Texas Attorney General Opinions
Free plain-English summaries of attorney general opinions issued in Texas, with full citations and the original source on every page.
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Must Texas local governments hold a hearing before any property tax increase, even from new construction?
The Attorney General concluded yes. Tax Code section 26.05(d) requires a political subdivision to hold a public hearing before adopting a tax rate that would collect more total taxes than the previous…
Does a Texas county tax assessor-collector have to register with the state board if the county contracts out its tax collection?
Brazos County Attorney James Kuboviak asked the Attorney General two questions about Tax Code section 6.24(b), which lets a county contract to have its property taxes assessed and collected by another…
Does Texas's freeport property-tax exemption still apply if a manufacturer sells its goods to another in-state company before they leave the state?
Senator Bill Ratliff asked about Alliance Compressors, a Texas company that makes air-conditioning compressors and sells them to Trane, another in-state company, which builds them into air conditioner…
Could former officers, employees, or governing-board members of a Texas taxing unit serve on an appraisal review board?
For appointments from January 1, 1998, the opinion read section 6.41(c) to bar former governing-body members, officers, and employees of any taxing unit from appraisal review boards in counties over 3…
Can a Texas county change a tax abatement deal by removing land from a reinvestment zone?
Texas counties can offer property tax breaks to spur development by designating a 'reinvestment zone' and then signing tax abatement agreements with property owners inside it, all under Tax Code chapt…
Can a Texas city end a TIF reinvestment zone and recreate it to reset the tax base?
Representative Fred Hill asked, for the City of Dallas, whether a city can terminate a tax increment financing (TIF) reinvestment zone and create a new one with the same boundaries to set a fresh tax …
Can Texas appraise open-space farm and ranch land by the cash lease method?
The Attorney General concluded in 1995 that the cash lease method of valuing open-space farm and ranch land for property tax was constitutional. Article VIII, section 1-d-1 of the Texas Constitution r…
Can Texas voters petition for an election to adopt a local homestead property tax exemption?
The Attorney General concluded that no, the optional homestead exemption under section 11.13(n) of the Tax Code could not be adopted by public election, whether triggered by a voter petition or otherw…
Can a Texas appraisal review board member rule on a property-tax protest when they also worked for the taxpayer?
The Attorney General concluded that Tax Code section 41.69 bars an appraisal review board member from participating in deciding a taxpayer protest in which the member has a direct personal or pecuniar…
What happens to unclaimed property-tax overpayments in Texas after the three-year refund period ends?
The Attorney General concluded that unclaimed overpayments of property taxes do not escheat to the state. Once the three-year period for a taxpayer to apply for a refund under Tax Code section 31.11 l…
If I set up a property-tax installment plan before July 1, can the county still hit me with the 15% collection penalty?
The Attorney General concluded no. A delinquent-tax penalty a county adopts under Tax Code section 33.07 (up to 15% to cover the cost of collection) does not apply to delinquent taxes that are subject…
If a Texas tax-foreclosure sale brings in more than the taxes owed, how do you claim the leftover money?
The Attorney General concluded that under Tax Code section 34.04 a person claiming the surplus left over after a tax-lien foreclosure sale does not have to file a new, separate lawsuit. The claimant i…
Can a Texas county education district offer a discount for early property tax payment?
The Attorney General concluded that a county education district could adopt the early-payment property tax discounts in section 31.05 of the Tax Code, but only if every taxing unit that collected the …
Did Texas county education districts have to follow the truth-in-taxation notice, hearing, and rollback rules even though their tax rate was set by formula?
The Attorney General concluded the county education districts (CEDs) had to comply with the notice and hearing requirements of the Tax Code's truth-in-taxation provisions, even though the CEDs had no …
Who runs the West Brazoria County Drainage District if the board election never happened?
The Attorney General concluded the Brazoria County commissioners court is still the district's governing board. A 1981 law was supposed to replace the commissioners court with a five-member board elec…
When a Texas tax abatement expires, does the newly taxable property count as 'new property value' for the county's effective tax rate?
