86R987 SMT-D
 
  By: Bailes H.J.R. No. 60
 
 
 
A JOINT RESOLUTION
  proposing a constitutional amendment authorizing the legislature
  to provide for the transfer of a limitation established by a county,
  city or town, or junior college district on the amount of ad valorem
  taxes imposed on the residence homestead of an elderly or disabled
  person.
         BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
         SECTION 1.  Section 1-b(h), Article VIII, Texas
  Constitution, is amended to read as follows:
         (h)  The governing body of a county, a city or town, or a
  junior college district by official action may provide that if a
  person who is disabled or is sixty-five (65) years of age or older
  receives a residence homestead exemption prescribed or authorized
  by this section, the total amount of ad valorem taxes imposed on
  that homestead by the county, the city or town, or the junior
  college district may not be increased while it remains the
  residence homestead of that person or that person's spouse who is
  disabled or sixty-five (65) years of age or older and receives a
  residence homestead exemption on the homestead. As an alternative,
  on receipt of a petition signed by five percent (5%) of the
  registered voters of the county, the city or town, or the junior
  college district, the governing body of the county, the city or
  town, or the junior college district shall call an election to
  determine by majority vote whether to establish a tax limitation
  provided by this subsection. If a county, a city or town, or a
  junior college district establishes a tax limitation provided by
  this subsection and a disabled person or a person sixty-five (65)
  years of age or older dies in a year in which the person received a
  residence homestead exemption, the total amount of ad valorem taxes
  imposed on the homestead by the county, the city or town, or the
  junior college district 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 tax limitation provided by this
  subsection for a person who qualifies for the limitation and
  establishes a different residence homestead within the same county,
  within the same city or town, or within the same junior college
  district or a different residence homestead within a different
  county, a different city or town, or a different junior college
  district, if that county, city or town, or junior college district
  has established a tax limitation under this subsection. A county, a
  city or town, or a junior college district 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, the city's or town's, or the
  junior college district's establishment of the limitation. Taxes
  otherwise limited by a county, a city or town, or a junior college
  district 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 except as may be consistent with the
  transfer of a tax limitation under a law authorized by this
  subsection. The governing body of a county, a city or town, or a
  junior college district may not repeal or rescind a tax limitation
  established under this subsection.
         SECTION 2.  This proposed constitutional amendment shall be
  submitted to the voters at an election to be held November 5, 2019.
  The ballot shall be printed to permit voting for or against the
  proposition: "The constitutional amendment authorizing the
  legislature to provide for the transfer of a limitation established
  by a county, city or town, or junior college district on the amount
  of ad valorem taxes imposed on the residence homestead of an elderly
  or disabled person."