(a)
A penalty of 15% of the tax, penalty and interest shall be added
to all taxes remaining delinquent after July 1 of each year hereafter
beginning July 1, 1987, to help defray the costs of collection in
lieu of attorney’s fees.
(b)
A tax lien shall attach to the property on which the tax is imposed
to secure the payment of the penalty.
(c)
Notices of the delinquency and the penalty shall be given to the
property owner at least 30 and not more than 60 days before July 1
of each year.
(d)
This collection penalty shall be imposed on delinquent 1986 taxes
and years thereafter.
(1972 Code, sec. 23-1/4-2; Ordinance 354 adopted 10/21/1986; 1995 Code, sec. 35.02)
(a)
The tax collector of this jurisdiction is hereby directed to cause
to be mailed, as expeditiously as possible, notices to all delinquent
taxpayers, where addresses are available, of the additional penalty
to be imposed, as hereinafter set forth, on all taxes delinquent as
of this date.
(b)
The tax collector is directed to annually mail notices during the
month of May to all current-year delinquent taxpayers, advising them
of the additional penalty, as hereinafter set forth, to be imposed
as of July 1 on all unpaid current-year delinquent taxes.
(c)
Effective 31 days after the tax collector has mailed the hereinabove
referenced notices, with respect to taxes delinquent for 1986 and
prior years, an additional penalty of 15% of the taxes, penalty and
interest shall be incurred; furthermore, taxes becoming delinquent
during 1988 and thereafter shall not incur this additional penalty
until July 1 of the year in which they become delinquent.
(d)
All 1998 taxes and taxes for all subsequent years which become delinquent
on or after June 1 of the year in which they become delinquent shall,
in order to defray costs of collection, incur an additional penalty
of 15% of the tax, penalty and interest.
(1972 Code, sec. 23-1/4-3; Resolution 2632 adopted 9/15/87; 1995 Code, sec. 35.03; Resolution
3424 adopted 10/19/1999)
(a)
Exemption.
(1)
"Disabled" for purposes of this exemption means either that,
because of physical or mental disability, a person is unable to engage
in any substantial gainful work, or that a person is fifty-five (55)
or older and blind and by reason of the blindness is unable to engage
in previous line of work.
(2)
Pursuant to the State Constitution article VIII, section 1-b,
and in addition to the general homestead exemption, twenty thousand
dollars ($20,000.00) of the appraised value of resident homesteads
of persons sixty-five (65) or older and of disabled persons shall
be exempt from city ad valorem taxes beginning with the 2023 tax rolls,
upon the owner's compliance with the following requirements:
(A)
The head of the household of the resident homestead
shall be sixty-five (65) years of age or older as of January 1st of
each tax year.
(B)
The head of the household of the resident homestead
exemption shall submit to the chief appraiser of the county appraisal
district an affidavit that he or she is sixty-five (65) years of age
or older or disabled. The initial exemption claim shall be accompanied
by adequate proof of age, but subsequent renewal of the exemption
may be made by affidavit only.
(C)
No part of the property receiving exemption may
be used for commercial purposes, and no more than twenty (20) acres
of rural land will be deemed eligible for exemption.
(3)
Any person who makes a false affidavit in claiming their homestead
exemption shall be subject to all penalties which exist for lack of
payment of taxes, and all other appropriate criminal penalties.
(4)
Property purchased after January 1st in any given year will
not qualify in whole or in part for exemption for that year.
(b)
Limitation.
(1)
Effective with tax year 2023, the total amount of ad valorem
taxes imposed by the city on the residence homestead of a person who
is disabled or is sixty-five (65) years of age or older shall not
be increased while it remains the residence homestead of that person
or that person's spouse who is disabled or sixty-five (65) years
of age or older and receives a residence homestead exemption on the
homestead.
(2)
If the person who is disabled or is sixty-five (65) years of
age or older dies in a year in which the person received a residence
homestead exemption, the total amount of ad valorem taxes imposed
on the residence homestead shall not be increased while it remains
the residence homestead of that person's surviving spouse if
the spouse is fifty-five (55) years of age or older at the time of
the person's death.
(3)
The tax limitation approved by this section is transferable
as permitted by the Texas Tax Code § 11.261 as the same
may be amended from time-to-time.
(1972 Code, sec. 2-2; Ordinance
1566 adopted 2/6/1973; 1995 Code, sec. 35.04; Ordinance 3667 adopted 12/2/2003; Ordinance
3672-A adopted 12/2/2003; Ordinance 5009 adopted 6/20/2023)
The city exempts from taxation a travel trailer that was registered
in the state on January 1 of the year and is not held or used for
the production of income if the trailer is:
(1)
Less than 400 square feet in area; and
(2)
Designed primarily for use as temporary living quarters and not as
a permanent dwelling.
(1995 Code, sec. 35.05; Resolution 3567 adopted 4/16/2002)
(a)
The city shall provide an annual residential homestead exemption
of ten percent (10%) of a residence homestead's value, with a
minimum exemption of five thousand dollars ($5,000.00), to all qualified
homeowners subject to the city's property tax pursuant to the
laws of the state regulating the assessing of ad valorem taxes.
(b)
This section shall apply to the 2023 tax roll and all subsequent
rolls unless repealed by ordinance.
(Ordinance 5009 adopted 6/20/2023)
