ENGROSSED HOUSE
JOINT
RESOLUTION NO. 1001	By:	Dank, Hamilton, Shumate, Kern, Faught, Reynolds, Ritze and Inman of the House

			   and

		Reynolds of the Senate

A Joint Resolution directing the Secretary of State to refer to the people for their approval or rejection a proposed amendment to Section 8C of Article X of the Constitution of the State of Oklahoma; modifying provisions related to certain qualifying income; providing ballot title; and directing filing.

BE IT RESOLVED BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES AND THE SENATE OF THE 1ST SESSION OF THE 53RD OKLAHOMA LEGISLATURE:
SECTION 1.  The Secretary of State shall refer to the people for their approval or rejection, as and in the manner provided by law, the following proposed amendment to Section 8C of Article X of the Constitution of the State of Oklahoma to read as follows:
Section 8C.  A.  Despite any provision to the contrary, beginning January 1, 2005 2013, the fair cash value, as determined by law, on each homestead of an individual head of household whose gross household income from all sources for the preceding calendar year did not exceed an amount as provided in subsection B of this section, and which individual head of household is sixty-five (65) years of age or older, shall not exceed the fair cash value placed upon the property during the first year in which the individual head of household was sixty-five (65) years of age or older and had gross household income from all sources which did not exceed an amount as provided in subsection B of this section.  Subject to the limitations of this section, the fair cash value shall not exceed such amount as long as the individual head of household who is sixty-five (65) years of age or older owns and occupies the property and as long as the gross household income from all sources does not exceed an amount as provided in subsection B of this section.  If any improvements are made to the property, the fair cash value of the improvements shall be assessed in accordance with law by the county assessor and added to the assessed value of the property.  Once the fair cash value of the improvements has been added to the fair cash value of the property, the total fair cash value shall not exceed the revised valuation of the property so long as the individual head of household who is sixty-five (65) years of age or older owns and occupies the property and so long as the gross household income from all sources does not exceed an amount as provided in subsection B of this section.  For any individual head of household who is sixty-five (65) years of age or older prior to January 1, 1997, and has gross household income from all sources of Twenty-five Thousand Dollars ($25,000.00) or less in calendar year 1996, the fair cash value of the real property shall be the fair cash value placed upon the property on January 1, 1997.  If the individual head of household ceases to own and occupy the property or if the gross household income from all sources exceeds an amount as provided in subsection B of this section, the fair cash value of the property shall be determined as if the provisions of Section 8 of Article X of the Constitution of the State of Oklahoma or any other provisions relating to a limitation on the fair cash value of locally assessed real property had been in effect during the time the property was valued pursuant to the provisions of this section.
B.  The income threshold for the gross household income from all sources for an individual head of household under this section shall not exceed the amount determined by the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development to be the estimated median income for the preceding year for the county or metropolitan statistical area which includes such county.  The Oklahoma Tax Commission shall provide such information to each county assessor each year as soon as such information becomes available.
SECTION 2.  The Ballot Title for the proposed Constitutional amendment as set forth in SECTION 1 of this resolution shall be in the following form:
BALLOT TITLE
Legislative Referendum No. ____	State Question No. ____
THE GIST OF THE PROPOSITION IS AS FOLLOWS:
This measure amends the Oklahoma Constitution.  It amends Section 8C of Article 10.  Persons aged 65 or older who own a homestead can qualify for a property tax benefit.  A homestead owned by such persons will not be subject to increases in value for property tax purposes.  This value is known as fair cash value.  The law limits the amount of income persons may have in order to qualify for this benefit.  This measure would allow any person age 65 or older regardless of income to have this benefit.  The homestead of these persons would not be subject to any further increases in fair cash value.  This change would become effective January 1, 2013.
SHALL THE PROPOSAL BE APPROVED?
FOR THE PROPOSAL — YES	_____________
AGAINST THE PROPOSAL — NO 	_____________
SECTION 3.  The Chief Clerk of the House of Representatives, immediately after the passage of this resolution, shall prepare and file one copy thereof, including the Ballot Title set forth in SECTION 2 hereof, with the Secretary of State and one copy with the Attorney General.
Passed the House of Representatives the 14th day of March, 2011.

	
Presiding Officer of the House of
	Representatives

Passed the Senate the ____ day of __________, 2011.

	
Presiding Officer of the Senate