This website will be unavailable from Friday, April 26, 2024 at 6:00 p.m. through Monday, April 29, 2024 at 7:00 a.m. due to data center maintenance.
79S30518 SMH-D
By: Ogden S.J.R. No. 7
A JOINT RESOLUTION
proposing a constitutional amendment establishing a maximum school
district ad valorem tax rate for maintenance purposes, providing
that an ad valorem tax imposed by a school district is not a state ad
valorem tax, authorizing the legislature to set a lower limit on
increases in the appraised value of a residence homestead for
purposes of ad valorem taxation by a school district, and
increasing the residence homestead exemption from ad valorem
taxation for public school purposes and correspondingly adjusting
the limitation on ad valorem taxes imposed for those purposes on the
homesteads of the elderly or disabled.
BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 3, Article VII, Texas Constitution, is
amended by amending Subsections (d) and (e) and adding Subsections
(f) and (g) to read as follows:
(d) The Legislature may provide for the formation of school
districts by general laws, and all such school districts may
embrace parts of two or more counties.
[(e)] The Legislature by general law may provide [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 such districts.
(e) 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 at a rate not to exceed $1.15 for
each $100 of taxable value of property in the district, and may
authorize an additional ad valorem tax for the erection and
equipment of school buildings. A school district may not levy or
collect a tax under this subsection unless the tax is approved by
[therein; 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]. A tax levied and collected by a school district
under this subsection is not a state ad valorem tax within the
meaning of Section 1-e, Article VIII, of this constitution.
(f) The Legislature may pass laws for the creation of junior
college districts, the management and control of those districts,
and the imposition of ad valorem taxes in those districts. A junior
college district may not impose a tax under this subsection unless
the tax has been 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) The approval of an ad valorem tax by the voters of a
junior college district under this section before January 1, 2007,
is not affected by the amendment of this section approved by the
voters at an election held November 7, 2006, and the junior college
district may continue to impose the tax in 2007 and subsequent years
without holding a new election to authorize the tax. This
subsection expires January 1, 2008.
SECTION 2. Section 1(i), Article VIII, Texas Constitution,
is amended to read as follows:
(i) Notwithstanding Subsections (a) and (b) of this
section, the Legislature by general law may limit the maximum
average annual percentage increase in the appraised value of
residence homesteads for purposes of ad valorem taxation by a
school district other than a junior college district [tax purposes]
to five percent, or a greater percentage, and for purposes of ad
valorem taxation by other political subdivisions to 10 percent, or
a greater percentage, for each year since the most recent tax
appraisal. A limitation on appraisal increases authorized by this
subsection:
(1) takes effect as to a residence homestead on the
later of the effective date of the law imposing the limitation or
January 1 of the tax year following the first tax year the owner
qualifies the property for an exemption under Section 1-b of this
article; and
(2) expires on January 1 of the first tax year that
neither the owner of the property when the limitation took effect
nor the owner's spouse or surviving spouse qualifies for an
exemption under Section 1-b of this article.
SECTION 3. Sections 1-b(c) and (d), Article VIII, Texas
Constitution, are amended to read as follows:
(c) The amount of $22,500 [Fifteen Thousand Dollars
($15,000)] of the market value of the residence homestead of a
married or unmarried adult, including one living alone, is exempt
from ad valorem taxation for general elementary and secondary
public school purposes. The legislature by general law may provide
that all or part of the exemption does not apply to a district or
political subdivision that imposes ad valorem taxes for public
education purposes but is not the principal school district
providing general elementary and secondary public education
throughout its territory. In addition to this exemption, the
legislature by general law may exempt an amount not to exceed [Ten
Thousand Dollars (]$10,000[)] of the market value of the residence
homestead of a person who is disabled as defined in Subsection (b)
of this section and of a person sixty-five (65) years of age or
older from ad valorem taxation for general elementary and secondary
public school purposes. The legislature by general law may base the
amount of and condition eligibility for the additional exemption
authorized by this subsection for disabled persons and for persons
sixty-five (65) years of age or older on economic need. An eligible
disabled person who is sixty-five (65) years of age or older may not
receive both exemptions from a school district but may choose
either. An eligible person is entitled to receive both the
exemption required by this subsection for all residence homesteads
and any exemption adopted pursuant to Subsection (b) of this
section, but the legislature shall provide by general law whether
an eligible disabled or elderly person may receive both the
additional exemption for the elderly and disabled authorized by
this subsection and any exemption for the elderly or disabled
adopted pursuant to Subsection (b) of this section. Where ad
valorem tax has previously been pledged for the payment of debt, the
taxing officers of a school district may continue to levy and
collect the tax against the value of 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 shall provide for formulas to protect
school districts against all or part of the revenue loss incurred by
the implementation of Article VIII, Sections 1-b(c), 1-b(d), and
1-d-1, of this constitution. The legislature by general law may
define residence homestead for purposes of this section.
