79(3) SJR 7 - Senate Committee Report version


                                                                                


By:  Ogden                                                      S.J.R. No. 7  
	(In the Senate - Filed April 17, 2006; April 17, 2006, read 
first time and referred to Committee on Finance; May 12, 2006, 
reported adversely, with favorable Committee Substitute by the 
following vote:  Yeas 10, Nays 2; May 12, 2006, sent to printer.)


COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR S.J.R. No. 7                                    By:  Ogden


SENATE JOINT RESOLUTION


proposing a constitutional amendment establishing a maximum school 
district ad valorem tax rate for maintenance purposes and providing 
that an ad valorem tax imposed by a school district is not a state ad 
valorem tax.
	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), (g), and (h) 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)  If before January 1, 2007, the voters of a school 
district authorized the district to levy and collect a tax under 
Subsection (e) of this section, the school district may continue to 
impose a tax under that subsection in 2007 and subsequent years 
without holding a new election to authorize the tax.  An election 
held before January 1, 2007, authorizing a school district to levy 
and collect an ad valorem tax for the maintenance of public free 
schools at a rate of at least $1.15 for each $100 of taxable value of 
property in the district is sufficient to authorize a rate of $1.15 
or less for the 2007 tax year and subsequent tax years.
	(g)  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.
	(h)  If before January 1, 2007, the voters of a junior 
college district authorized the district to impose a tax under this 
section, the junior college district may continue to impose the tax 
for the 2007 tax year and subsequent tax years without holding a new 
election to authorize the tax.
	SECTION 2.  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 and providing that an ad 
valorem tax imposed by a school district is not a state ad valorem 
tax.
	(b)  The amendments to Section 3, Article VII, of this 
constitution take effect January 1, 2007, and apply only to a tax 
year beginning on or after that date.
	SECTION 3.  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 and 
providing that an ad valorem tax imposed by a school district is not 
a state ad valorem tax."



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