CHAPTER 718

HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 18
Proposing amendment to § 169 of the Constitution of Virginia.
Agreed to by the House of Delegates February 13, 1956
Agreed to by the Senate March 7, 1956

Whereas, the proposed amendment to the Constitution of Virginia,
hereinafter set forth, was agreed to by a majority of the members elected
to the two houses of the General Assembly at the session of nineteen
hundred fifty-four and referred to this, the next General Assembly, and
published for three months, as required by the Constitution of Virginia,
and as shown by report of such publication by the Clerk of the House of
Delegates; now, therefore, be it

Resolved by the House of Delegates, the Senate concurring, a majority
of the members elected to each house agreeing, that the following amend-
ment to the Constitution of Virginia be and the same is hereby proposed
in conformity with the provisions of section one hundred ninety-six of
the Constitution, namely:

Strike from the Constitution of Virginia section one hundred sixty-
nine, which is as follows:

§ 169. Except as hereafter provided, all assessments of real estate
and tangible personal property shall be at their fair market value, to be
ascertained as prescribed by law. So long as the State shall levy upon
any public service corporation, other than a railway or a canal corporation,
a State franchise, license, or other tax, based upon or measured by its
gross receipts, or gross earnings, or any part thereof, its real estate and
tangible personal property shall be assessed by the State Corporation
Commission, or other central State agency, in the manner prescribed by
law. The General Assembly may allow a lower rate of taxation to be
imposed for a period of years by a city or town upon land added to its
corporate limits, than is imposed on similar property within its limits at
the time such land is added.

And insert in lieu thereof the following:

§ 169. Except as hereafter provided, all assessments of real estate
and tangible personal property shall be at their fair market value, to be
ascertained as prescribed by law. So long as the State shall levy upon
any public service corporation, other than a railway or a canal corporation,
a State franchise, license, or other tax, based upon or measured by its
gross receipts, or gross earnings, or any part thereof, its real estate and
tangible personal property shall be assessed by the State Corporation
Commission, or other central State agency, in the manner prescribed by
law. The General Assembly may allow a lower rate of taxation to be
imposed for a period of years by a city or town upon land added to its
corporate limits, than is imposed on similar property within its limits
at the time such land is added. The General Assembly may define as a
separate subject of taxation household goods and personal effects and may
allow the governing bodies of counties, cities, and towns to exempt or
partially exempt such property from taxation.