Untitled Texas Attorney General Opinion

. . TJXEA%=FO,MNEY GENERAL cm TEXAS January 12, 1966 Hon. Q. F. Steger Opinion MO. (C-532) County Attorney Colorado County Re: The amount of compen- Columbus, Texas sation a County Tax Assessor-Collectoris permitted to receive for the collection only of taxes for an independentschool district, including delinquent taxes, which taxes are assessed’by- the special assessor’of the independentschool district and related Dear Hr. Steger: questions. You have requested the opinion of this office upon the following questions: “1. What compensationis a county tax assessor- collector permitted to receive for the collection ONLY of taxes for an independent school district, including delinquent taxes, which taxes are assessed by the special assessor of such independentschool district? “2. In the event taxes for an Independentschool district are assessed by a special assessor for such school district to be thereafter collectedby the county assessor-collector, is the county assessor-collectorrequired to prepare the tax rolls and receipts required for such collection?” _- advised that Article 2792, Vernon’s Civil Statutes You_ are as smenaea my Ii.B. 243, Page 1579, Acts of 59th Legislature, 1965, governa the amount of fees to .be charged by the county tax assessor-collectorfor the collectionof taxes including delinquent taxes for independentschool districts. Article 2792, as amended, which became effective on August 30, 1965, contains, in part, the following: -2809- Hoti.G. F. Steger, Page 2 opinion NO. (~-932) 11 . . when'the county astiessorand collector is . required to assess and collect the taxes of independentschool districts, the Board of Trustees of such school district may contract with the CommissionersCourt of said county for payment for such services as they may see fit to allow, not to exceed the actual cost inCui?redIn assessing= collecting said taxes; . . .II (Emphasis added) In Attorney General Opinion No. MS-159, this office held that Article 2922 L~governed the fees to be charged by the Tsx Assessor-Collectorof a county for assessing and collecting rural high school taxes, and this was regardless of whether the duties involved current or delinquent taxes. (Bnphasis 3 e reasoning &idelnterpretatlonof the above cited oplnlk though related to the tax assessor-collectorof a rural hlgh'schooldistrict, would apply to ,thetax assessor-collectorof an independent school district and that the fees for delinquent taxes are included in Article 2792. Thus, the amount of fees allowed would be limited to the amount of the actual costincurred in collecting said taxes, includingdelinquent taxes. In answer to your second question as to who prepares the tax rolls, it is the opinion of this office that the county tax assessor-collectorIs not required to prepare the tax rolls when there Is a special assessor. The special assessor has this duty by virtue of the pertinent language in Article 2792, Vernon's Civil Statutes which is as follows: I‘ . . . If said taxes are assessed by a special assessor of the independentdistrict and are collected only by the city or county tax collector, the city or county tax collector in such cases shall accept the rolls prepared by the special assessor and approved by the Board of Trustees as provided In the preced.lng Arficle." (Emphasis added) Among the many cases which enunciate the rule that when the language Is unambiguous and its mearilngIs clear and obvious, rules of constructionare Improper, are Fox v. Burgess, 157 Tex. 292, 302 S.W.2d 405, Calvert v. Phillip Chemical Co., 268 S.W.2d 478 19 4 error r:f ); Ciilmorev. Waples, 108 Tex. 1 1.03~,'(1916) 1; addition to the clear language of the statute, the foliowing -2810- Hon. Q. F. Steger, Page 3 Opinion No. (C-582) language regardlng~"assessments"Is found.ln the e,ase,ofRe ubllc' 1ns;~Co. v. Rlghland'ParkI. School Dlst., 57 S.W.2d 627 *. PP*, 33 error ref.), wherein Justice Higgins cited at page 629: "An assessment involves, first, the preparation of a list of the property subject to the tax; and, second, the valuation of such property in the manner prescribed by law, ,andby the constituted authority.'26 R.C.L. Title Tsxation, *3X; 37 CYC. 987, and footnote 84.” (Emphasis added) In answer to your question as to whether the special assessor orthe oounty tax assessor-collectorshall prepare the tax receipt forms, you are advised, thatinasmuch asthe statutes are siient in reference thereto, that'the preparationof the~tax receipt forms is a matter that should be taken care of in the contractentered into pursuant to Article 2792. It follows that if the contract provides for the county tax assessor-collectorto prepare such forms that the actual case of collecting the taxes would be ln- creased. In a subsequent letter you asked the following questions: I"3. Is a county tax assessor-collector,who collected ONLY taxes for an independent school district, permitted to retain as compensationfive per cent (5s) of DELINQUENT taxes collected for such school district prior to August 30, 1965? "4. Is a county tax as6esso~collector~,.who~., collected ONLY taxes for~an independent school district, permitted to retain as aompensationfive per cent (59) of DELINQUEXT taxes collected for such school district which were in process of being collected prior to August 30, 1965, but were actually remitted to the collector after August 30, 1965?” It is the opinion of this office that Article 2792, Vernon's Civil Statutes governs the fees of a county tax assessor- collector for an independentschool district. Prior to the enact- ment of H.B. 243, Acts of the 59th Legislature, 1965 which became effective on August 30, 1965 the amount of fees were limited to per cent for assessingand'one (1) per cent for collecting -2811- Hon. 0. F. Steger, Page 4 Opinion Ho. (c-582) 'In Steusoff v. Libei-tsCounty 34 S.W;2d 643 (TexlC;;G$~p. 1931; error ref.),'the‘court'heldthat a Com&sloners~ was without jurisdictionto allow tax assessor different cos@cn- ~a~~oli'.f~Klm^:~that:,ffJred~~by: statute (Rev.'St. 1925, Art. 3937). Inasmuch as It Is the position of this office that-prior to August 30,~1965 the fee allowed *as one (1) per cent for assessing and one (1) per cent for collecting,the answer to question no.'3 is MO. Therefore, the answer to question no. 4 Is RObl&tirtue of the answer'to question no. 1 and Attorney General's Opinion We. RS-159. The compensationa county tax assessor- collector is permitted to receive for the collectionORLY of taxes for an Independentschool district, including delinquent taxes, which taxes are assessed by the special assessor of such Independentschool district is limited by the smount of the actual cost incurred in collecting said taxes. In the event taxes for an Independent school district are assessed by a special assessor for such school district to be thereaftercollected by the county tax assessor-collector, It is not the duty of the county tax assessor-collectorto prepare the tax rolls for such collection. The contract entered Into pursuant to Article 2792 should provide who Is to prepare the tax receipt forms. The county tax assessor-collectorwho collected OKLY taxes for an independent school district, Is ermltted.toretain as compensationone P1) per cent of delinquent taxes collected for such school district prior to August 30, 1965. The county tax assessor-collectorwho coileoted taxes after August 30, 1965 IS entitled to retain the amount of fee@ -2812- Eon. 0. P. Steger, Page 5 Opinion MO. (C-582) contracted for with the Board of Trustee8 of siichBchool district, not to exceed the actual cost incurred in collecting the taxes,, Yours very truly, WAQQOMRR CARR Attorney ffeneral Assistant TRQ: cf APPROVEDZ oPwI,on cor+lMImTEE W; V;:Geppert, Chairman W; E; Allen Gordon C. Cass Kerns B. Taylor Malcolm Qiaick APPROVED FOR TKE ATTORHRY cIEWlZR& BY: T. B. Wright -2813-