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(a)Definitions. The following phrases, words, and
terms, when used in this section shall have the following meanings,
unless the context clearly indicates otherwise.
(1)Audit or taxable value audit--An investigation
or review permitted under Government Code, §403.302(h), to determine
if the certified property value study findings of a school district's
taxable property values under Government Code, Chapter 403, should
be changed to correct clerical errors, as defined in Tax Code, §1.04(18),
in the comptroller's records, or to reflect changes in the local appraisal
roll that occurred after the school district's most recent submission
of appraisal roll data to the comptroller for the year at issue.
(2)Division--The Property Tax Assistance Division
(PTAD) of the comptroller's office.
(3)Year at issue--The tax year for which the comptroller
certified the school district's final taxable values, as determined
by the property value study under Government Code, Chapter 403, that
is the subject of the audit.
(4)Effective date--The single date identified in the
audit request on which all values and other reported information for
the year at issue are contended to be correct.
(b)Taxable value audit requestors, initiation of the
request, and designated agent.
(1)The superintendent of a school district or the
commissioner of education may file a request for a taxable value audit
for a particular school district.
(2)The request for audit shall be made in writing
and filed with the division. A request from the school district's
superintendent shall be made by filing the Request
for School District Taxable Value Audit (Form 50-302) accompanied
by the documentation required under subsection (c) of this section.
A request from the commissioner of education may be made in any written
form and shall be signed by the commissioner with the school district
submitting all documentation required under subsection (c)(2) - (7)
of this section within thirty days of notification from the division
that the commissioner of education made an audit request.
(3)Each school district request for audit shall identify
an individual such as a Chief Appraiser, Registered Professional Appraiser,
school district Superintendent, or other knowledgeable professional,
to act as the school district's designated agent in connection with
the taxable value audit. The designated agent shall be the primary
point of contact for all communications and questions regarding the
audit.
(c)The audit request submission. Each request for
audit, except a request which meets the requirements of subsection
(f) of this section, is initiated by completion and submission of
the following seven items:
(1)Request for School District
Taxable Value Audit (Form 50-302), which the school district's
superintendent signs, and which identifies: the school district for
which the taxable value audit is requested; the school district's
superintendent; the school district's designated agent with contact
information; the property value study year at issue; and the effective
date of the audit;
(2)School District Report
of Property Value (Form 50-108), which provides the correct
value for each line item on the form as of the effective date of the
audit, and is signed by the designated agent;
(3)Report on Value Lost Because
of Deferred Tax Collections Under Tax Code Sections 33.06 and 33.065 (Form
50-851);
(4)Report on Value Lost Because
of the School Tax Limitation on Homesteads of the Elderly/Disabled (Form
50-253);
(5)Report on Value Lost Because
of School District Participation in Tax Increment Financing (TIF) (Form
50-755) for each reinvestment zone of the school district, with the
required account list;
(6)Report on Value Lost Because
of Value Limitations Under Tax Code Chapter 313 (Form 50-767)
for each Tax Code, Chapter 313 agreement of the school district, with
the required account list; and
(7)A recapitulation of the school district's values,
which consists of one or more computer-generated summaries of appraisal
roll data, that:
(A)is generated from the same database system(s) that
is used to submit appraisal roll data and tax collection data to the
taxing unit as required by statute; and
(B)shows, as of the audit's effective date, the certified
values that match each value shown as a line item on the School District Report of Property Value (Form
50-108).
(d)Deadline to file a request for audit. Each request
for taxable value audit under subsection (c) of this section must
be filed with the division not later than the third anniversary of
the date the comptroller initially certifies, under Government Code, §403.302(j),
the final taxable property value findings for the school district
for the year at issue.
(e)Number of audit requests. Up to three separate
taxable value audit requests pertaining to the same property value
study year may be submitted under subsection (c) of this section at
any time before the deadline under subsection (d) of this section.
This subsection does not apply to limited requests for audit under
subsection (f) of this section. An audit request that subsequently
is withdrawn under subsection (m) or resubmitted under subsection
(j) of this section is considered an audit request for purposes of
this subsection.
(f)Limited request for audit based on qualifying orders
to change value findings older than three years. A request for audit
to correct final taxable property value findings that are past the
third anniversary of the date the comptroller initially certified,
under Government Code, §403.302(j), the final taxable property
value findings for the school district for the year at issue, may
be filed under the following limited conditions:
(1)the request for audit rests on an appraisal review
board order issued under Tax Code, §25.25, or a court order issued
under Tax Code, §42.41, for an appraisal roll correction;
(2)the correction certified is more than $20 million
or 2.0% of the total taxable value in the school district, whichever
is less, as determined under Government Code, §403.302 or §403.303,
for the year at issue; and
(3)not later than the first anniversary of the date
the appraisal roll correction is certified, a Request
for School District Taxable Value Audit (Form 50-302), a copy
of each qualifying order, and documentation regarding the value before
it was corrected, are submitted to the comptroller's office.
