Article VIII, Section 3 of the Texas Constitution

Adopted February 15, 1876:

Taxes shall be levied and collected by general laws and for public purposes only.

Editor Comments

Note that the Texas Attorney General, in Tex. Att'y Gen. Op. GA-626 (2008), opined that: "The Supreme Court of Texas has not definitively settled whether the Texas Constitution impliedly prohibits the Legislature from allowing a political subdivision to impose ad valorem taxes absent express constitutional authorization. . . . The authority on this question tends to indicate that the Legislature may not impose an ad valorem tax absent express constitutional authority."

—Attorney Steve Smith

Recent Decisions

None.

Historic Decisions

Bullock v. Calvert, 480 S.W.2d 367, 369-70 (Tex. 1972) ("Art. 8, § 3 of the Texas Constitution provides: 'Taxes shall be levied and collected by general laws and for public purposes only.' And under Art. 3, §§ 51 and 52 of the Constitution there may be no grant of public money for private individuals or associations. In 1916 this Court held . . . . The holding in the Waples cases that the expenditure of public funds to finance party primary elections cannot meet the public purpose test, and that any such expenditure is necessarily proscribed by the Constitution, must be overruled. We hold that it lies within the discretion and power of the Legislature to appropriate state funds for this purpose.")

Davis v. City of Taylor, 67 S.W.2d 1033, 1034 (Tex. 1934) ("It is well settled that municipal corporations cannot impose taxes for other than public purposes. The amendment to the charter of the city of Taylor set aside certain funds to be devoted to 'the growth, advertisement, development, improvement . . . . It would not be of value now to attempt to thoroughly define or discuss what are public purposes. No exact definition can be made. Suffice it to say that, unless a court can say that the purposes for which public funds are expended are clearly not public purposes, it would not be justified in holding invalid a legislative act or provision in a city charter providing funds for such purposes.")

Waples v. Marrast, 184 S.W. 180, 183-84 (Tex. 1916) ("The object of such parties is the political control of the government; and we regard it as a fundamentally sound proposition that no power of the government can be constitutionally used in furtherance or aid of the effort of any class or kind of organization, political or otherwise, to obtain the control of the government. To provide nominees of political parties for the people to vote upon in the general elections, is not the business of the State. It is not the business of the State because . . . . If it is not the business of the State to see that such nominations are made, as it clearly is not, the public revenues cannot be employed in that connection.")

Library Resources

Vernon's Annotated Constitution of the State of Texas (this multi-volume and up-to-date resource is available at all law libraries and many municipal libraries)

The Texas State Constitution: A Reference Guide (this one-volume resource is available at most law libraries and some municipal libraries)

The Constitution of the State of Texas: An Annotated and Comparative Analysis (this two-volume resource is available at most law libraries and some municipal libraries)

Online Resources

Constitution of the State of Texas (1876) (this resource is published and maintained by the University of Texas School of Law)

Amendments to the Texas Constitution Since 1876 (this resource is published and regularly updated by the Legislative Council)

Reports Analyzing Proposed Amendments (this resource is published and regularly updated by the Legislative Reference Library)