(d) Except as otherwise provided by this subsection, if a
person receives a residence homestead exemption prescribed by
Subsection (c) of this section for homesteads of persons who are
sixty-five (65) years of age or older or who are disabled, the total
amount of ad valorem taxes imposed on that homestead for general
elementary and secondary public school purposes may not be
increased while it remains the residence homestead of that person
or that person's spouse who receives the exemption. If a person
sixty-five (65) years of age or older dies in a year in which the
person received the exemption, the total amount of ad valorem taxes
imposed on the homestead for general elementary and secondary
public school purposes may not be increased while it remains the
residence homestead of that person's surviving spouse if the spouse
is fifty-five (55) years of age or older at the time of the person's
death, subject to any exceptions provided by general law. The
legislature, by general law, may provide for the transfer of all or
a proportionate amount of a limitation provided by this subsection
for a person who qualifies for the limitation and establishes a
different residence homestead. However, taxes otherwise limited by
this subsection may be increased to the extent the value of the
homestead is increased by improvements other than repairs or
improvements made to comply with governmental requirements and
except as may be consistent with the transfer of a limitation under
this subsection. For a residence homestead subject to the
limitation provided by this subsection in the 2006 [1996] tax year
or an earlier tax year, the legislature shall reduce [provide for a
reduction in] the amount of the limitation for the 2007 [1997] tax
year and subsequent tax years in an amount equal to $7,500 [$10,000]
multiplied by the 2007 [1997] tax rate for general elementary and
secondary public school purposes applicable to the residence
homestead.
SECTION 4. The following temporary provision is added to
the Texas Constitution:
TEMPORARY PROVISION. (a) This temporary provision applies
to the constitutional amendment proposed by the 79th Legislature,
3rd Called Session, 2006, establishing a maximum school district ad
valorem tax rate for maintenance purposes, providing that an ad
valorem tax imposed by a school district is not a state ad valorem
tax, authorizing the legislature to set a lower limit on increases
in the appraised value of a residence homestead for purposes of ad
valorem taxation by a school district, and increasing the residence
homestead exemption from ad valorem taxation for public school
purposes and correspondingly adjusting the limitation on ad valorem
taxes imposed for those purposes on the homesteads of the elderly or
disabled and expires January 1, 2008.
(b) The amendments to Section 3, Article VII, and Sections
1(i) and 1-b(c) and (d), Article VIII, of this constitution take
effect January 1, 2007, and apply only to a tax year beginning on or
after that date.
SECTION 5. This proposed constitutional amendment shall be
submitted to the voters at an election to be held November 7, 2006.
The ballot shall be printed to permit voting for or against the
proposition: "The constitutional amendment establishing a maximum
school district ad valorem tax rate for maintenance purposes,
providing that an ad valorem tax imposed by a school district is not
a state ad valorem tax, authorizing the legislature to set a lower
limit on increases in the appraised value of a residence homestead
for purposes of ad valorem taxation by a school district, and
increasing the residence homestead exemption from ad valorem
taxation for public school purposes and correspondingly adjusting
the limitation on ad valorem taxes imposed for those purposes on the
homesteads of the elderly or disabled."