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By: Shapiro, et al. S.J.R. No. 1
(In the Senate - Filed April 30, 2003; May 1, 2003, read
first time and referred to Committee of the Whole; May 2, 2003,
reported adversely, with favorable Committee Substitute by the
following vote: Yeas 30, Nays 0; May 2, 2003, sent to printer.)
COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR S.J.R. No. 1 By: Shapiro
SENATE JOINT RESOLUTION
proposing a constitutional amendment to provide financial support
for public education by creating the Texas education fund,
authorizing a state property tax, increasing the state general
sales and use tax rate, expanding the general sales and use tax base
to include certain services, increasing the state motor vehicle
sales and use tax rate, abolishing the school district property tax
for maintenance and operations purposes, dedicating the proceeds of
any state lottery to public education, and authorizing a school
district property tax for the purpose of educational enrichment.
BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 3, Article VII, Texas Constitution, is
amended by amending Subsection (e) and adding Subsections (f) and
(g) to read as follows:
(e) The Legislature may [shall be authorized to] pass laws
for [the assessment and collection of taxes in all school districts
and for] the management and control of the public school or schools
of school [such] districts. A school district may levy and collect
an ad valorem tax at a rate not to exceed the rate provided by
general law for the purpose of providing an enriched educational
program. The[, whether such districts are composed of territory
wholly within a county or in parts of two or more counties, and the]
Legislature may authorize an additional ad valorem tax to be levied
and collected within all school districts [for the further
maintenance of public free schools, and] for the erection and
equipment of school buildings therein. A school district may not
levy a tax under this subsection unless the tax is approved by[;
provided that] a majority of the qualified voters of the district
voting at an election [to be] held for that purpose[, shall approve
the tax].
(f) The Legislature may pass laws for the creation of junior
college districts, the management and control of those districts,
and the assessment and collection of ad valorem taxes in those
districts. A junior college district may not levy a tax under this
subsection unless the tax is approved by a majority of the qualified
voters of the district voting at an election held for that purpose.
A junior college district is not a school district for purposes of
this section.
(g) An ad valorem tax approved by the voters of a junior
college district under this section before November 4, 2003, is not
affected by the amendment of this section adopted November 4, 2003,
and the junior college district is not required to hold a new
election to authorize the existing tax. This subsection expires
January 1, 2004.
SECTION 2. Section 3-b, Article VII, Texas Constitution, is
amended to read as follows:
Sec. 3-b. (a) A [No] tax for the enrichment [maintenance]
of public free schools voted in any independent school district or a
[and no] tax for the maintenance of a junior college voted by a
junior college district, and [nor] any bonds voted in any such
district, but unissued, are not [shall be] abrogated, cancelled, or
invalidated by change of any kind in the boundaries of the district
[thereof].
(b) After any change in boundaries, the governing body of
any such district may, without the necessity of an additional
election, [shall have the power to] assess, levy, and collect ad
valorem taxes on all taxable property within the boundaries of the
district as changed, for the purposes of the enrichment
[maintenance] of public free schools or the maintenance of a junior
college, as the case may be, and for the payment of principal of and
interest on all bonded indebtedness outstanding against, or
attributable, adjusted, or allocated to, such district or any
territory in the district [therein], in the amount, at the rate, or
not to exceed the rate, and in the manner authorized in the district
before [prior to] the change in its boundaries[,] and [further] in
accordance with the laws under which all such bonds, respectively,
were voted. The [; and such] governing body of the district may
[also shall have the power], without the necessity of an additional
election, [to] sell and deliver any unissued bonds voted in the
district before [prior to] any such change in boundaries, and may
[to] assess, levy, and collect ad valorem taxes on all taxable
property in the district as changed, for the payment of principal of
and interest on such bonds in the manner permitted by the laws under
which such bonds were voted.