No. The Attorney General concluded that improvements built on property while it was exempt under a tax abatement agreement are not 'new property value' under section 26.012(17) of the Tax Code when th…
Can a Texas navigation district grant a tax abatement on land the county already abated, and for how long?
Only for a limited window. The Attorney General concluded that under chapter 312 of the Tax Code, the Property Redevelopment and Tax Abatement Act, only a county or a municipality can start a tax abat…
Can a Texas city grant a homestead tax exemption if it would hurt the city's ability to pay its bonds?
No, not where it would impair the bonds, the Attorney General concluded. Camp Wood pledged all its property tax revenue to repay bonds in September 1990, then voters approved a $50,000 over-65/disable…
Can a Texas county or city be sued in tort over property it takes at a tax sale for unpaid taxes?
Generally no, at least for claims tied to the tax sale and redemption itself. In this 1990 opinion the Attorney General concluded that when a county, home-rule city, or independent school district acq…
Which groundwater district could tax severed mineral interests when surface owners annexed their land into a neighboring district?
The Santa Rita district retained taxing authority over separately owned severed mineral interests when only the surface owners petitioned to annex their land into the Glasscock County district. A mine…
When a Texas court orders a property tax refund, does the taxing unit have to pay interest, and how is that interest calculated for multi-year cases?
Yes, according to this 1990 opinion. The Attorney General concluded a taxing unit must pay interest on any refund paid on or after June 15, 1989, regardless of when the underlying lawsuit was filed, a…
If a Texas county can't mail a property tax bill because it doesn't know the owner's address, does the tax ever become delinquent?
Yes. The Attorney General concluded that section 31.04 of the Tax Code, which postpones the delinquency date when a bill is mailed late, only applies when a bill can be mailed at all. When no bill can…
Does a hospital district's own enabling law or the general Tax Code control what a county tax collector gets paid for collecting the district's taxes?
The Attorney General concluded that the general Tax Code standard controlled. Even though the Reagan County Hospital District's 1977 enabling law set a specific fee formula (up to 2% of collections, c…
Can a lawyer who sits on a county appraisal district board also be hired to collect that area's delinquent property taxes?
Yes. In this 1989 opinion the Attorney General concluded that an attorney who contracts to collect delinquent taxes for a taxing unit is an independent contractor, not an 'employee,' so he is not disq…
Is Texas Permanent School Fund land still exempt from property tax when it is leased to a private business?
Yes, the land stays exempt. In this 1989 opinion the Attorney General concluded that the state's interest in real property that is part of the Permanent School Fund is exempt from ad valorem taxation …
Can a Texas county, city, or school district hire a private company to handle all of its property tax assessment and collection?
No, not all of it. In this 1989 opinion the Attorney General concluded that the Property Tax Code requires a natural person to serve as tax assessor-collector for the taxing units subject to it, so a …
Can a Texas county levy a special tax dedicated to funding its county historical commission?
No, not a dedicated tax. In this 1989 opinion the Attorney General concluded that, without specific statutory authority, a county commissioners court cannot levy a special tax whose revenues are dedic…
Does a Texas county employee who calculates the county tax rate have to be certified as a tax professional?
It depends. In this 1989 opinion the Attorney General concluded that computing a county's effective tax rate under section 26.04 of the Tax Code is an 'assessment' function under the Property Taxation…
Can Texas have the county or district attorney, or an outside lawyer, instead of the tax assessor-collector, handle lawsuits to collect delinquent property taxes?
In this 1989 opinion the Attorney General concluded that section 6.30 of the Tax Code does not violate article VIII, section 14 of the Texas Constitution. That section lets the county or district atto…
Can a Texas commissioners court put a lower tax cap than the state maximum on the ballot for an emergency services district?
In this 1989 opinion the Attorney General concluded that a commissioners court cannot ask voters to approve an emergency services district with a maximum tax rate lower than the statutory 10 cents per…
Does a Texas state agency's property appraiser have to register with the same board that licenses local appraisal-district appraisers?
