The Honorable Tom 

Criminal District 

Jefferson County 

P. 0. BOX 2553 

Hanna 

Attorney 

---. 

Opinion No. H-857 

Re: Constitutionality 

of article 7150h, V.T.C.S., 

Beaumont, Texas 77704 granting a tax exemption 

to disabled veterans. 

Dear Mr. Hanna: 

You have asked our opinion on the constitutionality of 

article 7150h, V.T.C.S., which provides a tax exemption for 

certain disabled veterans and for certain members of their 

families. 

Article 7150h provides in part: 

Section 1. There are exempted from all 

property taxes levied by the state, a county, 

city, town, school district, special district, 

or other political subdivision of the state 

the value of assessed property owned by a 

disabled veteran or by the surviving spouse 

or children of a deceased veteran in the 

amounts provided in this Act. 

. . . 

Sec. 3. (a) A disabled veteran whose 

disability is less than 10 percent is not 

entitled to an exemption under this Act. 

(b) A disabled veteran whose disability 

is 10 percent or more, but not more than 

30 percent, is entitled to an 

the first $1,500 of the assesse 

m - prbperty.Emphasis added). 

p. 3615 
- 

The Honorable Tom Hanna - page 2 (H-857) 

Article 8, section 2(b) of the Texas Constitution 

authorizes an exemption for disabled veterans. It provides 

in part: 

The Legislature may, by general law, 

exempt property owned by a disabled 

veteran or by the surviving spouse and 

surviving minor children of a disabled 

veteran. . . . A veteran who is certified 

as having a disability of less than 10 

percent is not entitled to an exemption. 

A veteran having a disability rating of 

not less than 10 percent nor more than 30 

percent may be granted an exemption from 

taxation for 

$1,500. wpmd'v-- - 

vzued at x to 

Both the Constitution and statute go on to provide 

exemptions of as much as $3,000 for persons having greater 

percentages of disability. For purposes of convenience, we 

will refer only to the veteran with a disability rating of 

not less than 10 percent and not more than 30 percent. 

You suggest that the statute is unconstitutional for 

two reasons. First, the Constitution discusses the exemption for property "valued at up to $1,500," while the 

statute provides an exemption for "the first $1,500 of the 

assessed value of [the] property." You assert that the 

Constitution must be read as permitting an exemption only 

if the total value of the veteran's property is $1,500 or 

less. Under this interpretation, the Legislature would be 

powerless to grant an exemption for any veteran who owned 

property the total value of which was more than $1,500. 

Initially, we believe it appropriate to outline the 

history of the provision and some of the standards by which 

the statute must be judged. 

The constitutional amendment authorizing a tax exemption was adopted by the people in November 1972. The Legislature which convened two months after the passage enacted 

implementing legislation. Acts 1973, 63rd Leg., ch. 281 at 

668. Although that Act contained constitutional infirmities 

p. 3616 
. . 

The Honorable Tom Hanna - page 3 (H-857) 

V 

[see Attorney General Opinion H-88 (1973)1, the language 

wm relates to the questions raised by your inquiry is 

identical to that contained in the current statute and was 

neither approved nor disapproved in the earlier opinion. 

The Supreme Court of Texas has indicated the rule to 

be used in interpreting portions of the Constitution which 

envision future implementation by the Legislature. The 

Court said: 

It has long been the policy of the courts 

of this State to construe liberally constitutional provisions directing the action 

of legislatures, so as to carry out the 

purposes for which such provisions of the 

Constitution were adopted. Texas National 

Guard Armory Board v. McGraw, 126 S.W.Zd 627, 

634(Tex. Sup.9r 

In addition to giving a liberal construction to such 

constitutional provisions, the courts have indicated they 

will afford great deference to the contemporaneous legislative construction of the Constitution. 

b The Supreme Court of 

Texas has indicated that: 

[t]he rule is general and elementary that 

contemporaneous and practical construction 

of,constitutional provisions by the Legislature, in the enactment of laws, has great 

weight, and gives rise to a strong presumption that the construction rightly interprets 

the meaning of the provisions. Walker v. 

Meyers, 266 S.W. 499, 501-02 (Tex. Sup.T924). 

AmericaiiYKZZiit Co. v. City of Austin, 246 S.W. 1019 

(Tex. Sup& - 

In this case the Constitution gives the Legislature 

the ability to exempt property valued at up to $1,500. We 

believe the grant of legislative authority carries with it 

the authority to make reasonable definitions necessary to 

implement the constitutional amendment. In a similar case, 

the Legislature was given the power to exempt certain property 

p. 3617 
. 

The Honorable Tom Hanna - page 4 (H-857) 

used by the ministry of churches. The property in question 

was used as a residence by an ordained minister who served 

as an administrator for a jurisdictional conference of the 

Methodist Church. Reversing the ruling of the lower courts, 

a unanimous Supreme Court said: 

The general power given the Legislature to 

exempt any property owned by a church for 

exclusive use as a residence for its ministry 

carries the particular and essential power 

of determining who, and what activities, 

shall constitute the ministry of a church. 

McCreless v. City of San Antonio, 454 S.W.2d 

393, 395 (Tex. sup. 1970). 

Likewise, we believe article 8, section 2(b) of the Constitution carries with it the particular and essential authority 

of the Legislature to determine if the exemption applies (1) 

to all property owned by the veteran, but only if the total 

property has a value of less than $1,500, (2) to any single 

piece of property owned by the veteran which has a value of 

less than $1,500 or (3) to the first $1,500 of all property 

owned by the veteran. Given the strong presumption that the 

contemporaneous legislative construction is constitutional 

and given the authority afforded the Legislature by article 

8, section l(b), we are of the opinion that the exemption 

has been validly determined to apply to the first $1,500 of 

the veteran's property. 

The second argument you present is that the statutory 

exemption of $1,500 of the assessed value of property is 

invalid since the Constitution refers to value rather than 

assessed value. 

Here, the Constitution refers to property "valued at up 

to $1,500." In the context of ad valorem taxation, the 

orocess bv which a valuation is assianed to a oiece of 

property is assessment. Allen v. & Independent School 

District, 283 S.W. 674 (Tex. Cic App. -- Texarkana 1926,no 

writ). The Legislative determination that the constitutionally authorized exemption extends to property with an 

assessed value of $1,500 is reasonable, and we believe is 

well within the authority of the Legislature as set out in 

the McCreless case. 

p. 3618 
. . . . 

The Honorable Tom Hanna - page 5 (~-857) 

We are strengthened in both our conclusions by the 

practical effect of the restrictive interpretation you 

advance. If the exemption were limited to veterans who have 

disabilities of between 10 and 30 percent and whose total 

property is valued at less than $1,500, or to $3,000 in the 

case of the most severely disabled veterans, the constitutional provision would have almost no practical effect. It 

is inconceivable that such a virtually meaningless gesture 

would have been made by the Legislature which drafted the 

constitutional amendment or by the people who adopted it. 

Accordingly, in light of the power granted the Legislature to make reasonable determinations regarding the scope 

of the constitutional authority and in light of the strong 

presumption that the Legislature's determination is constitutional, it is our opinion that article 7150h, V.T.C.S., 

which grants a tax exemption for certain disabled veterans 

and their families, is valid. 

SUMMARY 

Article 7150h, V.T.C.S., which grants 

an exemption from taxation for certain 

disabled veterans and their families, 

is constitutional. 

Very truly yours, 

General of Texas 

APPROVED: 

Opinion Committee 

jwb 

p. 3619