The Montgomery County Republican Party is dedicated to bringing Montgomery County voters the information they need to make educated decisions at the polls. This November, voters will be asked to decide on making 14 changes to the Texas Constitution. These changes or amendments are important to all Texans and should not be taken lightly. It is not our intention to tell voters how to vote, but to provide unbiased information to help voters make informed decisions.
14 Constitutional Amendments on Nov. 2023 Ballot: Part 2
These amendments will all be on the November 7 ballot for voters to approve or reject. Please note that the ballot order was drawn by the Secretary of State’s Office after we wrote the first article. Click here to view the order in which the propositions will appear on the November ballot.
Proposition 1 – HJR 126: “The constitutional amendment protecting the right to engage in farming, ranching, timber production, horticulture, and wildlife management.”
This seems like a “no-brainer;” however, there is more to it than meets the eye. Although one would assume that Texas farmers and ranchers go about their business of producing food for Texas and the world without government interference, they are often met with overreaching ordinances, rules, and laws from local city or county governments that costs farmers a great deal of time and money to fight.
Farmers are spending thousands of dollars and countless hours fighting what they term “nuisance ordinances” that can result in large fines. Examples of these ordinances relate to the height of grass in pastures and hay fields, the painting of metal fence posts to meet city specifications, the dust created by harvesting crops, and the storing of hay bales on the property to name a few.
This amendment would supersede local ordinances and protect local farmers and ranchers from such “nuisance ordinances”.
Recommendation: FOR
Proposition 2: “The constitutional amendment authorizing a local option exemption from ad valorem taxation by a county or municipality of all or part of the appraised value of real property used to operate a child-care facility.”
Ad Valorem taxes – property tax
This bill would provide county/city taxing entities the option to exempt in all or part any property used as an eligible day-care facility from property taxes.
According to Sen. Royce West (D-23) “The Texas child-care shortage is likely to have devastating effects on early childhood education, economic growth, and employment opportunities for parents. According to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation, Texas' economy loses more than $9 billion every year due to inadequate child care. S.J.R. 64 seeks to address this issue by allowing the legislature, by general law, to exempt from property taxation all or part of the appraised value of real property used to operate a child-care facility."^
This bill will reduce property tax liabilities to facility owner/operators whether they lease or own the property. Property owners leasing to an eligible day care facility must reduce the rent to account for the reduction in property tax, This could allow the facility to hire more workers, pay a higher wage, or reduce costs to customers.
On the other hand, this law grants an exemption to a particular business type with no guarantees the savings will be passed to the consumer or used to improve services.
According to conservative activist Mark Ramsey, if the childcare facility changes the use of its property, reauthorization for the exemption is not required. He added, “It also has an interesting wrinkle to it because if a local Commissioners Court decides to exempt a childcare facility from taxes, they don’t have to exempt all childcare facilities…it lets big city local Democrats pick the winners and losers. Conservative Republicans opposed this bill, while Democrats and Moderate Republicans supported it.”
“Childcare may be an important element of our society, but exempting one type of business from taxes increases the burden on others,” the MCRP Legislative Committee said.
Recommendation: Voters must decide if the pros outweigh the cons.
Proposition 3: “The constitutional amendment prohibiting the imposition of an individual wealth or net worth tax, including a tax on the difference between the assets and liabilities of an individual or family.”
This one is pretty straight forward. A “for” vote will prohibit the legislature from ever imposing a wealth tax on Texans. Texas passed a constitutional amendment prohibiting the establishment of a personal income tax in 2019. This amendment offers further protection from taxation based on the wealth of an individual.
Recommendation: FOR
Proposition 4: “The constitutional amendment to authorize the legislature to establish a temporary limit on the maximum appraised value of real property other than a residence homestead for ad valorem tax purposes; to increase the amount of the exemption from ad valorem taxation by a school district applicable to residence homesteads from $40,000 to $100,000; to adjust the amount of the limitation on school district ad valorem taxes imposed on the residence homesteads of the elderly or disabled to reflect increases in certain exemption amounts; to except certain appropriations to pay for ad valorem tax relief from the constitutional limitation on the rate of growth of appropriations; and to authorize the legislature to provide for a four-year term of office for a member of the board of directors of certain appraisal districts.”
This is the one Texans have been waiting for! It may not be what most Texans wanted, the elimination of property taxes, but it does provide some relief for property owners.
The most notable forms of relief:
Overall, this is the best taxpayers are going to get during this session and most all should see some significant relief, this year.
Recommendation: FOR
Proposition 5: “The constitutional amendment relating to the Texas University Fund, which provides funding to certain institutions of higher education to achieve national prominence as major research universities and drive the state economy.”
This amendment would change the name of the National Research University Fund to the Texas University Fund and establishes annual funding by allocating the interest income, dividends, and investment earnings of the Texas Rainy Day Fund. 2024 funding would be limited to $100 million then capped at a 2 percent growth rate. The allocation of funds would be available to a select list of state universities, excluding the University of Texas and Texas A&M systems, as they receive research funds from the Permanent University Fund, established in 1876 with a current value of approximately $30 billion.
It is suggested that readers check out the article, Leveling the Playing Field in Texas: A new endowment for "emerging" Texas research universities, from Inside Higher Ed. Funding would begin with a MULTI-BILLION DOLLAR tax-payer-funded endowment to the Texas University Fund and would benefit only four universities: University of Houston, Texas Tech, Texas State, and the University of North Texas.
Questions: With the cost of tuition for Texas students so high, wouldn’t this tax-payer money be better used to lower tuition at the very least? Do universities need more tax-payer funds when so many students are graduating with degrees that do not lead to well paying jobs or careers?
Recommendation: With the cost of tuition for Texas students so high, wouldn’t this tax-payer money be better used to lower tuition at the very least? Do universities need more taxpayer funds when so many students are graduating with degrees that do not lead to well paying jobs or careers and many of them are producing liberal graduates who oppose conservative principles? Do extra research before voting.
Information Source: Ballotpedia: Texas 2023 Ballot Measures
Watch for the Next Installment Covering Constitutional Amendments!
Part 3 of our report on the Constitutional Amendments on November’s ballot will be posted on our Upcoming Elections page and in the September Republican Reporter newsletter.
We encourage all voters to do your own research before making a decision regarding how you will vote. Many of these amendments will have a lasting effect on Texas taxpayers.
