park.” The Park includes such amenities as RV connections, a public boat ramp, a swimming area, picnic areas, and a park store. The Lessee manages the Park and collects entrance and use fees. In addition, part of the Park is taken up by the structures of LCRA’s Wirtz Dam, and part of the Park is submerged most of the time. Throughout the Park’s history, LCRA has not paid property taxes on the Park, claiming that the Park is exempt from taxation because LCRA is a governmental entity and the Park is used for public purposes. See Tex. Const. art. XI, § 9 (“The property of counties, cities and towns, owned and held only for public purposes ... shall be exempt from forced sale and from taxation....”); Lower Colo. River Auth. v. Chem. Bank & Trust Co., 144 Tex. 326, 190 S.W.2d 48, 50 (1945) (<HOLDING>). However, in 2014, BCAD determined for the
holding that article xi section 9 extends to property held by government agencies holding exempt portions of a ranch devoted to and actually used for religious purposes recognizing that leased property is exempt from taxation where the lessee uses it for a public purpose holding that to be exempt from property tax as a public or charitable use the property must meet the american museum test holding that lcras property devoted exclusively to public use is exempt from taxation under article xi section 9