87R2042 SMH-D
	By: Middleton	H.J.R. No. 75

	A JOINT RESOLUTION
	proposing a constitutional amendment authorizing the legislature
	to provide for the appraisal of certain real property for ad valorem
	tax purposes based on its purchase price, exempting all tangible
	personal property in this state from ad valorem taxation, and
	authorizing the legislature to permit legislators to appoint
	members of the board of equalization for an appraisal entity.
	BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
	SECTION 1.  Section 1, Article VIII, Texas Constitution, is
	amended by amending Subsection (b) and adding Subsections (k) and
	(l) to read as follows:
	(b)  All real property [and tangible personal property] in
	this State, unless exempt as required or permitted by this
	Constitution, whether owned by natural persons or corporations,
	other than municipal, shall be taxed in proportion to its value,
	which shall be ascertained as may be provided by law. All tangible
	personal property in this State is exempt from ad valorem taxation,
	except as provided by Subsection (l) of this section.
	(k)  Notwithstanding Subsections (a), (b), and (i) of this
	section, for each tax year following the year in which the property
	was purchased until the end of the tax year in which the ownership
	of the property changes, the legislature by general law may limit
	the maximum appraised value of residential property consisting of
	not more than four individual dwelling units, including a
	single-family home, or of a tract of unimproved land for ad valorem
	tax purposes to the lesser of the market value of the property as
	determined by the appraisal entity or the sum of the amount the
	owner of the property paid for the property and the initial market
	value of each new improvement to the property. The applicability of
	a general law enacted under this subsection must be limited to a
	bona fide purchaser for value of a property who, in the manner
	provided by law, applies for the limitation on appraised value
	under this subsection not later than a date prescribed by general
	law in the tax year following the year in which the person purchased
	the property. The legislature may prescribe or delegate to an
	appropriate public official or entity the authority to prescribe
	standards and procedures to administer a law enacted under this
	subsection, including criteria to be used to determine whether a
	person was a bona fide purchaser for value.
	(l)  If before January 1, 2024, an ad valorem tax on tangible
	personal property is pledged for the payment of a debt, the
	appropriate tax authorities may continue to levy and collect the
	tax against that tangible personal property at the same rate as the
	pledged tax until the debt is discharged, if cessation of the levy
	and collection of the tax would impair the obligation of the
	contract by which the debt was created. This subsection applies to
	tangible personal property that was taxable under the law in effect
	on January 1, 2023, but that became exempt under Subsection (b) of
	this section on January 1, 2024, as a result of the amendment of
	this section adopted by the voters in 2021 to exempt all tangible
	personal property from ad valorem taxation.
	SECTION 2.  Section 8, Article VIII, Texas Constitution, is
	amended to read as follows:
	Sec. 8.  All real property of railroad companies shall be
	assessed, and the taxes collected in the several counties in which
	said real property is situated, including so much of the roadbed and
	fixtures as shall be in each county. [The rolling stock may be
	assessed in gross in the county where the principal office of the
	company is located, and the county tax paid upon it shall be
	apportioned as provided by general law in proportion to the
	distance such road may run through any such county, among the
	several counties through which the road passes, as a part of their
	tax assets.]
	SECTION 3.  Section 18(c), Article VIII, Texas Constitution,
	is amended to read as follows:
	(c)  The Legislature, by general law, shall provide for a
	single board of equalization for each appraisal entity consisting
	of qualified persons residing within the territory appraised by
	that entity. The Legislature, by general law, may authorize a
	single board of equalization for two or more adjoining appraisal
	entities that elect to provide for consolidated equalizations.
	Members of a board of equalization may not be elected officials of a
	county or of the governing body of a taxing unit. Notwithstanding
	Section 1, Article II, of this constitution, the Legislature, by
	general law, may provide for the appointment of members of the board
	of equalization for an appraisal entity by the state senators and
	state representatives whose districts contain any part of the
	territory appraised by that entity.
	SECTION 4.  The following temporary provision is added to
	the Texas Constitution:
	TEMPORARY PROVISION. The constitutional amendment
	authorizing the legislature to provide for the appraisal of certain
	real property for ad valorem tax purposes based on its purchase
	price, exempting all tangible personal property in this state from
	ad valorem taxation, and authorizing the legislature to permit
	legislators to appoint members of the board of equalization for an
	appraisal entity takes effect January 1, 2024, and applies only to
	taxes imposed on or after that date. This temporary provision
	expires January 1, 2025.
	SECTION 5.  The following provisions of Article VIII, Texas
	Constitution, are repealed:
	(1)  Sections 1(d), (e), and (g);
	(2)  Section 1-i;
	(3)  Section 1-j;
	(4)  Section 1-n, as proposed by S.J.R. 47, 77th
	Legislature, Regular Session, 2001;
	(5)  Section 1-n, as proposed by S.J.R. 6, 77th
	Legislature, Regular Session, 2001;
	(6)  Section 1-p;
	(7)  Section 19; and
	(8)  Section 19a.
	SECTION 6.  This proposed constitutional amendment shall be
	submitted to the voters at an election to be held November 2, 2021.
	The ballot shall be printed to permit voting for or against the
	proposition: "The constitutional amendment authorizing the
	legislature to provide for the appraisal of certain residential or
	unimproved real property for ad valorem tax purposes based on its
	purchase price, exempting all tangible personal property in this
	state from ad valorem taxation, and authorizing the legislature to
	permit legislators to appoint members of the board of equalization
	for an appraisal entity."