Article VIII, Section 9 of the Texas Constitution

As amended November 2, 1999:

(a) No county, city or town shall levy a tax rate in excess of Eighty Cents ($.80) on the One Hundred Dollars ($100) valuation in any one (1) year for general fund, permanent improvement fund, road and bridge fund and jury fund purposes.

(b) At the time the Commissioners Court meets to levy the annual tax rate for each county it shall levy whatever tax rate may be needed for the four (4) constitutional purposes; namely, general fund, permanent improvement fund, road and bridge fund and jury fund so long as the Court does not impair any outstanding bonds or other obligations and so long as the total of the foregoing tax levies does not exceed Eighty Cents ($.80) on the One Hundred Dollars ($100) valuation in any one (1) year. Once the Court has levied the annual tax rate, the same shall remain in force and effect during that taxable year.

(c) The Legislature may authorize an additional annual ad valorem tax to be levied and collected for the further maintenance of the public roads; provided, that a majority of the qualified voters of the county voting at an election to be held for that purpose shall approve the tax, not to exceed Fifteen Cents ($.15) on the One Hundred Dollars ($100) valuation of the property subject to taxation in such county.

(d) Any county may put all tax money collected by the county into one general fund, without regard to the purpose or source of each tax.

(e) The Legislature may pass local laws for the maintenance of the public roads and highways, without the local notice required for special or local laws.

(f) This Section shall not be construed as a limitation of powers delegated to counties, cities or towns by any other Section or Sections of this Constitution.

Editor Comments

As adopted in 1876, this section read: "The State tax on property, exclusive of the tax necessary to pay the public debt, shall never exceed fifty cents on the one hundred dollars valuation, and no county, city or town shall levy more than one-half of said State tax, except for the payment of debts already incurred, and for the erection of public buildings, not to exceed fifty cents on the one hundred dollars in any one year, and except as in this Constitution is otherwise provided."

The section has been amended seven times. The most recent amendment was a non-substantive revision.

Subsection (e) of this section provides an exception to both Article III, Section 56 and Article III, Section 57.

—Attorney Steve Smith

Recent Decisions

None.

Historic Decisions

• Texas Co. v. Stephens, 103 S.W. 481, 484 (Tex. 1907) ("It is urged that it is apparent from the statute itself that it is a mere evasion of section 9, art. 8, of the Constitution, limiting the rate of taxation upon property . . . but the power to impose taxes on occupations is expressly given by the same article, with no limitation as to their amount or the manner in which it shall be ascertained, and, as we have already shown, the method here employed had been sanctioned by judicial decisions and legislative practice long before the adoption of the present Constitution. The courts have no authority to interfere merely because heavier burdens are imposed than ever before, if that be the fact.")

• Dallas County v. Plowman, 91 S.W. 221, 222 (Tex. 1906) ("The purpose of the Legislature in making the amendment was to increase the capacity of the county to maintain a system of public roads, and the word 'maintenance' must be held to include all of the things necessary to be done to accomplish that purpose. Recognizing that differences existed and would exist in the financial conditions, the character of the soil, and otherwise in the counties, which would make it necessary for the different counties to use different methods in maintaining public highways, the last clause of section 9 was added to authorize the Legislature to meet the varying needs of the counties by local laws.")

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)