Section 11b.

(1) During and after the fiscal year 1991-92, taxes imposed upon any property shall be separated into two categories: One which dedicates revenues raised specifically to fund the public school system and one which dedicates revenues raised to fund government operations other than the public school system. The taxes in each category shall be limited as set forth in the table which follows and these limits shall apply whether the taxes imposed on property are calculated on the basis of the value of that property or on some other basis:
MAXIMUM ALLOWABLE TAXES
For Each $1000.00 of Property’s Real Market Value [see table]
and thereafter
Property tax revenues are deemed to be dedicated to funding the public school system if the revenues are to be used exclusively for educational services, including support services, provided by some unit of government, at any level from pre-kindergarten through post-graduate training.
(2) The following definitions shall apply to this section:
(a) “Real market value” is the minimum amount in cash which could reasonably be expected by an informed seller acting without compulsion, from an informed buyer acting without compulsion, in an “arms-length” transaction during the period for which the property is taxed.
(b) A “tax” is any charge imposed by a governmental unit upon property or upon a property owner as a direct consequence of ownership of that property except incurred charges and assessments for local improvements.
(c) “Incurred charges” include and are specifically limited to those charges by government which can be controlled or avoided by the property owner.
(i) because the charges are based on the quantity of the goods or services used and the owner has direct control over the quantity; or
(ii) because the goods or services are provided only on the specific request of the property owner; or
(iii) because the goods or services are provided by the governmental unit only after the individual property owner has failed to meet routine obligations of ownership and such action is deemed necessary to enforce regulations pertaining to health or safety. Incurred charges shall not exceed the actual costs of providing the goods or services.
(d) A “local improvement” is a capital construction project undertaken by a governmental unit
(i) which provides a special benefit only to specific properties or rectifies a problem caused by specific properties, and
(ii) the costs of which are assessed against those properties in a single assessment upon the completion of the project, and
(iii) for which the payment of the assessment plus appropriate interest may be spread over a period of at least ten years.
The total of all assessments for a local improvement shall not exceed the actual costs incurred by the governmental unit in designing, constructing and financing the project.
(3) The limitations of subsection (1) of this section apply to all taxes imposed on property or property ownership except
(a) Taxes imposed to pay the principal and interest on bonded indebtedness authorized by a specific provision of this Constitution.
(b) Taxes imposed to pay the principal and interest on bonded indebtedness incurred or to be incurred for capital construction or improvements, provided the bonds are offered as general obligations of the issuing governmental unit and provided further that either the bonds were issued not later than November 6, 1990, or the question of the issuance of the specific bonds has been approved by the electors of the issuing governmental unit.
(4) In the event that taxes authorized by any provision of this Constitution to be imposed upon any property should exceed the limitation imposed on either category of taxing units defined in subsection (1) of this section, then, notwithstanding any other provision of this Constitution, the taxes imposed upon such property by the taxing units in that category shall be reduced evenly by the percentage necessary to meet the limitation for that category. The percentages used to reduce the taxes imposed shall be calculated separately for each category and may vary from property to property within the same taxing unit. The limitation imposed by this section shall not affect the tax base of a taxing unit.
(5) The Legislative Assembly shall replace from the State’s general fund any revenue lost by the public school system because of the limitations of this section. The Legislative Assembly is authorized, however, to adopt laws which would limit the total of such replacement revenue plus the taxes imposed within the limitations of this section in any year to the corresponding total for the previous year plus 6 percent. This subsection applies only during fiscal years 1991-92 through 1995-96, inclusive.