January 16, 1989

Mr. Sam Ii.Smith Opinion No. JM-1008 Executive Director .BoardofTax Professional Re:Whether appraisers employed Examiners by the State Property Tax Board P. 0. Box 15920 must register with the Board of Austin, Texas 78761-5920 Tax Professional Examiners (RQ-1495)

DearMr. Smith:

Article 7244b, V.T.C.S., the Property Taxation Professional Certification Act, creates the Board of Tax Professional Examiners [hereinafter the BTPE], V.T.C.S. art. 7244b, S4,and reposes inthe BTPE theduty, inter alia, to "insure strict compliance with and enforce allprovisions of thisAct." & 5 7. The act requires certain persons to register with the BTPE and toproceed toward certification. You ask whether field appraisers employed by the State Property Tax Board forthepurpose of conducting the annual property value studies forappraisal districts and school districts must register with your board. We answer your question inthe negative.

Section 11 

### of article 7244b, V.T.C.S., lists those persons who are required to register with theboard:

(1) all chief appraisers, appraisal supervisors and assistants, property tax appraisers, appraisal engineers, and other persons with authoritv to render iudcment on, recommend. or certifv aDDraised values to the aooraisal review board of an anoraisal district;
(2) the tax assessor-collector, tax collector, orother person designated by the governing body ofataxing unit asthe chief administrator of the unit's assessment functions, collections functions, or both: and other persons who perform assessment or collections functions for theunit whom the

p. 5183Mr. Sam H. Smith -Page 2

chief~administrator of theunit's tax office requires to register; and
(3)all oersons enaaaed inaooraisals of real oroersonal nrovertv foradvalorem tax puruoses for an avvraisal di~strict or a faxina unit. (Emphasis added.)1

Youpoint out that the act was passed prior to the addition of field appraisers to the staff of the State Property Tax Board and accordingly does not address directly whether these persons should register. Though you do not indicate which subsection of section 11 requires, in your opinion, the registration of the State Property Tax Board's field appraisers, we assume that you base your request upon either theunderscored language of subsection (1)or subsection (3).2 Inother words, we understand you to assert

1. Inaddition, section 15of the act sets forth the qualifications of applicants andprovides:

An applicant must be at least 18years of age, a resident of the State of Texas, a person ofgood moral character and activelv enaaaed inaooraisal. assessment. or collection for ataxina unit. (Emphasis added.)

2. Subchapter A of chapter 24of the Tax Code confers
on the State Property Tax Board the responsibility of appraising the intangible value of the transportation operation in this state of certain listed transportation businesses. Additionally, subchapter Bof chapter 24of the Tax Code confers on the State Property Tax Board the responsibility of appraising railroad rolling stock. The State Property Tax Board annually certifies to each county tax assessor-collector the property values, apportioned to each county, of the~businesses appraised pursuant to chapter 24 that operate ineach county. Wehave been informed that those employees of the State Property Tax Board who conduct such appraisals register with the BTPE pursuant to subsection (1) of section 11because they are "persons with authority to render judgment on, recommend, or certify appraised values to the appraisal review board of an appraisal district." No other provisions of the code confer (Footnote Continued)

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that, byvirtue of thevaluation and ratio studies that the State Property Tax Board annually conducts, the field appraisers of the State Property Tax Board are either "persons with authority to render judgment on, recommend, or certify appraised values to the appraisal review board of an appraisal district" or "persons engaged in appraisals of real orpersonal property foradvalorem taxpurposes for an appraisal district or ataxing unit."

The Tax Code created the State Property Tax Board and conferred upon itawide variety ofduties, most ofwhich do not even arguably fallwithin the ambit of section 11 of article 7244b, V.T.C.S. Wewill turn to each Tax Code provision that does arguably fallwithin section 11 to examine whether that section confers authority on.the State Property Tax Board or its employees toperform duties that would require persons performing those duties to register with the BTPE.
First, section 5.08 of the Tax Code authorizes the State Property Tax Board toprovide certain assistance to appraisal districts and appraisal review boards:

(a)The board may provide professional and technical assistance on request inappraising prope~yI installing orupdating tax maps, purchasing equipment, developing recordkeeping systems, orperforming other appraisal act~ivities. Theboard may also provide professional and technical assistance on reguest to an appraisal review board. The board may require reimbursement 

### forthe costs ofproviding the assistance.
(b)The board may provide information to and consult with persons actively engaged in appraising property fortax purposes about any matter relating to property taxation without charge.

Next, section 11.86 ofthe Education Code requires the State Property Tax Board to conduct anannual study to

(Footnote Continued) authority onemployees of the State Property Tax Board to appraise property directly forappraisal districts or taxing units.

