2025 · Regular session · House bill
HB2723
For property-tax years beginning January 1, 2026 or later, HB2723 requires a chief appraiser to grant the existing cemetery exemption without an application when all three conditions are met: nobody applies; the appraiser knows, …
Official caption: Relating to the requirement that a person submit an application for an exemption from ad valorem taxation for certain property used for human burial.
Official report lists House author(s): Cunningham, Noble, Canales, Leo Wilson. This does not identify sponsors or amendment drafters.
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.
- For property-tax years beginning January 1, 2026 or later, HB2723 requires a chief appraiser to grant the existing cemetery exemption without an application when all three conditions are met: nobody applies; the appraiser knows, or should know from a reasonable inspection, that the property qualifies; and the owner cannot be identified.
- The underlying Tax Code Section 11.17 exemption is for property used exclusively for human burial and not held for profit.
- The chief appraiser may ask a state agency, city, county, county historical commission, or another governmental or nonprofit organization to help determine whether the property qualifies.
What does it do?
For property-tax years beginning January 1, 2026 or later, HB2723 requires a chief appraiser to grant the existing cemetery exemption without an application when all three conditions are met: nobody applies; the appraiser knows, or should know from a reasonable inspection, that the property qualifies; and the owner cannot be identified. Final law
The underlying Tax Code Section 11.17 exemption is for property used exclusively for human burial and not held for profit. HB2723 removes an application obstacle in the specified unidentified-owner situation; it does not exempt every parcel called a cemetery, exempt for-profit property, or waive applications generally for identifiable owners.
The chief appraiser may ask a state agency, city, county, county historical commission, or another governmental or nonprofit organization to help determine whether the property qualifies. Assistance is permitted, not required in every case. The law does not transfer ownership, fund maintenance or expressly cancel taxes from earlier years.
What changed along the way?
The filed bill already contained the three-condition exemption-without-application rule. The House committee substitute added the express authority to seek help identifying qualifying property. That addition remained in the final law.
The history, version index, and amendment index show no floor amendments and no later substantive revision. The House passed it 120–6, with one present but not voting, and the Senate passed it 31–0. The governor signed it May 24, 2025, but its specified effective date is January 1, 2026.
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?
Qualifying burial grounds with unidentifiable owners can receive the exemption despite having no person available to file an application. Appraisal districts take on the qualifying determination and may use historical or other outside assistance.
The May 7 fiscal note says exempting currently taxed qualifying cemeteries reduces local taxable value and can affect state school-finance costs. It could also lead to exemptions being granted to some properties that are not eligible. Detailed cemetery-value information was unavailable, so the impact could not be estimated; the note nevertheless expects it to be not significant. That is not a finding of zero cost or a dollar estimate for any county.
Official sources
- Bill history and latest recorded action
- Bill versions, analyses and fiscal notes
- Action history and votes
- Amendment index
Catalog report retrieved 2026-10-25. Check the official record for corrections or later changes.
