2025 Texas sessionsRegular and both called sessions have ended. This index covers House and Senate bills, not resolutions. Statuses come from official reports.

2025 · Regular session · House bill

HB1244

Effective January 1, 2026, HB1244 protects continuity of qualified open-space land appraisal after certain ownership transfers.

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Official caption: Relating to the eligibility of land to continue to be appraised for ad valorem tax purposes as qualified open-space land following a transfer to a person who uses the land in materially the same way as the former owner and to late applications for such appraisal filed by the new owner of the land.

Signed by governorSource-checked explanation published

Official report lists House author(s): Guillen. This does not identify sponsors or amendment drafters.

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Bill explanation published · Version and amendment review scope is stated below · Individual amendment records may not be separately annotated.

Bill highlights

Selected points from the published explanation. Follow each point to its source-linked context; conditions and limits may matter.

Effective January 1, 2026, HB1244 protects continuity of qualified open-space land appraisal after certain ownership transfers.
The law also creates a late-application route for a new owner meeting those same prior-appraisal, same-use and same-people conditions.
Acceptance is not automatic approval: the land must still qualify.

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What does it do?

Effective January 1, 2026, HB1244 protects continuity of qualified open-space land appraisal after certain ownership transfers. For the rule that normally requires a new application when ownership changes, a transfer is not treated as an ownership change if the land received this appraisal in the preceding tax year, the new owner uses it in materially the same way, and the same individuals oversee or conduct that use as in the preceding year. The existing surviving-spouse exception remains. Final law

The law also creates a late-application route for a new owner meeting those same prior-appraisal, same-use and same-people conditions. The chief appraiser must accept and decide the application if filed no later than the later of the year’s tax-delinquency date or the first anniversary of the ownership transfer. That means the later deadline—not whichever date arrives first. A qualifying late application is exempt from the usual penalty of 10% of the tax difference between special appraisal and market-value taxation.

Acceptance is not automatic approval: the land must still qualify. Existing law allows the chief appraiser, subject to statutory limits, to require a new application when there is good cause to believe eligibility has ended. This act does not make the land tax-free or waive every tax penalty. Tax Code 23.54 and 23.541

What changed along the way?

The introduced and House committee versions already contained the continuity exception and a late-filing penalty waiver. For late applications, they initially required the same use but not expressly the same people, and set a one-year-from-transfer deadline. Representative Ryan Guillen’s sole indexed amendment, adopted April 28, added the same-people requirement and the later-of-two-dates deadline. Both changes survive in the engrossed, Senate committee and final texts, which match in their operative provisions. Introduced · House committee · Engrossed · Senate committee · Amendment text · Amendment index · Version index

Governor Abbott signed the bill May 24, 2025. It passed the House 145–0, with two present but not voting, and the Senate 31–0. History

For the full amendment record, open the official amendment index.

Official bill versions

Compare the published text versions in the official text index. A change is not attributed to a specific amendment here without a verified record.

Who could benefit—and who could bear the costs?

New owners who keep a qualifying operation and its operators or supervisors in place may avoid loss of special appraisal solely because of filing issues, and may avoid the specified late-application penalty. Owners who change the use or the responsible individuals do not qualify for this new same-operation route merely because the parcel once had open-space appraisal. Appraisal districts must assess those facts; local taxing units may receive less penalty revenue.

Both Legislative Budget Board notes anticipate no significant state fiscal impact and a local cost from accepting late applications without penalty that is not expected to be significant. Neither quantifies a two-year/five-year cost. The engrossed note’s narrative still describes only a one-year deadline; the amended and final statutory text supplies the controlling later-of-two-dates rule. Introduced fiscal note · Engrossed fiscal note

Official sources

Catalog report retrieved 2026-10-25. Check the official record for corrections or later changes.