(c) If [In those instances where] the boundaries of any such
independent school district are changed by the annexation of, or
consolidation with, one or more whole school districts, the taxes
to be levied for the purposes [hereinabove] authorized by this
article may be in the amount or at not to exceed the rate previously
[theretofore] voted in the district having at the time of such
change the greatest scholastic population according to the latest
scholastic census, and only the unissued bonds of such district
voted before [prior to] such change[,] may be subsequently sold and
delivered. Unissued [and any voted, but unissued,] bonds of the
other school districts involved in such annexation or consolidation
may [shall] not [thereafter] be issued after the annexation or
consolidation.
SECTION 3. Subsection (a), Section 5, Article VII, Texas
Constitution, is amended to read as follows:
(a) The permanent school fund consists of all land
appropriated for public schools by this constitution or the other
laws of this state and other properties belonging to the permanent
school fund. The available school fund consists of [principal of
all bonds and other funds, and the principal arising from the sale
of the lands hereinbefore set apart to said school fund, shall be
the permanent school fund, and] all the interest derivable from the
permanent school fund [therefrom] and the taxes [herein] authorized
by this constitution or general law to be a part of [and levied
shall be] the available school fund. The available school fund
shall be applied annually to the support of the public free schools.
Except as provided by this section, the legislature may not enact a
[no] law [shall ever be enacted] appropriating any part of the
permanent school fund or available school fund to any other
purpose. The permanent school fund and the available school fund
may not [whatever; nor shall the same, or any part thereof ever] be
appropriated to or used for the support of any sectarian school[;
and the available school fund herein provided shall be distributed
to the several counties according to their scholastic population
and applied in such manner as may be provided by law].
SECTION 4. Article VII, Texas Constitution, is amended by
adding Section 5A to read as follows:
Sec. 5A. The Texas education fund consists of:
(1) all proceeds of the state ad valorem tax
authorized by Section 1-e, Article VIII, of this constitution;
(2) certain proceeds of the state general sales and
use tax as provided by Section 25, Article VIII, of this
constitution;
(3) certain proceeds of the state motor vehicle sales
and use tax as provided by Section 26, Article VIII, of this
constitution;
(4) the net revenue, as determined by general law, of
any state lottery operated under Section 47(e), Article III, of
this constitution;
(5) funds transferred from the available school fund
as provided by general law; and
(6) other funds transferred or dedicated to the fund
by general law.
SECTION 5. Subsection (e), Section 1-b, Article VIII, Texas
Constitution, is amended to read as follows:
(e) The governing body of a political subdivision[, other
than a county education district,] may exempt from ad valorem
taxation a percentage of the market value of the residence
homestead of a married or unmarried adult, including one living
alone. [In the manner provided by law, the voters of a county
education district at an election held for that purpose may exempt
from ad valorem taxation a percentage of the market value of the
residence homestead of a married or unmarried adult, including one
living alone.] The percentage may not exceed twenty percent.
However, the amount of an exemption authorized pursuant to this
subsection may not be less than Five Thousand Dollars ($5,000)
unless the legislature by general law prescribes other monetary
restrictions on the amount of the exemption. An exemption
authorized by this subsection does not apply to ad valorem taxes
levied on a residence homestead by a school district under Section
3(e), Article VII, of this constitution for the purpose of
providing an enriched education program. An eligible adult is
entitled to receive other applicable exemptions provided by law.
Where ad valorem tax has previously been pledged for the payment of
debt, the governing body of a political subdivision may continue to
levy and collect the tax against the value of the homesteads
exempted under this subsection until the debt is discharged if the
cessation of the levy would impair the obligation of the contract by
which the debt was created. The legislature by general law may
prescribe procedures for the administration of residence homestead
exemptions.
SECTION 6. Section 1-e, Article VIII, Texas Constitution,
is amended to read as follows:
Sec. 1-e. (a) Except as provided by Subsection (b) of this
section, no [No] State ad valorem taxes shall be levied upon any
property within this State.
(b) Ad valorem taxes may be imposed by the legislature, at a
rate not to exceed $0.75 for each $100 of taxable value, for
elementary and secondary public free school purposes on real
property and tangible personal property not otherwise exempted by
this constitution or by the legislature under the authority of this
constitution.
