87R1122 TJB-D
By: Bernal H.J.R. No. 16
A JOINT RESOLUTION
proposing a constitutional amendment authorizing the legislature
to limit the total amount of ad valorem taxes that a school district
may impose on the residence homestead of an individual and the
surviving spouse of the individual if the individual qualifies the
property as the individual's residence homestead for 15 consecutive
tax years and the school taxes on the property increase by at least
120 percent during that period.
BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Article VIII, Texas Constitution, is amended by
adding Section 1-b-1 to read as follows:
Sec. 1-b-1. (a) The legislature by general law may limit
the total amount of ad valorem taxes imposed by a school district on
the residence homestead of an individual who qualifies the property
as the individual's residence homestead for the preceding 15
consecutive tax years and for which the amount of taxes imposed for
general elementary and secondary public school purposes on the
property in that 15th tax year is at least 120 percent greater than
the amount of those taxes imposed on the property in the first of
those tax years, not including taxes imposed on the market value of
all improvements made to the property during that period. A law
enacted under this section may provide that the taxes imposed by the
school district on the residence homestead after that 15th tax year
may not exceed the amount of taxes imposed by a school district on
the property in that 15th tax year.
(b) A law enacted under this section may apply to an
increase in school taxes for a 15-year period that begins not
earlier than the 15th tax year preceding the tax year in which the
law takes effect.
(c) A law enacted under this section may provide that the
total amount of ad valorem taxes imposed by a school district on a
residence homestead may not be increased while the property remains
the residence homestead of the surviving spouse of an individual
who dies in a tax year in which the taxes on the property are subject
to the limitation authorized by Subsection (a) of this section.
(d) Notwithstanding Subsection (a) or (c) of this section, a
law enacted under this section may provide that school taxes on a
residence homestead subject to the limitation authorized by this
section may be increased to the extent the value of the residence
homestead is increased by an improvement made to the property,
other than:
(1) a repair; or
(2) an improvement made to comply with a governmental
requirement.
(e) A law enacted under this section may prescribe:
(1) additional eligibility requirements for the tax
limitation authorized by this section; and
(2) procedures for the administration of the
limitation.
SECTION 2. This proposed constitutional amendment shall be
submitted to the voters at an election to be held November 2, 2021.
The ballot shall be printed to permit voting for or against the
proposition: "The constitutional amendment authorizing the
legislature to limit the total amount of ad valorem taxes that a
school district may impose on the residence homestead of an
individual and the surviving spouse of the individual if the
individual qualifies the property as the individual's residence
homestead for 15 consecutive tax years and the school taxes on the
property increase by at least 120 percent during that period."