(g)Methods of delivery and address information. A
taxable value audit request submission may be delivered by the applicable
deadline to the division by the following methods:
(1)personal delivery or express mail service at the
division's physical address at 1711 San Jacinto Blvd., Third Floor,
Austin, Texas, 78701;
(2)first-class U.S. mail, with postage prepaid and
bearing a post office cancellation mark, addressed to the Property
Tax Assistance Division, Attention: Audit, P.O. Box 13528, Austin,
Texas 78711-3528; or
(3)electronically through the use of email to ptad.audit@cpa.texas.gov
with the word "AUDIT REQUEST" in the subject line or by
File Transfer Protocol (FTP) after contacting the division for instructions
at 1-800-252-9121 (press 2 and ask for the audit coordinator).
(h)Incomplete request submissions. An audit request
submission under subsection (c) that omits any of the information
required under paragraphs (1) - (7), is incomplete and may not be
accepted under subsection (i) of this section. Failure to provide
an item or any portion of an item required by subsection (c)(2) -
(7) of this section may be excused, if, in the discretion of the division
director, a sworn, signed, factually-detailed affidavit with supporting
documentation sufficiently demonstrates the following:
(1)that at least three attempts were made to secure
the required information from the entity that has possession of it;
(2)that each of the three attempts to secure the required
information failed; and
(3)that the school district's failure to provide the
missing information required for the audit does not result in a materially
incorrect final taxable value for the school district for the year
at issue.
(i)Audit request acceptance. The comptroller may not
accept an audit request, or any part of an audit request, if the audit
request submission:
(1)does not meet the requirements of this section;
(2)subject to subsection (h) of this section, lacks
any item or any information required for completion of any item required
under subsection (c) of this section;
(3)raises an issue previously determined in a protest
filed under Subchapter L of this chapter (relating to Procedures for
Protesting Comptroller Property Value Study and Audit Findings);
(4)asks for corrections that duplicate corrections
requested in a previous audit request for which the division previously
issued audit findings; or
(5)involves a property value study year for which
the relevant comptroller records, computer programs, or property value
study procedures do not exist or cannot accurately be replicated.
(j)Audit request resubmission. A taxable value audit
request that was not accepted under subsection (i)(2) of this section
may be brought into compliance and resubmitted before the applicable
audit request deadline.
(k)Additional information. The division may request
additional information from the school district, its appraisal district,
or any other source, as needed, to complete the taxable value audit.
If the school district, or its appraisal district does not provide
the additional information within 15 calendar days of the division's
request, the division may deny any adjustments related to the additional
information without notice. The 15 calendar day period may be extended
for an additional 15 calendar days if the school district cannot obtain
the information within the original 15 calendar day period for reasons
outside the school district's control.
(l)Amending an audit request. An audit request may
be amended at any time before the date the division certifies the
final audit findings to the commissioner of education pursuant to
Government Code, §403.302(h), but may not be amended to change
the effective date of the audit. A change in an effective date must
be submitted as part of a new audit request.
(m)Withdrawal of an audit request. An audit request
may be withdrawn at any time before the date the division certifies
the final audit findings to the commissioner of education pursuant
to Government Code, §403.302(h). After issuance of the final
audit findings, an audit request may be withdrawn only upon the request
of the commissioner of education.
(n)Protest. Upon issuance of the preliminary taxable
value audit findings to the school district's superintendent and designated
agent, the school district may protest the preliminary findings as
provided by the terms of Government Code, §403.303, and the procedures
prescribed in Subchapter L of this chapter (relating to Procedures
for Protesting Comptroller Property Value Study and Audit Findings).
(o)Taxable value certification. After considering
all the relevant information submitted by the school district and
from other reliable sources, and including the final results of a
protest if one is filed under subsection (n) of this section, the
division will determine the corrections to be made, recalculate the
school district's total taxable value for the year at issue, and certify
final taxable value audit findings to the commissioner of education
pursuant to Government Code, §403.302(h). The total taxable value
certified in the final taxable value audit findings may be greater
than, less than, or the same as the most recent total taxable value
certified to the commissioner of education under Government Code,
Chapter 403, for the year at issue, but shall not affect the validity
presumption of the initial certification previously issued for the
year at issue.
(p)Forms for audit request. The forms identified in
this section are available on the comptroller's website or may be
obtained from the Comptroller of Public Accounts, Property Tax Assistance
Division, P.O. Box 13528, Austin, Texas 78711-3528. These forms may
be revised at the discretion of the comptroller.
The agency certifies that legal counsel has reviewed
the proposal and found it to be within the state agency's legal authority
to adopt.
Filed with the Office
of the Secretary of State on April 6, 2018
TRD-201801468 Victoria North
Chief Counsel Fiscal and Agency Affairs Legal Services Division
Comptroller of Public Accounts
Earliest possible date of adoption: May 20, 2018
For further information, please call: (512) 475-0387
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