85R1539 LHC-F     By: Metcalf H.B. No. 455       A BILL TO BE ENTITLED   AN ACT   relating to the authority of a property owner to participate by   telephone at a protest hearing by an appraisal review board.          BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:          SECTION 1.  Section 41.45, Tax Code, is amended by amending   Subsections (b) and (n) and adding Subsection (b-1) to read as   follows:          (b)  A [The] property owner initiating a [the] protest is   entitled to [an opportunity to] appear to offer evidence or   argument.  A [The] property owner may offer [his] evidence or   argument by affidavit without personally appearing and may appear   by telephone to offer argument. A property owner who appears by   telephone must offer any evidence by affidavit.  A property owner   must submit an affidavit described by this subsection [if he   attests to the affidavit before an officer authorized to administer   oaths and submits the affidavit] to the board hearing the protest   before the board [it] begins the hearing on the protest. On receipt   of an affidavit, the board shall notify the chief appraiser. The   chief appraiser may inspect the affidavit and is entitled to a copy   on request. To appear at a hearing by telephone, a property owner   must notify the board that the property owner intends to appear by   telephone in the owner's notice of protest or by written notice   filed with the board not later than the 10th day before the date of   the hearing.          (b-1)  If a property owner provides notice to the board that   the property owner intends to appear at a hearing by telephone, the   board shall:                (1)  provide a telephone number for the property owner   to call to participate in the hearing; and                (2)  hold the hearing in a location equipped with   telephone equipment that allows each board member and the other   parties to the protest who are present at the hearing to hear the   property owner offer argument.          (n)  A property owner does not waive the right to appear in   person at a [the] protest hearing by submitting an affidavit to the   appraisal review board or by submitting notice of intent to appear   by telephone.  The board may consider an [the] affidavit submitted   under this section only if the property owner does not appear in   person at the [protest] hearing [in person].  For purposes of   scheduling the hearing, the property owner must [shall] state in   the affidavit that the property owner does not intend to appear at   the hearing or that the property owner intends to appear at the   hearing in person or by telephone and that the affidavit may be used   only if the property owner does not appear at the hearing in person.     If the property owner does not state in the affidavit whether the   owner intends to appear at the hearing and has not submitted notice   of the owner's intent to appear by telephone, the board shall   consider the submission of the affidavit as an indication that the   property owner does not intend to appear at the hearing.  If the   property owner states in the affidavit that the owner does not   intend to appear at the hearing or does not state in the affidavit   whether the owner intends to appear at the hearing and has not   submitted notice of the owner's intent to appear by telephone, the   [appraisal review] board is not required to consider the affidavit   at the scheduled hearing and may consider the affidavit at a hearing   designated for the specific purpose of processing affidavits.          SECTION 2.  The changes in law made by this Act apply only to   a protest under Chapter 41, Tax Code, for which a notice of protest   is filed on or after the effective date of this Act.          SECTION 3.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2017.