HB851

Regular Session

Relating to the determination and reporting of the number of residence homesteads of certain property owners for which the owner is receiving certain ad valorem tax benefits.

Q: What does Texas HB851 do?

HB851 mandates that County Appraisal Districts (CADs) aggregate and report specific homestead data—specifically regarding tax ceilings, deferrals, and abatements—to the State Comptroller annually. While the statutory burden lies with Chief Appraisers, the operational burden falls squarely on government software vendors and IT directors, who must reconfigure CAMA (Computer-Assisted Mass Appraisal) systems to generate these reports without transmitting Personal Identifying Information (PII). Implementation Timeline Effective Date: January 1, 2026 Compliance Deadline: July 25, 2026 (Approximate).

Q: Who authored HB851?

HB851 was authored by Texas Representative Mike Schofield during the Regular Session.

Q: When was HB851 signed into law?

HB851 was signed into law by Governor Greg Abbott on June 20, 2025.

Q: Which agencies enforce HB851?

HB851 is enforced by Comptroller of Public Accounts and County Appraisal Districts (Chief Appraisers).

Q: How urgent is compliance with HB851?

The compliance urgency for HB851 is rated as "low". Businesses and organizations should review the requirements and timeline to ensure timely compliance.

Q: What is the cost impact of HB851?

The cost impact of HB851 is estimated as "low". This may vary based on industry and implementation requirements.

Q: What topics does HB851 address?

HB851 addresses topics including aging, disabilities, persons with, military & veterans, taxation and taxation--property-appraisals & appraisal districts.

LowStandard timeline

Low Cost

Effective:2026-01-01

Enforcing Agencies

Comptroller of Public Accounts • County Appraisal Districts (Chief Appraisers)

HB851

Relating to the determination and reporting of the number of residence homesteads of certain property owners for which the owner is receiving certain ...

Low Urgency

Unanimous Passage

House Vote145 - 0

YEA

100% in favor145 voting

Senate Vote31 - 0

YEA

100% in favor31 voting

Cost Impact

Low

Effective

2026-01-01

Enforcing Agencies

Comptroller of Public AccountsCounty Appraisal Districts

Primary Author: Rep. Mike Schofield

89th Texas Legislature

jdkey.com

Compliance Analysis

Key implementation requirements and action items for compliance with this legislation

Implementation Timeline

Effective Date: January 1, 2026
Compliance Deadline: July 25, 2026 (Approximate). The first report is due concurrently with the submission of the certified appraisal roll to the county assessor-collector.
Agency Rulemaking: The Comptroller of Public Accounts must prescribe the "form and manner" of this report. Expect technical specifications (file layouts/XML schemas) to be released by Q4 2025.

Immediate Action Plan

1. Software Audit (Immediate): Verify that your current database fields accurately distinguish between Section 33.06 and 33.065 deferrals. If these are currently lumped into a generic "Deferral" code, data remediation is required immediately.
2. Vendor Notification (Q3 2025): CADs must formally notify their CAMA software providers of the HB851 requirement to ensure it is on the development roadmap for the 2026 release.
3. Monitor PTAD (Q4 2025): Assign a compliance officer to monitor the Comptroller’s website for the release of the reporting file layout.
4. Dry Run (May 2026): Conduct a test generation of the report using preliminary 2026 appraisal data to ensure the PII filter is functioning correctly before the July deadline.

Operational Changes Required

Contracts

Software Service Agreements: CADs must review current software maintenance contracts. If "legislative updates" are included, vendors must implement this reporting module at no cost. If not, vendors may issue change orders for custom development.
Indemnification Clauses: Vendors providing this reporting tool should face stricter indemnification requirements regarding PII. If the software accidentally scrapes names or addresses along with the aggregate data, the vendor must bear the liability for the privacy breach.

Hiring/Training

IT & Database Administrators: No new hires are required, but existing IT staff must be trained on the specific query logic required to isolate Section 11.26 (tax ceiling), Section 33.06 (elderly/disabled deferrals), and Section 33.065 (appreciating value deferrals) data sets.

Reporting & Record-Keeping

New Annual Filing: This is a digital data transmission, not a paper form. Systems must be programmed to auto-generate this report annually upon certification of the appraisal roll.
Data Segmentation: Databases must now permanently categorize and count deferrals *by school district*.
Privacy Validation: A mandatory "scrubbing" protocol must be implemented to verify that no PII is included in the transmission to the Comptroller.

Fees & Costs

Development Costs: Software vendors will incur one-time development costs to build the reporting module.
No Statutory Fees: The bill does not impose new filing fees on property owners or districts.

Strategic Ambiguities & Considerations

1. Data Suppression Standards:

The law strictly prohibits PII. However, in rural school districts with very low populations, reporting a count of "1" for a specific medical deferral could inadvertently identify the homeowner. The Comptroller has not yet clarified if districts should use data suppression techniques (e.g., reporting "<5" instead of exact numbers) for small data sets.

2. Technical File Specifications:

The statute requires reporting but does not define the format (CSV, XML, JSON). Until the Comptroller’s Property Tax Assistance Division (PTAD) releases the schema, vendors cannot finalize the code.

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Information presented is for general knowledge only and is provided without warranty, express or implied. Consult qualified government affairs professionals and legal counsel before making compliance decisions.

Legislative Timeline

This bill's path through the Texas Legislature

TopicsAging Disabilities, Persons With Military & Veterans Taxation Taxation--property-appraisals & Appraisal Districts Taxation--property-assessment & Collection Taxation--property-exemptions Taxation--property-state Administration Taxation--school District Property Interests Property Interests--homestead Comptroller of Public Accounts

Official Analysis

View HRO Analysis View All Bill Documents

House Authors

Rep. Mike SchofieldRepublican · Primary Author

Senate Sponsors

Sen. Paul BettencourtRepublican · Primary Sponsor

Cosponsors (1)

Lois Kolkhorst (R)

Bill Text(with markup)

View bill text in multiple formats on Texas Legislature website

Fiscal NoteView Original

Related Legislation

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Frequently Asked Questions

Common questions about HB851

What does Texas HB851 do?

HB851 mandates that County Appraisal Districts (CADs) aggregate and report specific homestead data—specifically regarding tax ceilings, deferrals, and abatements—to the State Comptroller annually. While the statutory burden lies with Chief Appraisers, the operational burden falls squarely on government software vendors and IT directors, who must reconfigure CAMA (Computer-Assisted Mass Appraisal) systems to generate these reports without transmitting Personal Identifying Information (PII). Implementation Timeline Effective Date: January 1, 2026 Compliance Deadline: July 25, 2026 (Approximate).

Who authored HB851?