Hon. Wm. J. Jackson Opinion No. V-1144. 

County Attorney 

.Hembhill.County Re: Effect on county taxes of homeCanadian, Texas stead exemption provided In 

Sees. l-a and l-b of Art. VIII,, 

Tex. Const., and prpprletg of 

holding farm-to-market road tax 

electlon at same time as county 

tax reallocation election.' 

'I. Dear Sir: 

In your letter of Deaember 27, 1950, you submit this 

question: 

<Does the $3,000.00 residence homestead exemption provided in Sec. l-a, Art. 8, Constitutionof 

Texas, adopted Nov. 2, 1948, together with the 

statytory provisions of Art.. 7048a, Sec. 2, of the 

Revised.Clvll Statutes', apply only to the 30$ per 

$100.00 valuation levy therein au~thorized, or does 

such residence homestead exemption apply to all 

taxes for 'county purposes? Further, are county 

taxes in any manner affected by the provisions of 

Sec. l-b, Art. 8, Constituti.on of Texas, adopted 

Nov. 2, 1948, providing a $3,000.00 residence homestead exemption on all taxes for 'state purposes'?" 

ing: 

The pertinent provisions of Section l-a are the follow- 

“From and after <anuary I, 1951, no State ad 

valorem tax shall be levied upon any prop,erty within. 

this State for general revenue purposes. Freand 

after January 1, 1951, the several counties of the 

State are authorized to levy ad valoreq taxes upon 

all property w%thin.their res.pective boundaries for 

coutity purposes 

Dollars ($3,OOOj 

except the first Three Thousand 

value of residential homesteads, not 

to exceed thirtg'cents (3Op) on each One Hundred 

Dollhrs ($100) valuation, in addition to all other 

ad velorem taxes authorized by the Constitution of, 

.this State, provided the revenue derived therefrom 

',shell be used for con.structlon and maintenance of 

Farm to Market Roads or for Flood Control, except 
Hon. Wm. J. Jackson, page 2 (v-1144) 

as herein otherwise provided *” 

Sectfon l-b reads as follows: 

“Three Thousand Dollars ($3,000). of the assessed 

taxable value of all rasldence homesteads ‘as now de’; 

fined by law shell be exempt from all taxation for all 

State purposes +” .~ 

All property Is subject to taxation on an equal and 

uniform basis, with the exception only of such property as the’ 

Constitution expressly exempts from taxation or suoh property’es 

the Legislature shall under constitutional -authorization and 

restrictions declare to be exempt. City of Wichita Falls v. 

-79 170 9 .W. 2d 777 (Tex. Clv. App. 1943, error ‘ref.) . The 

exemo Ion authorized by Section l-b is l.imited to taxes for 

State purposes and therefore cannot be applied to taxes levied 

for county purposes 0 

The exemption provided fn Se&ion l-b was formerly 

carried in Section l-a of Article VIII, as adopted August 26, 

1933. Thus, prior to the effective date of the pres.ent Section 

l-a, this section effectuated the homestead exemption from State 

ad velorem taxes levied for general revenue purposes, such taxes 

being clearly for State purposes 6 Likewise, prior to the time, 

of the effedtive date of Sectlot? l-a as amended Notiembe? 2, 1948, 

there existed ‘no consti$utioT?ai axemp”cion for any amcunt of the 

assessed taxable value of’ rasfbeme homesteads from taxation for 

any county purpose, nor was the Legislature autho~ize3. by the 

Constitution to’make such (3,~ exemption. We are of the opln.ion 

that in providtng a $3,000 exemption In Sect%or? l-a9 the intent 

of the framers of the amendment ard of the people in adopting it 

was to preserve the equivalen? of the exemption formerly accorded 

the $3,OGO of the assessed taxable value of residence hoa;est.eads 

, from State ad valorem taxes for gene::ai :*ever?:ae pu:>poses. In 

other words,, sirce the State ad velorem tax for general revenue 

purposes was to be abolished from and af,$er January 1, 1951, and 

since $3,000 of the assessed taxable value of residence komesteeds prior to that date was exempt from such tax, the same protective exemptfoc was to be acco:?ded homesteads should the county 

see fit to levy the new coui?tig ad valorem tax authorized by 

Sectfon l-a D This fn.tkrpretatlon is ir. accord with the language 

used in Section l-a, 

Since only one specific county purpose tax is dealt with 

In this Section, it is clear’that %he exemp:‘lon therein provided 

was also limited to that specific tax. 

. 

, 

You also request our opinion on .the foll0wir.g question: 

‘. 
Hoti. Wm. J. Jackson,,page 3 (v-1144) 

. 

"I have also been asked whether or not the election provided by Art. 7,048a, Sec. 7, Revised Civil Statutes,,to decide whether or not such 30# peti $lOO.OO 

valuation tax for Farm-to-Market and Leterel Roads, 

should be levied could be held at the same time as an 

6lectlon to provide for re-allocation of county taxes 

es provided in Sec. gk Art. 8, Constitution of Tgxas, 

edbpted Nov. 7, 19447 

No constitutional or statutory provision prevgnts holding the above mtintioned elections at the same time. Of course, 

the"speclflc statutory requirements of Article 7048a, V.C.S., 

r‘eletlng to ordering the election, notice of election, etc., Contat&d in Sections 7 end 8, must be complied with. These-requiremezits'dlffer from the requirements conttilned in the generel~eletion'statutbs, Title 50, V.C.S., which are applicable to a county 

tax reallocation election, end which must be complied with In 

holding such an election. 

SUMMAKY 

I The $3,000 residence homestead exemption prov1d.M ifi SecUon l-e, Article VIII, Constitution of _ 

Texas, applies to such county taxes es may be levied 

for farm-to-market r6ads or for flood control under 

said constitutional provision, but not to other county 

taxes. An election to determine whether a county shall 

levy the farm-to-market road tax and e county tax 

reallocation el&tion may be held et the same time, 

provided applicable statutory requirements for each 

*election are complied with. 1 

Yours very truly, 

PRICE DANIJSL 

Attorney General 

MMC/mwb/wc 

APPROVED: 

XX: Geppert 

Taxation Dlvlslqn 

Jesse P. Luton, Jr. 

AssLstant 

Charles D. Mathews 

First Assistant 

By s/Merietta McGregor Creel 

Mrs. Marietta McGregor Creel 

Assistant