May 14, 1956 

Hon. Burke Holman 

County Attorney 

Courthouse 

Hous ton 2, Texas 

Dear Mr. Holman: 

Opinion No. S-197 Jf,? s* a& 

Rc: Exemption from State and county 

ad virlorcln taxes of residence ot 

Assistant Rect~or. 

You have requested that we advise you as to whether “a church 

can have the separate residence of an assistant minister exempt from State 

and county taxation at the same time the separate residence of the minister 

of the church is so exempt where the aggregate size of both residences is 

less than one acre “. 

Section 2 of Article VIII of the Texas Constitution authorizes 

the Legislature to exempt certain classes and types of property from taxation. The pertinent provisions of this section read as follows: 

u 

. . . the Legislature may, by general laws, 

exempt from taxation. . . any proptrrt,y owned by a church 

or by a strictly religious soc.icty for the exclusive use as a 

dwelling place for the ministry of such church or religious 

society, and which yields no revenue whatever to such church 

or religious society; provided that such exemption shall not 

extend to more properly than is reasonably necessary for a 

dwelling plac:e and in no event more than one acre of land; 

n 

. . a 

The following provisions of Article 7150, Vernon’s Civil Statutes, 

were enacted in pursuance to the above quoted authorization: 

“The following property shall be exempt from taxation, 

to wit: 

Y 

. . . any property owned by a church or by~a 

strictly religious society, for the exclusive use as a dwelling place for the ministers of such church or religious 

society, the books and furniture iherein and the grou.nds 

attached to such buildings necessary for the proper occupancy, use and enjoyment of the same, and which yields no 
. I 

- c 

. 

\ -; 

Hon. Burke IIolman. page L (Opinion NO. S-197) 

revenue whatever to such church or religious society; 

provided that such exemption as to the dwelling place for 

the ministers shall not extend to more property than is 

reasonably necessary for a dwelling place and in no event 

more than one acre of land . . .” 

An additional provision for exemption is contained in Article 

7150b, V. C. S., which reads as follows: 

“There is hereby exempted from taxation any 

property owned exclusively and in fee by a church for 

the exclusive use as a dwelling place for the ministry 

of such church and which property yields no revenue 

whatever to such church; provided that such exemption 

shall not extend to more property than is .seasonably 

necessary for a dwelling place and in no event to more 

than one acre of land.” 

The constitutional provision authorizes the exemption of any 

property owned by a church for the ex.clusive use as a dwelling place for 

the ministry of the church. In our opinion, the Legislature was authorized 

to exempt the property in question because it satisfies the constitutional 

requirements of ownership, use and occupancy in that the Assistant Rector 

is serving in the ministry of the church, said ministry including collectively 

all of the clergy of the church. 

The portion of Article 7150 before quoted expressly states the 

l.egislative intent to exempt property used as a dwelling place for the ministers of a church, thus recognizing that a particular church might have 

more than one minister. Article 7150b likewise exempts, in the same language used in the constitutional provision. any property used exclusively as 

a dwelling piace for the ministry of a church, 

You are, therefore, advised that in our opinion the property 

described in your request is exempt from State and county taxation by the 

plain and unambiguous provisions of the statutes previously discussed. 

SUMMARY 

The separate residence of an Assistant Rector is 

exempt from State and county ad valorem taxes even 
, 

Hon. 13urlcc Ilolman, page 3 (Opiniorl No. S-197) 

though the residence of the Rector is also exempt, as 

long as they together occupy not more than one acre of 

land. Art. VIII, Sec. 2, Tex. Const.; Arts. 7150, 7150b, 

v. c. s. 

Yours very truly, 

APPROVED: 

W. V. Geppert 

Taxation Division 

J. Arthur Sandlin 

Reviewer 

J. C. Davis, Jr. 

Reviewer 

JOHN BEN SHEPPERD 

Attorney General of Texas 

By hfG&.~ h?‘&$o~, TQMarietta McGregor Payne 

Assistant Attorney Gene al 

‘L. W. Gray 

Special Reviewer 

Davis Grant 

First Assistant, 

John Ben Shepperd 

Attorney General