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determine the total taxable value ofproperty ineach school district in the state. Subsection (a)of section 11.86 provides inpart:

(a)The board shall conduct an annual study using comparable sales and other generally accepted techniques to determine the total value ofall taxable property in each school district. The study shall determine the taxable value of all property and of each class of property within the district and the productivity value of all land that qualifies for appraisal on the basis of its productive capacity and for which the owner has applied forand received ;tEa;zctivity appraisal. In conducting the

the board shall use appropriate standard valuation, statistical compilation, and analysis techniques.

Section 11.86 'requires the State Property Tax Board to publish itspreliminary findings, listing values by school district, and to deliver the findings to each school district. The section further confers oneach school district
a right ofadministrative appeal of the findings, aswell as a right of appeal to a state district court, of the results of the administrative appeal. The findings of the State Property Tax Board are utilized by the Commissioner of Education indetermining the local fundassignment under the Foundation School Program. m Educ. Code, § 16.252.

Next, section 5.10 of the Tax Code imposes on the State Property Tax Board theduty to conduct annually what are termed "ratio studies":

(a)The board shall conduct an annual study ineach appraisal district todetermine the degree of uniformity of and the median level of appraisals by the appraisal district within each major kind of property. The board shall publish a report of the findings of the study, including inthe report the median levels of appraisal for each major kind ofproperty, the coefficient of dispersion around themedian level of appraisal for eachmajor kind ofproperty, and any other standard statistical measures that the board considers appropriate. In conducting the

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study, the board shall use appropriate standard statistical analysis techniques.
(b)The published findings of a ratio study conducted by the State Property Tax Board shallbe distributed to allmembers of the legislature and to all appraisal districts.

We note here that chapters 41and 42of the Tax Code afford various remedies toboth aggrieved taxpayers and aggrieved taxing units. For example, section 41.03 of the code permits ataxing unit to appear before an appraisal review board and challenge, inter alla the level ofappraisals of any category ofproperty inthe'district or inany territory within the district. Section 41.41 of the Tax Code. permits
ataxpayer to appear before the appraisal review board and protest, infer lia unequal appraisal of his property in comparison to Ehe 'median level of appraisals of other property inthe appraisal district.
Finally, section 5.12 of the Tax Code authorizes the State Property Tax Board, under certain circumstances, to conduct performance audits of appraisal districts that may comprise either Itageneral audit of theperformance of the appraisal district" or "anaudit ofonly one ormore particular duties, practices, functions, departments, or other appraisal district matters," i.e. a limited audit. Tax Code, 5s 5.12(a), (b)-3 Subsection (a)authorizes either the governing bodies ofa majority of the taxing units participating inan appraisal district or amajority of the taxing units entitled tovote on'the appointment ofappraisaldistrict directors to request an audit. Subsection (b) authorizes property owners under certain circumstances to request anaudit.

3. Section 5.12 effective onJanuary 1

... -
_ of the Tax Code specifically was made of the first state fiscal year for

.._ - __. . wnicn state funos are appropriatea ror runaing tne administration of the section. Acts 1987, 70th Leg., ch. 860, § 3,at 2928. The legislature appropr.iatedfunds for the implementation of this section inthe appropriations act adopted in 1987. Acts 1987,' 70th Leg., 2d C.S., ch. 78, art. I,at 504.

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Subsection (c)of section 5.12 governs limited audits andprovides inpart:

The board may notbe 

### required to audit the financial condition of anappraisal district
or to audit adistrict's tax collections. If the request is foran audit limited to one or more particular matters, the board's audit must be limited to those matters.
Subsection (d)governs general audits andprovides:

Inconducting a general audit, the board 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;
(2)theuniformity and level of appraisal ofmajor kinds of property and the cause of any significant deviations from idealuniformity and equality ofappraisal ofmajor kinds ofproperty;
(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 (c) of this section, any other matter included inthe request forthe audit.

The issue is whether the statutory duties of the State Property Tax Board fall within the ambit of section 11 of article 7244b, V.T.C.S.
First, section 2(l) of article 7244b, V.T.C.S., defines "appraisal" inthe following way:

'Appraisal means those functions described inChapters 23and 25, Tax Code, that
are performed by employees 

### of political subdivisions orbv versons actina on behalf ofoolitical subdivisions and that involve an

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.

estimate 

### or vini n of al of a orovertv interest. (gmphazisaddzd.;

See also & 62(2) (definition of "assessment").~ Thus, subsection ll(3) applies to persons acting on behalf of political subdivisions who perform those functions described inchapters 23and 25of the Tax Code.

