81R14395 SMH-D By: Olivo H.J.R. No. 6 A JOINT RESOLUTION proposing a constitutional amendment authorizing the legislature to exempt a portion of the assessed value of the residence homestead of an elderly person from ad valorem taxation by a fresh water supply district. 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 (j) to read as follows: (j) The legislature by general law may exempt $100,000 of the assessed value of the residence homestead of a person who is 65 years of age or older from ad valorem taxation by a conservation and reclamation district created under Section 59, Article XVI, of this constitution to conserve, transport, and distribute fresh water from any source for domestic and commercial purposes. Where ad valorem tax has previously been pledged for the payment of debt, the taxing officers of a district to which this subsection applies 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. SECTION 2. This proposed constitutional amendment shall be submitted to the voters at an election to be held November 3, 2009. The ballot shall be printed to permit voting for or against the proposition: "The constitutional amendment authorizing the legislature to exempt a portion of the assessed value of the residence homestead of an elderly person from ad valorem taxation by a fresh water supply district."