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."