ATTORNEY GENERAL OF TEXAS GREG ABBOTT

The Honorable Veronica Gonzales Chair, Committee on Border and Intergovernmental Affairs Texas House ofRepresentatives Post Office Box 2910 Austin, Texas 78768-2910 Dear Representative Gonzales: August 1,2011
Opinion No. GA-0868 Re: Whetherthe expandeddefinition of"disability" under federal law affects a taxpayer's qualification for the real property tax freeze on existing homesteads under Texas law (RQ-0939-GA)

You ask whether "the expansion ofthe definition ofa disability" under the Americans with Disabilities Act Amendments Act of2008 "also means that more Texas homeowners now qualify for property tax freezes on their principal homesteads and for any otherproperty tax exemptions."! Article VIII, section I-b ofthe Texas Constitution allows certain local governing bodies to provideto "aperson who is disabled" tax exemptionsin various circumstances. ArticleVIII, section I-b(h) provides that "the total amount ofad valorem taxes imposed on that homestead
... may not beincreased while itremains the residence homestead ofthat person orthatperson's spouse." TEX. CONST. art. VIII, § l-b(h); see also id. art. VIII, § I-b(d) (providing a similar exemption for taxes imposed for public school purposes); TEX. TAX CODE ANN. § 11.261 (West Supp. 2010) (implementing constitutional provision). Subsections (b) and (c) of that section of the Texas Constitution also allow the governing bodies of certain political subdivisions to provide a tax exemption to disabled persons. TEX. CONST. art. VIII, § l-b(b), (c); see also TEX. TAX CODE ANN. § 11.13(d) (West 2008) (implementing constitutional provision). You notethatin 2008, Congress enacted amendments totheAmericans with DisabilitiesAct ("ADA"), expandingthe definition of"disability" and thereby increasing thenumber ofindividuals qualifying as disabled under that Act. 2 Request Letter at I. This change to the federal ADA,

'Letterfrom HonorableVeronicaGonzales, Chair, HouseCommitteeonBorderandIntergovernmentalAffairs, Texas House of Representatives, to Honorable Greg Abbott, Attorney General of Texas at 2 (Jan. 4, 20lO), https://www.oag.state.tx.us/opinlindex_rq.shtml ("Request Letter"). 'Specifically, the amendments prohibit mitigating measures like medication, medical supplies, prosthetics and hearing aids, among others, from beingused to determine whether an individual has a disability. ADAAmendmentsAct of2008, § 4, 42 U.S.C.A. § 12lO2(4)(E)(i) (West Supp. 2009).

### The Honorable Veronica Gonzales

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however, does notimpactthedefinition of"disabled"forpurposes ofTexas Constitution article

### vm, section l-b andthe statutes that implementit. Thetax exemptions authorizedby article

### vm, section I-b(b) are expressly available for "residence homesteads ofpersons ... who are under a disability for purposes of payment of disability insurance benefits under Federal Old-Age, Survivors, and DisabilityInsurance," otherwiseknown as the Social Security Act ("SSA"). TEX. CaNST. art. 

### vm, § 

### I-b(b). The tax freezes authorized in subsection I-b(h) apply to "a person who is disabled," without reference to the SSA. [d. § 

### I-b(h). However, because "disabled" has, in the same section, already been described pursuant to the SSA, we construe the term in a conforming manner when used in subsequent subsections. See Lewis v. Funderburk, 253 S.W.3d 204,207-08 (Tex. 2008) (explaining that when a word is defined in one subpart, the same meaning must be given in a different subpart ofthe same statute); see also Tex. Att'yGen. Op. No. GA-0293 (2005) at 2 (citing Booth v. Strippleman, 61 Tex. 378 (Tex. 1884)) (explaining that construction ofthe constitution is generally governed by the same rules as those governing the interpretation of statutes).3 TheSSAand ADAdefine "disability"indifferentterms. "Disability,"underthe SSA, means the "inability to engage in any substantial gainful activity by reason of a medically determinable physical or mental impairment." 42 

### V.S.C.A. § 

### 423(d)(l)(A) (West Supp. 2009). Forpurposes of the tax freezes and exemptions authorized under article 

### vm, section I-b ofthe Texas Constitution, "disabled individuals" are those persons that fall within this SSA definition and meet any other applicable requirements. Because the Texas Constitution and statutes have so defined the term "disabled"forpurposes ofwho qualifies for atax freeze orexemptionunder article

### vm, section I-b, the definition of "disabled" under the ADA is not relevant to the analysis.

'We also note that Tax Code section 11.261, which implements article VIII, section l-b(h), provides that a political subdivision that has adopted atax freeze under that constitutional provision may notincrease ad valorem taxes on a homestead "in which the individual qualified that residence homestead for the exemption provided by Section l1.13(c) for a disabled individual." TEX. TAX CODE ANN. § lI.26l(b) (West Supp. 2010). Section 11.13 defines "disabled" to mean "under a disability for purposes ofpayment ofdisability insurance benefits under Federal Old-Age, Survivors, and Disability Insurance." [d. § l1.13(m)(1) (West 2008).

### The Honorable Veronica Gonzales

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### SUMMARY The tax freezes and exemptions authorized by article 

## vrn, section I-b of the Texas Constitution are available for residence homesteads of persons who are under a disability for purposes of payment of disability insurance benefits under Federal Old-Age, Survivors, and Disability Insurance. Whether a person falls within the definition of "disability" under the Americans with Disabilities Act is not relevant to the analysis.

DANIEL T. HODGE First Assistant Attorney General DAVID J. SCHENCK Deputy Attorney General for Legal Counsel JASON BOATRIGHT Chair, Opinion Committee Virginia K. 

### Hoelscher Very truly yours,

Attorney General ofTexas

Assistant Attorney General, Opinion Committee