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<br />. • <br />.ie ~~ <br />Y TEXAS LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL <br />` <br />~i r i <br />,.~ <br />P.O. Box 12128, Capitol Station <br />78711.2128 <br />T <br /> exas <br />Austin, <br /> Telephone: 512/463• l 151 <br />WILLIAM P. HOBBY ROBERT I. KELLY <br />Lieutenant Governor Executive Dimtor <br />Chairman <br />February 16, 1988 <br /> <br />The Honorable Bob Richardson <br />State Representative <br />Room G13-A1, Capitol Building <br />Austin, Texas 78701 <br />Dear Mr. Richardson: <br />This letter is in response <br />information relating to the author <br />the city of Austin, to impose <br />particular, you ask whether the <br />action, may adopt a personal income <br />charter. <br />aE bF '~~ <br />.w <br />~~~~s <br />~1 ~' <br />GIBBON D. "G18" LEWIS <br />Speaker of the Houx <br />Vice•Chairman <br />to your recent request for <br />ity of d home-rule city, such as <br />a personal income tax. In <br />Austin city council, on its own <br />tax under the current city <br />In general, in order for a city to impose a particular tax, <br />the tax must be authorized by the state constitution, a statute, or <br />the city charter. Article XI, Section 5, of the Texas Constitution <br />(the "home-rule amendment" as it is often called), states that <br />home-rule cities "may levy, assess and collect such taxes as may be <br />authorized by law or by their charters ." Since no state law <br />currently authorizes cities to impose income taxes, a Texas <br />home-rule city may do so only if its charter grants it that power. <br />It is not entirely clear what degree of specificity is required for <br />a charter to authorize a particular tax. There do not appear to be <br />any Texas cases addressing the point. Certainly a charter could <br />expressly allow the imposition of an income tax. State law could <br />limit or prohibit the imposition of an income tax by a city, but no <br />-such constitutional or statutory provision now exists. <br />Article VIII, Section 2, of the Charter of the City.of Austin <br />reads, in part: "The City shall have the power to levy, assess, <br />and collect taxes for any municipal purpose on persons, <br />privileges, subjects, and occupations." Since the power to impose <br />a personal income tax must be granted by the charter for the city <br />council to exercise that power, the key question is whether that <br />language from Article VIII, Section 2, covers a personal income <br />tax. Eor several reasons, this language probably does authorize <br />the city to impose an income tax. An income tax is arguably a tax <br />on persons for purposes of the charter. Classifying a tax in a <br />n n n n <br />category such as a tax on persons or on property is not subject <br />to scientific exactitude, and legal authorities are inconsistent on <br />An Equal Opponurtily/AlIumaJive Actioo Employer <br />