In this 1989 opinion the Attorney General concluded that field appraisers employed by the State Property Tax Board, who conducted the annual property-value and ratio studies used to check appraisal di…
When a Texas county collects property taxes for a school district or other taxing unit, how much can it charge, and who decides the amount?
In this 1988 opinion the Attorney General concluded that the 'actual costs' a county may charge under section 6.27 of the Tax Code for assessing or collecting taxes for another taxing unit means only …
Does the over-65 school-tax freeze pass to a surviving spouse if the homeowner died before the 1987 constitutional amendment?
In this 1988 opinion the Attorney General concluded that the 1987 amendment to article VIII, section 1-b(d) of the Texas Constitution, which lets the school-tax freeze on an over-65 homeowner's homest…
Can a Texas appraisal district subpoena my business records if I didn't file a property rendition?
In this 1988 opinion the Attorney General concluded that a county appraisal district has no authority to issue a subpoena for a taxpayer's books and records, and that an appraisal review board cannot …
If my farmland is condemned for a public project, do I have to pay back the tax savings from its agricultural-use valuation?
In this 1988 opinion the Attorney General concluded no. Texas taxes qualifying farm and ranch land on its productive value rather than market value, and normally a rollback of the tax savings is trigg…
If a Texas appraisal district's mistake made my property tax late, can the taxing unit waive the penalties and interest?
Yes. The Attorney General concluded that a central appraisal district counts as an 'agent' of the taxing units it appraises for under Tax Code section 33.011. So when a taxpayer's bill becomes delinqu…
Do employees of a private firm hired to collect a Texas taxing unit's property taxes have to register as tax professionals?
Only if the taxing unit's chief tax administrator says so. The Attorney General concluded that field collectors and supervising officers of a private collection firm working under contract for a taxin…
Could Texas voters use the former Tax Code rollback election to reduce a hospital district's adopted property tax rate?
The Attorney General concluded that they could under the 1988 statute. Article IX, section 9 authorized the legislature to structure hospital-district taxation, so the statutory voter rollback did not…
Could Texas voters use the former Tax Code rollback election to reduce a county tax rate set for constitutional county funds?
The Attorney General concluded that they could not under the 1987 provisions. He treated the constitution as granting the commissioners court authority to set those rates within stated ceilings, which…
Did an irrigation district tax assessor-collector need property-tax certification if the district charged a flat benefit-plan fee instead of ad valorem tax?
No. The Attorney General concluded that the certification statute applied through the Tax Code definition of a taxing unit, which covered entities imposing ad valorem property taxes, not this benefit-…
When could a Texas taxing unit stop paying into a reinvestment zone's tax increment fund after three years?
The Attorney General concluded that a taxing unit could stop after three years only if none of the three listed development events had occurred. Bonds, property acquisition, or the start of constructi…
Can a Texas commissioners court hold an election to move property appraisal into the county tax assessor-collector's office?
No. The 1987 opinion concluded that section 6.26 of the Tax Code let voters petition for an election only to consolidate tax assessing and collecting functions, not appraisal. Because appraisal is a s…
Did a Texas county's 1987 tax-rate rollback threshold apply to each fund separately or to the county's total property-tax rate?
In 1987, the Attorney General concluded that the rollback-election threshold applied to the county's total adopted tax rate compared with its total effective tax rate, not separately to each fund's co…
Did Texas impose a rollback tax when land remained in agricultural use but no longer met the intensity standard for open-space appraisal?
No. Section 23.55 imposed the rollback tax only when the land's use changed; losing special-appraisal eligibility while continuing livestock production was not a change in use.
How did indigent-health-care costs affect a county's 1986 tax rollback threshold, and could the assessor recalculate the effective tax rate after the tax plan took effect?
In 1987, the Attorney General said Hardin County had to include enough in its 1986 tax rate to pay the added costs of the Indigent Health Care and Treatment Act, and that portion was excluded when det…
Can someone who lives in a housing cooperative, owning corporate stock instead of the home itself, claim the Texas residence homestead tax exemption or homestead protection from forced sale?
