Texas Tax Code 33.08 – Additional Penalty for Collection Costs for Taxes Due On or After June 1
(a) This section applies to a taxing unit or appraisal district only if:
(1) the governing body of the taxing unit or appraisal district has imposed the additional penalty for collection costs under § 33.07; and
(2) the taxing unit or appraisal district, or another taxing unit that collects taxes for the unit, has entered into a contract with an attorney under § 6.30 for the collection of the unit’s delinquent taxes.
(b) The governing body of the taxing unit or appraisal district, in the manner required by law for official action, may provide that taxes that become delinquent on or after June 1 under § 26.075(j), 26.15(e), 31.03, 31.031, 31.032, 31.033, 31.04, or 42.42 incur an additional penalty to defray costs of collection. The amount of the penalty may not exceed the amount of the compensation specified in the applicable contract with an attorney under § 6.30 to be paid in connection with the collection of the delinquent taxes.
Terms Used In Texas Tax Code 33.08
- Appraisal: A determination of property value.
- Collector: means the officer or employee responsible for collecting property taxes for a taxing unit by whatever title he is designated. See Texas Tax Code 1.04
- Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
- Lien: A claim against real or personal property in satisfaction of a debt.
- Month: means a calendar month. See Texas Government Code 312.011
- Property: means real and personal property. See Texas Government Code 311.005
- Taxing unit: means a county, an incorporated city or town (including a home-rule city), a school district, a special district or authority (including a junior college district, a hospital district, a district created by or pursuant to the Water Code, a mosquito control district, a fire prevention district, or a noxious weed control district), or any other political unit of this state, whether created by or pursuant to the constitution or a local, special, or general law, that is authorized to impose and is imposing ad valorem taxes on property even if the governing body of another political unit determines the tax rate for the unit or otherwise governs its affairs. See Texas Tax Code 1.04
(c) After the taxes become delinquent, the collector for a taxing unit or appraisal district that has provided for the additional penalty under this section shall send a notice of the delinquency and the penalty to the property owner. The penalty is incurred on the first day of the first month that begins at least 21 days after the date the notice is sent.
(d) A tax lien attaches to the property on which the tax is imposed to secure payment of the additional penalty.
(e) A taxing unit or appraisal district that imposes the additional penalty under this section may not recover attorney’s fees in a suit to collect delinquent taxes subject to the penalty.