2025 · Regular session · Senate bill
SB973
SB973 expands the exterior property images that appraisal districts may post online and prevents reappraisal plans from obstructing legally required valuations.
Official caption: Relating to the periodic reappraisal of property by, and the prohibition on posting on the Internet certain information held by, an appraisal district.
Official report lists Senate author(s): Eckhardt, Gutierrez, Middleton, Parker, West. 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.
- SB973 expands the exterior property images that appraisal districts may post online and prevents reappraisal plans from obstructing legally required valuations.
- The existing internet-posting restriction covers photographs, sketches and floor plans of improvements designed primarily as residences.
- A reappraisal plan may no longer contain a standard or timeline that prevents the chief appraiser from appraising property as necessary to comply with Tax Code 23.01(a).
What does it do?
SB973 expands the exterior property images that appraisal districts may post online and prevents reappraisal plans from obstructing legally required valuations. It became law without the governor’s signature on June 22, 2025, and took effect September 1, 2025. Official history; Final law, sections 1–3.
The existing internet-posting restriction covers photographs, sketches and floor plans of improvements designed primarily as residences. Previously, its aerial-photo exception required five or more separately owned buildings. SB973 allows aerial photographs showing more than one separately owned building; street-level photographs of only a building’s exterior; and field records or overhead sketches showing only building outlines, general landscape features (including ponds, pools and walls), and dimensions or distances between the depicted buildings and features. It permits these exceptions; it does not require posting or allow interior photographs under them. The separate protection against posting a property owner’s age remains unchanged. Final law, sections 1–3; Pre-act Tax Code.
A reappraisal plan may no longer contain a standard or timeline that prevents the chief appraiser from appraising property as necessary to comply with Tax Code 23.01(a). That provision generally requires taxable property to be appraised at market value as of January 1, except as otherwise provided in the chapter. SB973 does not set tax rates, repeal valuation exceptions or impose a blanket annual physical-inspection requirement. Final law, sections 1–3; Pre-act Tax Code.
What changed along the way?
The introduced, Senate committee, engrossed and House committee versions have the same operative image-posting changes. The sole indexed floor amendment, offered by Geren and adopted on House third reading May 28, adds the reappraisal-plan restriction. The Senate concurred May 30, and that amendment appears in final section 2. All five text versions; Amendment index; Adopted amendment; Final law, sections 1–3.
The pre-existing requirement for district-wide reappraisal activities at least once every three years remains in Tax Code 25.18(b). The new restriction limits what a plan may prevent; it does not replace every existing reappraisal procedure. Pre-act Tax Code; Final law, sections 1–3.
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?
People consulting appraisal records may gain access to additional exterior images and basic property sketches if districts choose to post them. Owners may therefore have more exterior property information visible online, while the statutory limits on interior images and owner-age information remain. The act does not quantify how many districts will post new material. Final law, sections 1–3; Pre-act Tax Code.
The Legislative Budget Board’s May 29 final-stage fiscal note anticipates no state fiscal implication. It explains that less frequent reappraisals can delay reflecting falling market values or produce large increases when a property is next reappraised. Invalidating inconsistent plan elements could affect some appraisal districts financially, in amounts the LBB could not estimate, though it did not expect a significant statewide impact. This is not a promise of lower homeowner taxes or zero local cost. Earlier introduced and engrossed notes anticipated no significant local fiscal implication; the later note adds the reappraisal analysis. Final-stage fiscal note; Introduced fiscal note; Engrossed fiscal note.
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.