No. JM-612 concluded that a cooperative resident owns corporate stock, not the home, so neither the residence homestead property-tax exemption nor the constitutional protection from forced sale applie…
When a Texas city annexes land inside a rural fire prevention district, does the district keep taxing and serving that area, or is the area automatically removed?
JM-605 concluded the annexed area stays part of the rural fire prevention district until the city formally removes it under section 14b of article 2351a-6. Once the city removes it, the district stops…
Can photocopied signatures from an earlier petition count toward a tax rollback election petition in Texas?
No. JM-574 concluded that a tax rollback petition under section 26.07 of the Tax Code must be signed with actual signatures. A petition that relied in part on photocopies of signatures from an earlier…
Can a Texas county tax office keep a 'tax clearance' account to cover taxpayers who underpay their property taxes with other taxpayers' overpayments?
No. JM-536 concluded that a county tax assessor-collector cannot set up a 'tax clearance' account that pools excess property tax payments and then draws on them to make up other taxpayers' shortfalls.…
If voters roll back a Texas county's property tax rate, does that also cut the part of the increase that pays for indigent health care?
No. JM-528 concluded that when a taxing unit raises its tax rate to cover the indigent health care it is required to provide under the Indigent Health Care and Treatment Act, and voters then pass a ro…
Could a Texas city withdraw from an existing rural fire prevention district without an election, and when would district taxes stop?
Yes. JM-453 concluded that the withdrawal statute applied to existing districts and required no city election; withdrawal after January 1 took tax effect the following January 1. Existing bond obligat…
Does a Texas hospital district lose its property tax exemption if it rents out a building it owns?
No. The Texas AG concluded that collecting rent does not, by itself, strip a hospital district of tax-exempt status on property it owns, as long as the property is used for public purposes. Whether it…
If a town incorporates inside an existing Texas rural fire prevention district, does it escape the district's taxes?
No. The Texas AG concluded that a town that incorporated within the boundaries of an already-established rural fire prevention district stayed part of the district, so its property remained subject to…
Was the Blue Bird Circle's office and resale-shop property exempt from Texas property taxes as charitable property?
No. The organization did not satisfy section 11.18 because its governing documents lacked the required direction transferring assets to the state or another qualifying charitable organization when the…
How did Tax Code section 6.03 govern selection of appraisal-district directors, including deadlines, submissions, candidate qualifications, and off-ballot votes?
JM-166 said the process was an appointment rather than an Election Code election; deadlines were directory, submissions had to be written, clerks could not investigate qualifications, and off-ballot v…
Was Texas Property Tax Code section 26.011, which limited certain reappraisal increases, constitutional?
No. JM-43 concluded that section 26.011 violated the Texas Constitution because it could value taxable property below market value without a specific constitutional authorization for special valuation…
Did Pacifica Foundation's KPFT radio station qualify for a Texas property-tax exemption as a charity or community service club?
No, based on the facts submitted. JM-41 concluded that Pacifica Foundation did not meet the Tax Code's requirements for either a charitable-organization exemption or a community-service-club exemption…
Can a Texas chief appraiser cap a residence homestead exemption at fewer than 20 acres?
No. JM-40 concluded the chief appraiser has no discretion to set a minimum or maximum acreage. The exemption must cover any amount of land up to 20 acres that is used in the residential occupancy of t…
Does a Texas junior college district have to help pay for the county appraisal district?
Yes. JM-35 concluded that Blinn College, as a taxing unit, must contribute to the county appraisal district's costs under section 6.06 of the Tax Code and pay for appraisal services performed after Ja…
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Attorney general opinions in Texas are written by the Texas Attorney General's office in response to questions from state agencies, legislators, and prosecutors. They are not binding like court decisions, but courts and agencies treat them as persuasive guidance on how state law applies. Every opinion above has a plain-English question and short answer, plus a link to the full original text.