The Attorney General of Texas 

June 20, 1978 

Honorable Ben T. Reyes 

Chairman 

House Committee on Rules 

P. 0. Box 2910 

Austin, Texas 78769 

Opinion No. H- 118 7 

Re: Validity of a homestead tax 

exemption for senior citizens 

whose income is limited to a 

certain amount. 

Dear Representative Reyes: 

You have requested our opinion regarding the validity of a homestead 

tax exemption for senior citizens. 

Article 8, section l-b of the Texas Constitution provides, in pertinent 

part: 

Sec. l-b. (a) Three Thousand Dollars ($3,000) of the 

assessed taxable value of all residence homesteads of 

married or unmarried adults, male or female, including 

those living alone, shall be exempt from all taxation 

for all State purposes. 

(b) From and after January 1, 1973, the governing 

body of any county, city, town, school district, or 

other political subdivision of the State may exempt by 

its own action not less than Three Thousand Dollars 

($3,000) of the assessed value of residence homesteads 

of married or unmarried persons sixty-five (65) years 

of age or older, including those living alone, from ad 

valorem taxes thereafter levied by the political subdivision. 

You advise that the Board of Education of the Houston Independent School 

District recently enacted the following resolution: 

Section 1 That the Board of Education of the 

Houston Independent School District grant a $5,000 

homestead tax exemption to citizens sixty-five years 

p. 4782 
. 

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Honorable Ben T. Reyes - Page 2 (R-1187) 

of age or older who timely file a sworn application with the 

District’s Tax Assessor-Collector, the exemption to be 

granted according to the procedures and under the conditions employed by the City of Houston, the Tax Assessor and 

Collector of the Houston Independent School District. 

Section 2 That the Board of Education of the Houston 

Independent School District grant an additional $10,000 

homestead tax exemption to citizens sixty-five years of age 

or older (for a total of $lS,OOO), who timely file a sworn 

application on a form provided by the District, through 

which the taxpayer establishes that his or her income does 

not exceed $5,000 annually if only the taxpayer claiming the 

exemption resides in the residence homestead, and a 

combined total of $7,000 annually if the taxpayer claiming 

the exemption and his or her spouse reside in the residence 

homestead, the exemption to be granted according to the 

procedures and under the conditions employed by the City of 

Houston, the Tax Assessor and Collector of the Houston 

Independent School District. 

You ask whether the board may validly condition this additional $10,000 exemption 

upon the taxpayer’s annual income. 

A political subdivision is empowered by article 8, section l-b to grant to every 

person a tax exemption on certain property, provided the property is the residence 

homestead of the taxpayer, and provided further that the taxpayer is at least 65 

years of age. The board of education, while authorizing an exemption in the 

amount of $5,000 to all taxpayers on the sole basis of the two constitutional 

criteria, proposes an additional exemption for those taxpayers who also qualify 

under an income test. 

The Supreme Court of Texas has frequently declared that “lax exemptions are 

subject to strict construction since they are the antithesis of equality and 

uniformity.” Hilltop Village, Inc. v. Kerrville Independent School District, 426 

S.W.2d 943, 948 (Tex. 1968); see also Davies v. Meyer, 541 S.W.2d 827, 829 (Tex. 

1976). In our opinion, the school board may not limit the grant of an exemption to 

any condition not derived from the constitutional amendment itself. ln Sparkman 

v. State, 58 So.2d 431 (Fla. 1952), a constitutional provision authorized a homestead 

tax exemption of $5,000. The legislature subsequently required that any person 

claiming the exemption must have been a legal resident of the state for one year 

prior thereto. The Supreme Court of Florida held that 

the class or group entitled to homestead exemption under 

the constitution, and the class or group entitled to such right 

P. 4783 
, 

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Honorable Ben T. Reyes - Page 3 (H-1187) 

or privilege under the constitution as attempted to be 

restricted by legislative enactment, are quite materially 

different. 

As a result, the court found the residency requirement invalid. 58 So.2d, at 432. 

Likewise, the Texas Constitution empowers a political subdivision to grant a 

homestead tax exemption on the basis of the taxpayer’s age and residence on the 

homestead property. To these constitutional conditions, the school board has 

appended a third based on income. When a constitutional amendment has 

specifiiedl . . . circumstances and purposes . . . the Legislature is without power to add to or withdraw from the 

circumstances and purposes specified. 

Deason v. Orange County Water Control & Improvement District No. 1, 244 S.W.2d 

981, 984 (Tex. 1952). It is our opinion, therefore, that under the present language of 

the constitution a school district may not limit the grant of a homestead tax 

exemption for senior citizens to those whose income is below a particular amount. 

SUMMARY 

Under the current language of the constitution, a school 

district may not limit the grant of a homestead tax 

exemption for senior citizens to those whose income is 

below a particular amount. 

C. ROBERT HEATH. Chairman 

Opinion Committee ’ 

P. 4784