Proposing a constitutional amendment to authorize the commissioners court of a county to exempt from ad valorem taxation by each political subdivision that taxes the property the portion of the assessed value of a person's property that is attributable to the installation in or on the property of a rainwater harvesting or graywater system.

89th Legislature (2025) Introduced by Carrie Isaac and 2 co-sponsors

Authorizes counties to adopt an exemption for the portion of property value added by rainwater harvesting or graywater systems from ad valorem taxes.

Received from the House

#resolutions--constitutionalamendments(i0661) #taxation--property-appraisals&appraisaldistricts(i0792) #taxation--property-exemptions(i0793) #water--general(i0885)

Summary — HJR 88 (Joint Resolution)

Bill: HJR 88
Title: Proposing a constitutional amendment to authorize the commissioners court of a county to exempt from ad valorem taxation by each political subdivision that taxes the property the portion of the assessed value of a person's property that is attributable to the installation in or on the property of a rainwater harvesting or graywater system.
Filed: November 12, 2024
Status (selected actions): Filed 11/12/2024; referred to Ways & Means 3/10/2025; committee hearings 3/24/2025; reported favorably 4/28/2025; placed on Constitutional Amendments Calendar 5/9/2025; read 2nd time and Adopted 5/9/2025; received from the House 5/12/2025. Companion: SJR 60.

Purpose and intent

HJR 88 proposes a constitutional amendment to give county commissioners courts the option to exempt from ad valorem (property) taxation — by all political subdivisions that tax the property — the portion of a property's assessed value that is attributable to installing a rainwater harvesting or graywater system. The intent is to encourage water-conservation investments by reducing the tax penalty that could otherwise result from increased property value after such installations.

Key provisions

Amends the Texas Constitution (via joint resolution) to authorize a county-level exemption.

The exemption applies specifically to the portion of assessed value attributable to the installation of:

Rainwater harvesting systems, and
Graywater systems.

The exemption is discretionary: a county’s commissioners court may adopt it (not mandatory statewide).

If adopted by the county, the exemption would operate against ad valorem taxation imposed by each political subdivision that taxes the property (cities, school districts, counties, special districts).

Who is affected

Property owners who install qualifying rainwater harvesting or graywater systems — may see reduced property taxes on the value added by those systems.

County commissioners courts — gain authority to adopt the exemption for their county.

Appraisal districts and taxing units (cities, school districts, special districts) — required to apply the exemption if the county adopts it, with potential reductions in taxable value and tax revenues.

Local government budgets could be affected by decreased property tax revenue where exemptions are adopted.

Implementation and procedural aspects

As a constitutional amendment joint resolution, it must be approved by the Legislature and then submitted to Texas voters; final effect depends on voter approval in a statewide election.

Administrative implementation would require appraisal Districts to determine the portion of assessed value attributable to such systems — raising valuation and procedural questions.

Revenue impacts would vary by county and depend on adoption by the commissioners court and prevalence of installations.

Considerations / potential impacts

Encourages water conservation and green infrastructure investment by reducing tax disincentives.

Could reduce local property tax revenue for taxing jurisdictions within counties that adopt the exemption.

Practical issues include establishing appraisal protocols to isolate added value from systems and estimating fiscal impacts on local budgets.