Texas Attorney General Opinion: M-897 Page: 5 of 11
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Honorable J. Albert Dickie, page 5
other property devoted exclusively to the use and
benefit of the public shall be exempt . . . from
taxation . . .
Article XI, Section 9 is self-executing.4
Article VIII, Section 2 provides, in part, as follows:
". . . The legislature may, by general laws,
exempt from taxation public property used for
public purposes . . . and institutions of
purely public charity . . ."
Article VIII, Section 2 is permissive in nature rather than self-
executing, and is dependent for its effectiveness upon the stat-
utes enacted in pursuance to its authorizations and in compliance
with its limitations.
Even though it is our opinion that Article VIII, Section 2
and the valid statutes thereunder are determinative of exemption
in this case, we have set out the above quoted portions of Ar-
ticle VIII, Section 1 and Article XI, Section 9 because these
provisions are so frequently inexorably intertwined in court
decisions determining questions of taxability for ad valorem
tax purposes.
We are aware of the ever-expanding scope of the terms
"public" and "charitable" under applicable constitutional and
statutory provisions effectuating exemption from ad valorem
taxes. Although the progression has been largely legislative,
it has embraced both public and private property. The judicial
branch has recently carefully preserved exemption for municipal
property in the absence of legislative action subjecting it to
4 A & MI Consolidated Independent School Dist. v. City of Bryan,
143 Tex. 345, 154 S.W.2d 914 (1945): Lower Colorado River Author-
ity v. Chemical Bank & Trust Co., 144 Tex. 326, 190 S.W.2d 48 1945).
5 City of Wichita Falls v. Cooper, 170 S.W.2d 777 (Tex. Civ. App.
1943, error ref,); Dickison v. Woodmen of the World Life Insurance
Co., 280 S.W.2d 315 (Tex. Civ. App. 1955, error ref.),-4372-
(M-897)
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Texas. Attorney-General's Office. Texas Attorney General Opinion: M-897, text, June 30, 1971; (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth270125/m1/5/: accessed July 18, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting UNT Libraries Government Documents Department.