The Comptroller of Public Accounts adopts new §9.805, concerning appraisal review board evidence exchange and retention and audiovisual equipment requirements, with changes to the proposed text as published in the December 22, 2017, issue of the Texas Register (42 TexReg 7309). The addition of §9.805 is to implement legislative changes to Tax Code, §41.45 (Hearing on Protest), which the 85th Legislature, 2017, enacted through passage of Senate Bill (SB) 1286, SECTIONS 1, 5, 6, and 8.

The new section adopts the manner and form in which property owners or their agents and appraisal districts exchange materials for use at appraisal review board (ARB) hearings that allows the appraisal review board to retain the materials as part of the board's hearing record. The new section also adopts requirements for the audiovisual equipment an appraisal district may make available for use by a property owner or the property owner's agent at an ARB hearing.

During the comment period, one comment was received. An appraisal district expressed concern that the proposed rule may negatively impact a district's use of online or cloud storage technology to make available to property owners or their agents at least 14 days before an ARB hearing the evidentiary materials the district intends to use at the hearing. The appraisal district explained that to comply with Tax Code, §41.461(a)(2), some appraisal districts currently upload electronically their hearing materials and make them accessible to property owners or their agents through the district's online portal. To alleviate this concern, the agency has clarified the rule by amending subsection (b) to address the production of evidentiary materials "on a portable electronic device" and not the broader area, materials "in electronic form." The agency also is amending subsection (c) to provide that the parties may agree to exchange evidence in a manner other than provided in the ARB's hearing procedures, so long as the broader requirements of subsection (a) regarding the exchange of materials are satisfied, rather than subsection (b) which addresses portable electronic devices specifically.

The new section is adopted under Tax Code, §41.45 (Hearing on Protest), which provides the comptroller with the authority to promulgate rules specifying not only the manner and form in which materials intended for use at appraisal review board hearings are to be exchanged that allows the appraisal review board to retain the materials as part of the board's hearing record but also the requirements for the audiovisual equipment an appraisal district may make available for use by a property owner or the property owner's agent at an appraisal review board hearing.

The new section implements Tax Code, §41.45 (Hearing on Protest).