§ 101.108.Ad Valorem Taxes for Payment of Judgment

A funding provision, and it answers the question the collection section leaves open.

A governmental unit not fully covered by liability insurance may levy an ad valorem tax for the payment of any final judgment under this chapter. And if necessary to pay the amount of a judgment, the tax rate may exceed any legal tax rate limit applicable to the unit except a limit imposed by the constitution.

The authority to exceed a statutory rate cap is the substance. Texas governmental units operate under tax rate limits set by statute or charter, and without this a unit at its cap would have no way to raise the money.

Constitutional limits still bind. The Texas Constitution sets maximum rates for certain units, and the section does not purport to override them.

The provision is what makes a judgment against a small governmental unit collectible at all. Read with the collection section, the sequence is: enforce as against the unit generally, wait a fiscal year, spread over five years if the total exceeds one percent of tax funds — and levy a tax to fund it if not insured.

The condition is being "not fully covered." A fully insured unit has no need of the authority, since the insurer pays.

The section makes plain who ultimately bears a tort judgment against Texas government: the taxpayers of the jurisdiction. That is also why the chapter does not authorize exemplary damages.