Untitled Texas Attorney General Opinion ( 1947 )

R-646
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PRICE DANDZI.
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July 26, 1947
Hon. John Steele Opinion No. V-318
County Attorney
Lubbock County Re: Applicability to homesteads
Lubbock, Texas of the five cent state ad va-
lootem tax provided by pro-
posed Constitutional Amend-
ment.
Dew Sir:
In your letter of July 7,1947, you requested a ruling from
this Daprrtmont as to ‘whether or not the five cent tax provided
in the St&e Conatitutioaal unoadment providing for l college build-
ing plur, which will be rubmitted to the people in August, will be
rpplicrble to homesteads.”
Sections 17 and 10, will be added to Article VII of the Con-
rtitutien of the State of Texas if the prepoaed amendment is adopt-
ed. Section 17 levies a maximum state ad vrlorem tax of Two(Z$)
Cents on the One Hundred ($100) Dollars valuation for the purpose
of c r er tb g l special fuud fm the paymsnt of Confederhe and other
pensions. This levy is in lieu of and for the aune purposes as the
maximum rate of Sewen(7$) Cents presently levied by Section 51 of
Article’ III, as amended. In addition Section 17 levies a state ad
valorem tax of Five (SC) Cents on the One Hundred ($100) Dollars
valuation and further provides for a reduction of the maximum
state tax on property from the Thirty-five (35C) Cents on the One
Hundred ($lQQ) Dollars valuation now permittad’by Article VIII,
Section 9, to Thirty (3d#) Cents on the One Hundred ($100) Dol-,
lar a valuation. The Five (SC) Cent levy is for the purpose of c’re-
ating s special fund for the purpose of acquiring, constructing, and
initially equipping buildings or other permanent improvements at
designated state institutions of higher learning.
Article XVI, Section 50 of the Constitution of the State
of Texas reads, in part, as follows:
“The homestead of a family shall be, and is here-
The first clause of Article VIII, Section l-r of the Cmati-
tution of the State of Texas reads as follows:
Hon. John Steele - Page 2 Opinion No. V-318
98
“Three Thousand Dollars ($3,000) of the assessed
taxable value of all residence homesteads as now de-
fined by law shall be exempt from all taxation for all
-
State purposes; . . .I
As a result of these provisions it is well settled in Texas
that the homestead is exempt from all taxation for all state pur-
poses in the amount of Three Thousand ($3,000) Dollars of its
assessed taxable value and is subject to taxation for all state pur-
poses only in so far as its assessed taxable value exceeds Three
Thousand ($3,000) Dollars.
The Five (5$) Cents tax levied by the proposed amend-
ment is a state ad valorem tax levied for enumerated educational
purposes. At every stage in our history the people of Texas have
considered educational problems and provided for educational fa-
cilities. In the early days of the Republic, President Lamar’s
famous message urged the granting of lands ‘to provide for lit-
erary institutions commensurate with our destinies” and in now
familiar sentences annunciated the fundamental proposition that
“a cultivated mind is the guardian genius of Democracy, and when
guided and controlled by virtue, the noblest attribute of man. It
is the only dictator that free men acknowledge, and the only se-
curity free men desire.” Every State Constitution since 1845 has
carried the provision that ‘*a general diffusion of knowledge /;s7
. . . essential to the preservation of the liberties and rights o-e
people . . .” That the Five (5$) Cent ad valorem tax proposed to
be levied by Section 17 is a tax levied for a state purpose is too
clear to require discussion.
Therefore, in effect, your question is reduced to wheth-
er an adoption of Sections 17 and 18 could in any way affect or re-
peal the constitutional exemption for homesteads which, by virtue
of Article VIII, Section l-a, exists for Three Thousand ($3,000)
Dollars of the homestead’s assessed taxable value.
It is a fundamental rule that in arriving at the correct
meaning of a constitutional provision, the whole instrument must
be considered; and one part will not be allowed to defeat another
if, by any reasonable construction, the two can be made to stand
together. 1 Cooley, Constitutional Limitations, (8th Ed.) pp. 128,
129, and authorities cited therein; 9 Tex. Jur., pp. 436, 437, and
authorities cited therein. Another phase of the same rule is that
repeal of prior provisions may not be accomplished by implica-
tion unless the later provision clearly conflicts with the prior
provision.
We are of the opinion that no such conflict exists between
the provisions of the proposed amendment and the present provi-
siona of the Constitution which relate to the homestead exemption
Hon. John Steele - Page 3 Opinion No. V-316
from taxation.
The various exemptions from taxation have long been car-
ried in separate Articles of the Constitution. See for example, in
addition to the homestead exemption, the exemption provided for
household goods in Article VIII, Section 1; the exemption for public
property granted by Article XI, Section 9; and the exemptions for
farm products and supplies contained in Article VIII, Section 19.
Likewise, by Article VIII, Section 2, the Legislature is empowered
to exempt~from taxation by general laths certain enumerated-
classes of property. These provisions of the Constitution are
special provisions; and, so far as we have been able to ascertain,
it has never been contended that a general provision operating to
levy a general ad valorem tax en preperty in any way effecta pre-
viously granted exemptions from taxation.
Such a cantentien ir c~hrriy ai variaace with the general
rule before stated b the effect that the pnvleimns lf the Coastitu-
tion must be construed in relati ti a*cIa rlber and nnnld reealt
in impeeing upon the framer4 of a constItutiona amendment the
prodigious task of inoorporoting in the amendment all existing and
related provisions of the Cumtitution or. in the alternative, risk
their repeal.
Yeu are therefore advised that the et&e ad valorem tax
on property of Five (SC) Cents on the One Hundred ($100) Dollars
valuation provided by Section 17 lf the proposed Constitutional
amendment is a tax for state purpwes and that the first Three
Thousand ($3,000) Dollars of the lsseesed taxable value lf l resi-
dence homestead rfll IO exempt from nuch tax.
SUMMARY
The first Three Thousand ($3,WWO) Sbollrrs lf
the rsaessed tartable value of a residence homestead
is exam t from the State ad valorem tax on ropcrty
lf Five P50 Cents en the One Hundred ($100~F Dollars
valuation provided in the proposed arnendmegt to Arti-
cle VII of the Conatitutian lfthe State d Tex8a. Art.
VIII, & to I-
. ar nd Ar t,XVI, Sec .SO, Constitution lf
TeXU.
YWWB very truly
APPROVED: ATTORNEY GENERAL OF TEXAS
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ATTORNEYGENDRAL
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