The Comptroller of Public Accounts proposes amendments to §9.1051 concerning definitions, §9.1052 concerning forms, §9.1055 concerning comptroller application review and agreement to limit appraised value and §9.1058 concerning miscellaneous provisions.

The amendment to §9.1051 updates the name of the division of the comptroller's office responsible for administration of Tax Code, Chapter 313 in paragraph (13) from the Economic Development and Analysis Division or ED&A to the Data Analysis and Transparency Division or DAT; updates the website for the United States Census Bureau in paragraph (25); and defines the term "assignment" in new paragraph (31) to clarify that it does not include partial assignments.

The amendments to §9.1052 updates the toll-free phone number for requesting forms from the comptroller and the web address for viewing and downloading forms on the comptroller's website, and changes "web site" to "website" in subsection (b). The amendment to §9.1052 also adopts by reference two existing forms with changes. In the form adopted by reference in subsection (a)(2), Section 4 on qualified property is being changed to request the county appraisal district in which the project is located, the total market value of all qualified property from all county appraisal district property records subject to the 313 agreement, the total value of all applicable exemptions for the qualified property, the total taxable value for school interest and sinking tax purposes for the qualified property, the limitation amount on appraised value specified as qualified in the 313 agreement, and the total taxable value for school maintenance and operations tax purposed for the qualified property. In the form adopted by reference in subsection (a)(2), Section 5B on wage and employment information for applications after January 1, 2014 is being changed to include the same questions in Section 5A, number 8; the rule defining qualifying jobs, that is, 34 TAC §9.1051(30), is being included in Section 5B question 6; parts of the titles for Sections 5A and 5B are being modified to boldface font; and Section 7 is being changed to state that it is only applicable to certain 3 digit projects. In the form adopted by reference in subsection (a)(3), the instructions are being updated to reflect that only 3 digit projects may have multiple applicants under a partial assignment.

The amendment to §9.1055, subsection (a)(5) requires documents that are submitted to the comptroller in an electronic format to be in compliance with the accessibility standards and specifications described in 1 TAC Chapters 206 and 213.

The amendments to §9.1058 corrects a typographical error in subsection (a) by replacing the word "contract" with "contact" and changes "web site" to "website" in subsection (d)(1). New subsection (f) clarifies the scope of "series of agreements" as referenced in Tax Code, §313.027.

Tom Currah, Chief Revenue Estimator, has determined that for the first five-year period the rule will be in effect, there will be no significant revenue impact on the state or units of local government.

Mr. Currah also has determined that for each year of the first five years the rule is in effect, the public benefit anticipated as a result of enforcing the rule will be by improving the administration of local property valuation and taxation. The proposed amendment would have no fiscal impact on small businesses. There is no significant anticipated economic cost to individuals who are required to comply with the proposed rule.

Comments on the amendments may be submitted to Will Counihan, Director, Data Analysis and Transparency Division, Comptroller of Public Accounts, at Will.Counihan@cpa.texas.gov or at P.O. Box 13528, Austin, Texas 78711. Comments must be received no later than 30 days from the date of publication of the proposal in the Texas Register.

The amendments are proposed under Tax Code, §313.031, which authorizes the comptroller to adopt rules necessary for the implementation and administration of Tax Code, Chapter 313.

The amendments implement Tax Code, Chapter 313.