H.J.R. 125 retroactively validates provisions in the Tax Code that were enacted by the 86th Legislature through H.B. 1313. H.J.R. 125 proposes an amendment to the Texas Constitution to provide that a person who is 55 years of age or older at the time of their spouse's death may continue to receive a limitation on school district property taxes on their residence homestead on the basis of a disability if, at the time of their spouse's death, their spouse was entitled to such a limitation. The enabling language (H.B. 1313) for this constitutional amendment currently resides in Section 11.26 of the Tax Code. H.J.R. 125 includes a temporary provision set to expire on January 1, 2023, that validates and implements the changes to the law made by H.B. 1313. This constitutional amendment would affirm the actions of a collector who, in reliance on H.B. 1313, extended the disability exemption to a surviving spouse over the previous biennium. Further, this amendment would require a collector who failed to implement H.B. 1313's provisions to refund a surviving spouse who would have otherwise been eligible for such an exemption.
The constitutional amendment to allow the surviving spouse of a person who is disabled to receive a limitation on the school district ad valorem taxes on the spouse's residence homestead if the spouse is 55 years of age or older at the time of the person's death.