(c) The legislature may provide for the appraisal of
property subject to state ad valorem taxes, for the equalization of
the taxable values of that property, and for the collection of the
state ad valorem taxes imposed on that property.
(d) Property described by Section 1-j of this article or by
Section 1-n of this article, as added by S.J.R. No. 6, 77th
Legislature, Regular Session, 2001, is not exempt from taxes
imposed under Subsection (b) of this section in a tax year if the
property is located in a school district that taxes the property for
that tax year.
(e) Section 33, Article III, of this constitution does not
apply to a bill to impose a state ad valorem tax authorized by this
section.
(f) State ad valorem taxes shall be assessed on the
valuation of property subject to those taxes as determined by the
appraisal officials in the county in which the property is located.
If an appraisal official uses generally accepted appraisal
standards and practices to appraise property subject to the state
ad valorem tax and the valuation of the property subject to that tax
conforms to or is equalized by the local appraisal review process to
conform to the accepted standards and practices, the assessment of
a state ad valorem tax on that valuation is not invalid. This
subsection expires at the end of the 2004 ad valorem tax year.
SECTION 7. Article VIII, Texas Constitution, is amended by
adding Sections 25 and 26 to read as follows:
Sec. 25. (a) The state shall impose the sales and use tax
authorized by Chapter 151, Tax Code, or its successor, at the rate
of 7.25 percent.
(b) Notwithstanding Subsection (a) of this section, the
legislature by general law may raise or lower the rate of the tax or
modify or repeal the tax.
(c) The state shall impose the tax described by Subsection
(a) of this section on the sale or use of all services unless the
legislature by general law provides exemptions from the application
of the tax. This subsection does not apply to a service that is
specifically and not generally exempt, either wholly or partly,
from taxation under Chapter 151, Tax Code, regardless of whether
that exemption was enacted before the date this section takes
effect.
(d) Notwithstanding any other provision of this
constitution, the following shall be deposited to the credit of the
Texas education fund created under Section 5A, Article VII, of this
constitution:
(1) the net revenue derived from an increase in the
rate of the tax described by Subsection (a) of this section over the
rate of the tax on June 30, 2004;
(2) the net revenue derived from the imposition of the
tax described by Subsection (a) of this section on the sale or use
of a service that was not a taxable service on June 30, 2004; and
(3) the net revenue derived from the imposition of a
sales and use tax by a political subdivision of this state on the
sale or use of a service that was not a taxable service on June 30,
2004, and that becomes subject to the tax because Subsection (c) of
this section requires that taxation.
(e) This section takes effect July 1, 2004, and applies to
taxes imposed on or after that date. Taxes imposed before that date
are governed by the law in effect on the date the taxes were
imposed, and that law is continued in effect for the purposes of the
liability for and collection of those taxes.
Sec. 26. (a) The state shall impose the tax on the sale or
use of a motor vehicle authorized by Chapter 152, Tax Code, or its
successor, at the rate of 8.75 percent.
(b) Notwithstanding Subsection (a) of this section, the
legislature by general law may raise or lower the rate of the tax or
modify or repeal the tax.
(c) The net revenue derived from an increase in the rate of
the tax described by Subsection (a) of this section over the rate of
the tax on June 30, 2004, shall be deposited to the credit of the
Texas education fund created under Section 5A, Article VII, of this
constitution.
(d) This section takes effect July 1, 2004, and applies to
taxes imposed on or after that date. Taxes imposed before that date
are governed by the law in effect on the date the taxes were
imposed, and that law is continued in effect for the purposes of the
liability for and collection of those taxes.
SECTION 8. This proposed constitutional amendment shall be
submitted to the voters at an election to be held November 4, 2003.
The ballot shall be printed to permit voting for or against the
proposition: "The constitutional amendment providing financial
support for public education, reducing school property tax rates,
expanding the general sales and use tax base to include certain
services and increasing the rate, and increasing the state motor
vehicle sales and use tax rate."
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