79R5826 MFC-D

By:  Villarreal                                                 H.J.R. No. 68 



A JOINT RESOLUTION

proposing a constitutional amendment to permit a county to 
establish an ad valorem tax freeze on the residence homesteads of 
certain elderly persons.
	BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:                       
	SECTION 1.  Section 1-b, Article VIII, Texas Constitution, 
is amended by adding Subsection (i) to read as follows:
	(i)  The commissioners court of a county by official action 
may provide that if a person receives the exemption authorized by 
Subsection (c) of this section for the residence homestead of a 
person sixty-five (65) years of age or older and received an 
exemption prescribed or authorized by this section for that 
homestead in the preceding year, the total amount of taxes imposed 
on that homestead by the county may not exceed the amount of taxes 
the county imposed on the property in the preceding year.  As an 
alternative, on receipt of a petition signed by five percent (5%) of 
the registered voters of the county, the commissioners court shall 
call an election to determine by majority vote whether to establish 
a tax limitation provided by this subsection.  A tax limitation 
established by a county under this subsection applies to the 
imposition of ad valorem taxes by the county beginning with the 
first tax year after the year in which the limitation is 
established.  The legislature, by general law, may provide for the 
transfer of all or a proportionate amount of a tax limitation 
provided by this subsection for a person who qualifies for the 
limitation and establishes a different residence homestead in the 
same county.  A county that establishes a tax limitation under this 
subsection must comply with a law providing for the transfer of the 
limitation, even if the legislature enacts the law subsequent to 
the county's establishment of the limitation.  Taxes otherwise 
limited by a county under this subsection may be increased to the 
extent the value of the homestead is increased by improvements 
other than repairs and other than improvements made to comply with 
governmental requirements and as may be consistent with the 
transfer of a tax limitation under a law authorized by this 
subsection.  The legislature, by general law, may prescribe income 
limitations for eligibility for a tax limitation provided by this 
subsection.
	SECTION 2.  This proposed constitutional amendment shall be 
submitted to the voters at an election to be held November 8, 2005.  
The ballot shall be printed to permit voting for or against the 
proposition:  "The constitutional amendment to permit a county to 
establish an ad valorem tax freeze on the residence homesteads of 
certain elderly persons."