taxing unit since the preceding year.

(16) "Maintenance and operations" means any lawful purpose other than debt service for which a taxing unit may spend property tax revenues.

(17) "New property value" means:

(A) the total taxable value of property added to the appraisal roll in the current year by annexation and improvements listed on the appraisal roll that were made after January 1 of the preceding tax year, including personal property located in new improvements that was brought into the unit after January 1 of the preceding tax year;

(B) property value that is included in the current total value for the tax year succeeding a tax year in which any portion of the value of the property was excluded from the total value because of the application of a tax abatement agreement to all or a portion of the property, less the value of the property that was included in the total value for the preceding tax year; and

(C) for purposes of an entity created under Section 52, Article III, or Section 59, Article XVI, Texas Constitution, property value that is included in the current total value for the tax year succeeding a tax year in which the following occurs:

(i) the subdivision of land by plat;

(ii) the installation of water, sewer, or drainage lines; or

(iii) the paving of undeveloped land.

(18) "No-new-revenue maintenance and operations rate" means a rate expressed in dollars per $100 of taxable value calculated as follows:

(A) for a taxing unit other than a school district, the rate calculated according to the following formula:

NO-NEW-REVENUE MAINTENANCE AND OPERATIONS RATE = (LAST YEAR'S LEVY - LAST YEAR'S DEBT LEVY - LAST YEAR'S JUNIOR COLLEGE LEVY) / (CURRENT TOTAL VALUE - NEW PROPERTY VALUE)

; or

(B) for a school district, the rate calculated as provided by Section 44.004(c)(5)(A)(ii)(a), Education Code.

(18-a) "Refunding bond" means a bond or other obligation issued for refunding or refinancing purposes under Chapter 1207 or 1371, Government Code.

(18-b) "Self-supporting debt" means the portion of a bond, warrant, certificate of obligation, or other evidence of indebtedness described by Subdivision (7)(A)(i) designated by the governing body of a political subdivision as being repaid from a source other than property taxes.

(19) "Special taxing unit" means:

(A) a taxing unit, other than a school district, for which the maintenance and operations tax rate proposed for the current tax year is 2.5 cents or less per $100 of taxable value;

(B) a junior college district; or

(C) a hospital district.

(20) "Uncontested taxable value" means the portion of the taxable value of a property that is not contested taxable value.