Section 5.08 ofthe Tax Code provides that employees of the State Property Tax Board, inter alia, may provide "technical assistance" to appraisal districts or appraisal review boards. Section 11.86 of the Education Code requires the State Property Tax Board to conduct annual ratio studies for purposes of allocating state and local funds for public school purposes. Section 5.10 of the Tax Code requires the State Property Tax Board to conduct ratio studies for each appraisal district, with the studies used by' either aggrieved taxing units or aggrieved taxpayers seeking remedies forunlawful taxation. Section 5.12 of the Tax Code permits the State Property Tax Board to conduct "performance audits" 

### of appraisal districts at the written request of either amajority of the taxing units participating in the appraisal district 

### or a sufficient number of taxpayers in that district. Ineach instance, employees of the State Property Tax Board are required toperform certain services
or conduct certain studies, the purpose ofwhich is to provide ameans forevaluating theprofessional performance of the appraisal districts' orthe taxing units' employees. The Tax Code, with the aforementioned exception.set forth in chapter 24, does not require the employees of the State Property Tax Board to perform the actual functions of appraising, assessing, or collecting Tex. Const. art.VIII, § 23.4 required by law. &g Thus, they are not included within subsection 11(l) ofarticle 7244b,V.T.C.S.
Second, even if the actual language of section 11 fairly could be said to be ambiguous on this question, the

4. Subsection (a) of section 23 of article VIII provides:

There shall be no statewide appraisal of

real property forad valorem tax purposes; however, this shall not preclude formula distribution of tax revenues to political subdivisions of the state.

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intent of the legislature in passing article 7244b, V.T.C.S., could not bemore clear. Section 1of article 724433,V.T.C.S. sets forth the purpose of the act and provides inperCinent part:

The purpose of the legislature by thisAct is to assure the people of Texas that the responsibility of assessing property for taxation isentrusted only to those persons duly registered and competent according to the regulations provided by this Act. The legislature further intends that the assessing ofproperty for taxation be practiced and regulated as a learned profession and that the practitioners in this state be accountable to the public.

The bill analysis for Senate Bill No. 67, which enacted article 7244b, V.T.C.S., in 1977, declares in its "Background" section: "Thisbill would enact new legislation relating to the registration and certification of persons engaged inthe assessment of property foradvalorem taxation." Bill Analysis, S.B. 67, 65th Leg. (1977). The stated purpose of the bill, in addition to creating the board, is "toregulate persons engaged inthe assessment of property for taxation purposes." Id. Section 11 was amended in 1981 to change the definitions ofpersons required to register in order 'coconform to language in the Tax Code. House Bill No. 2189 amended.definitional language inthe act. Acts 1981, 67th Leg., ch. 848, at 3224. The amendment 

### assuresthat persons performing certain functions regardless of the titles bywhich such persons are designated register with the board:

(1)Tax assessor means theperson responsible for assessing property taxes as set forth by Chapter 26, Property Tax Code.
(2) Chief appraiser means the chief administrator' of the appraisal district office.
(3)Property tax'appraiser means a person duly registered to engage inall orpart of the appraisal process required to estimate the appraised value ofproperty.

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(4)Practice ofassessing means to engage inany or allphases of the assessing process including appraisal.

BillAnalysis, H.B. 2189, 67th Leg. (1981).

It is clear that the legislature intended with the original enactment of article 7244b, V.T.C.S., to require the registration and certification of tax assessor-collectors inTexas. With its subsequent amendment, it is clear that the legislature intended those persons to register, regardless of title, who are engaged inwhat isnow termed "appraisal," aswell as assessing and collecting, asdefined inthe code. Thepurpose of the act isto ensure a sufficient level of competence and professionalism among those who are involved with the advalorem .locallevel. taxation system on a

We recognize that it may seem anomalous to require appraisers and collectors who are actually employed by appraisal districts or taxing units to register with the BTPE andproceed toward certification, while not requiring to register the field appraisers of the State Property Tax Board, whose advice and technical assistance the districts and taxing units rely upon andwhose various ratio studies
areused as a standard in terms of which appraisal districts' and taxing units' performances can be evaluated. Any such anomaly properly isaconcern for the legislature.
Accordingly, we conclude that the field appraisers employed by the State Property Tax Board toperform those duties imposed upon itby lawarenot required to register with and proceed toward certification by the Board of Tax Professional Examiners.

SUMMARY

The field appraisers employed by the State Property Tax Board are not required to register with and toproceed toward certification by the Board of Tax Professional Examiners.

JIM MATTOX Attorney General of Texas

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MARYKELLER First Assistant Attorney General

LOUMCCREARY Executive Assistant Attorney General

JUDGE ZOLLIE STEAKLEY Special Assistant Attorney General

RICK GILPIN Chairman, Opinion Committee
Prepared byJimMoellinger Assistant Attorney General I

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