Texas Statutes
Chapter 26 - Assessment
Section 26.012. Definitions

Sec. 26.012. DEFINITIONS. 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.
(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.
(3) "Current debt" means 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:
CURRENT DEBT RATE = [(CURRENT DEBT SERVICE - EXCESS COLLECTIONS) / (CURRENT TOTAL VALUE X COLLECTION RATE)] + CURRENT JUNIOR COLLEGE LEVY / CURRENT TOTAL VALUE
(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; and
(ii) new property value of property that is subject to an agreement entered into under Chapter 313; and
(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.
(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 and 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)
(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.
Added by Acts 1987, 70th Leg., ch. 947, Sec. 2, eff. Jan. 1, 1988. Amended by Acts 1989, 71st Leg., ch. 2, Sec. 14.27(d)(1), 14.28(1), eff. Aug. 28, 1989; Acts 1989, 71st Leg., ch. 66, Sec. 4, eff. Aug. 28, 1989; Acts 1989, 71st Leg., ch. 534, Sec. 3; Acts 1993, 73rd Leg., ch. 285, Sec. 3, eff. Aug. 30, 1993; Acts 1993, 73rd Leg., ch. 696, Sec. 1, eff. Jan. 1, 1994; Acts 1993, 73rd Leg., ch. 696, Sec. 1, eff. Jan. 1, 1994; Acts 1995, 74th Leg., ch. 506, Sec. 1 to 3, eff. Aug. 28, 1995; Acts 1997, 75th Leg., ch. 165, Sec. 6.77, 29.01, 29.02, eff. Sept. 1, 1997; Acts 1997, 75th Leg., ch. 1070, Sec. 53, eff. Sept. 1, 1997; Acts 2001, 77th Leg., ch. 1290, Sec. 15, eff. Sept. 1, 2001; Acts 2001, 77th Leg., ch. 1505, Sec. 3, eff. Jan. 1, 2002; Acts 2003, 78th Leg., ch. 396, Sec. 3, eff. Jan. 1, 2004.
Amended by:
Acts 2007, 80th Leg., R.S., Ch. 830 (H.B. 621), Sec. 2, eff. January 1, 2008.
Acts 2013, 83rd Leg., R.S., Ch. 161 (S.B. 1093), Sec. 19.003, eff. September 1, 2013.
Acts 2013, 83rd Leg., R.S., Ch. 1030 (H.B. 2712), Sec. 3, eff. January 1, 2014.
Acts 2019, 86th Leg., R.S., Ch. 560 (S.B. 1621), Sec. 7, eff. September 1, 2019.
Acts 2019, 86th Leg., R.S., Ch. 714 (H.B. 279), Sec. 4, eff. June 10, 2019.
Acts 2019, 86th Leg., R.S., Ch. 944 (S.B. 2), Sec. 32, eff. January 1, 2020.
Acts 2019, 86th Leg., R.S., Ch. 944 (S.B. 2), Sec. 33, eff. January 1, 2020.
Acts 2019, 86th Leg., R.S., Ch. 1034 (H.B. 492), Sec. 5, eff. January 1, 2020.
Acts 2021, 87th Leg., R.S., Ch. 674 (H.B. 1869), Sec. 1, eff. September 1, 2021.

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