Texas Attorney General Opinion: H-36 Page: 2 of 3
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The Honorable Curtis L. Owen, page 2 (H-36)
Section 1-b(a) of Article 8 exempted $3,000 of the assessed taxable
value of residence homesteads from State taxes.
Section I of Article 8 of the Constitution of Texas requires that
taxation be equal and uniform. For this reason the courts hold that tax
exemptions are to be strictly construed since they are the very antithesis
of equality and uniformity. Hilltop Village, Inc. v. Kerrville Independent
School District, 426 S. W. 2d 943 (Tex. 1968). The exempt status will not
be extended to property unless the controlling law clearly shows that that
was intended. City of Houston v. South Park Baptist Church, 393 S. W. 2d
354 (Tex. Civ. App., Houston, 1965, err. ref.).
"Exemptions from taxation are never favored,
and in the construction or interpretation of a law extending
exemption from taxation to any citizen or class of property
all doubts are resolved against the exemption . . . "
Santa Rosa Infirmary v. City of San Antonio, 259 S. W. 926
(Tex. Com. App. 1924) quoted with approval in City of Long-
view v. Markham-McRee Memorial Hospital, 152 S. W. 2d
1112 (Tex. 1941) and see Kirby Lumber Corp. v. Hardin
Independent School District, 351 S. W. 2d 310 (Tex. Civ. App.,
Waco, 1961, err. ref. , n. r. e. ).
The constitutional provisions in question may be read that county'
taxes for the construction of farm to market roads or flood control are
subject to two exemptions in the amount of $3, 000, one under Section 1-a
of Article 8 and the other under Section 1-b(b) of Article 8 where the tax-
payer is over 65 years of age or that is subject to only one of these.
Section 1-b(b) does not clearly allow a double exemption and we
must resolve any doubts in favor of no exception. City of Houston v.
South Park Baptist Church, supra. It is our opinion therefore, that no
more than one exemption per residence homestead is available to any one
piece of property for the purposes of fixing assessed tax value, and that
where an exemption is available under Section I-a of Article 8 of the
Constitution, another exemption may not be tacked to it for the purpose
of that tax. See Attorney General Opinion H-9 (1973).p. 147
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Texas. Attorney-General's Office. Texas Attorney General Opinion: H-36, text, May 4, 1973; (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth270558/m1/2/: accessed July 7, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting UNT Libraries Government Documents Department.