Untitled Texas Attorney General Opinion

EATTORNEYGENERAL OF TEXAS W’ILL WILSON ATTORNEY GENERA=- August 24, 1960 Mr. Frank M. Jackson Opinion No. WW-912 Executive Secretary Teacher Retirement System Re: Questions relating to the Austin, Texas payment of the State match- ing contribution to the, Teacher Retirement System occurring during the fiscal year ending August 31st, Dear Mr. Jackson: 1959. Your request for an opinion reads in part as follows: "During the fiscal year ending August 31, 1959, the teachers' contributions of the Teacher Retirement System of Texas exceeded the estimate of contributions of members by one million, nine hundred eighty-eight thou- sand, two hundred fifty-five dollars and nine cents ($1,988,255.09). On September 1, 1959, a letter concerning said deficit in the State's matching contributions was received from the Honorable Robert S. Calvert, Comptroller of Public Accounts, and reads in part as follows: II ..... 'House Bill 5, First Called Session, 56th Legislature charged the allocations from the Omnibus Tax Fund, with the result there is no money avail- able to transfer to the System'. "Ke respectfully request your opinion concern- ing the following questions: "1. Is the C.omptrollerof Public Acc,ounts req~uireci to pay tne 'l'eacher Retirement System the above deficit in State's matching contri- butions? "2. If the answer to question number one is in the negative, is House Bill 5 in conflict with Article 3, section 48-a of the Constitu- tion of Texas?" Mr. Frank M. Jackson, page 2 (w-912) Subsection (3) of Section 2 of Article 7083a, Vernon's Civil Statutes, as amended by House Bill 5, Acts of the 56th Legislature, First Called Session, chapter 1, page 9 at page 10, provides: "Beginning with the fiscal year starting on September 1, 1959, and annually thereafter, there is hereby allocated and appropriated to the Teacher Retirement System of Texas in accord- ance with the provisions of Senate Bill No. 47, Acts of the Regular Session, Forty-fifth Legis- lature, 1937, and any amendments thereto, a sum each year equivalent to the contributions of the members of the Teacher Retirement Svstem during said year. Said annual allocated and appropriat- ed amounts shall be paid to the Teacher Retirement System in equal installments during the months of November, December, March, April, June and July of each fiscal year beginning with the year start- ing September 1, 1959, based upon the annual esti- mate by the State Board of Trustees of the Teacher Retirement System of the contributions to be re- ceived from the members of said System during each such fiscal year; provided further, that in the event said estimate of the contributions of the members of the System shall vary from the actual amount of the teachers' contributions during the year, then such adjustments as may be required shall be made on the first day of the following fiscal year with any moneys in or due the General Revenue Fund." Subsection (2) of Section 11 of Article 2922-1, Vernon's Civil Statutes, provides: "The depositing of the State's contribu- tions shall be made as follows: "(a) On or before the first day of November, next preceding each Regular Session of the Legis- lature, the State Board of Trustees shall certify to the State Comptroller for his review and adop- tion the amount necessary to pay the matching con- tributions of the State of Texas to the Teacher Re- tirement System for the ensuing biennium. This amount shall be included in the budget of the State which the Governor submits to the Legislature. The State Board of Trustees shall certify on or before Mr. Frank M. Jackson, page 3 (W-912) August 31st of each year to the State Comp- troller of Public Accounts and to the State Treasurer the estimated amount of contribu- tions to be received from members during the ensuing year. "(b) All monies allocated and appropria- ted by the State to the Teacher Retirement System shall be paid to the Teacher Retirement System in monthly installments as provided in House Bill No. 8, Acts of the Regular Session, 47th Legislature. ,Each of said monthly install- ments shall be paid into the State Contribution Fund." The current appropriation to the Teacher Retirement Sys- tem reads as follows: "TEACHER RETIREMENT SYSTEM "1 , There is hereby appropriated and For the Years .Ending the Comptroller and Treasurer are _ .'- authorized and directed to trans- August 31, Au,gust31, fer into a special trust account 1960 1961 in the hands of the Treasurer, the unexpended balances as of August 31, 1959, of the various funds of the Teacher Retirement System, es- timated as follows: Teacher Savings Fund No. 133... $1,200,000 State Contribution Fund No. 134 1,000 Retire+ Reserve Fund No. 135... 105,000 Interest Fund No. 136.......... 1,000,000 Expense Fund No. 137........... 75,000 Investment Fund No. 138........ 975,000 "2. There is hereby appropriated and al- located out of the Omnibus Tax Clear- ance Fund to the Teacher Retirement System the State contributions neces- sary to match member contributions, estimated to be ......w.............. 31,700,OOO $32~,800,000 TOTAL ESTIMATED APPROPRIATIONS, TEACHER RETIREMENT SYSTEM...........$~~,O~~,OOO$32,800,000~~ From September lst, 1959, all funds in the Teacher Retire- ment System constitute a separate trust account with the State Mr'.Frank M. Jackson, page 4 (WW-912) Treasurer as custodian rather than funds in the State Treasury Attorney General's Opinions wwT65 (1959) and ~~-600+ 1959). Thus, it is necessary to issue a warrant on the State Treasu- to transfer money to the Teacher Retirement System out of the State Treasury into a spe- cial trust fund of the Teacher Retirement System in the custody of the State Treasurer. We are informed by the Comptroller's Office that all the sums appropriated to the Teacher Retirement System for the fiscal year ending August jlst, 1960 have been paid to the Teacher Retirement System. While the Legislature author- ized the payment of the deficit mentioned in your request from the General Revenue Fund, no appropriation for this deficit was made to the Teacher Retirement System. Therefore, you are advised that the Teacher Retirement System has a claim against the General Revenue Fund of the State of Texas for this deficit, which may be paid when such sum is appro- priated by the Legislature. Article III, Sec. 48a, Texas Constltution, H.B. 5, Acts of the 56th Leg., 1st C.S., 1959, ch. 1, p. 9. In this connection, it is noted that the ap- propriation contained in Item 2 of the appropriation to the Teacher Retirement System was made out of the Omnibus Tax Clearance Fund and did not appropriate any additional sum from the General Revenue Fund. As is noted above, this fund has been completely exhausted for'the fiscal year ending August 31st, 1960. In answer to your first question, you are therefore advised that the Comptroller of Public Accounts is not author- ized to issue a warrant atthe present time payable to the Teacher Retirement System for the deficit of the State's matching contribution, for the reason that no money has been appropriated for that purpose. In answer to your second question, the provisions of House Bill 5, Acts of the 56th Legislature, First Called Ses- sion, are constitutional. Attorney General's Opinion WW-640. SUMMARY No appropriation to the Teacher Retire- ment System for the payment of any~deficit in State matching contribution having been enacted, the Comptroller of Public Accounts is not authorized ,to issue a warrant for the Mr. Frank M. Jackson, Page 5 (WW-912) payment of the deficit in the State's matching contributions resulting from the teachers' contribution of the Teacher Retirement System exceeding the estimate of contributions made by the System. Such deficit'constitutes a claim which may be paid when an appropriation Is made to the Teacher Retirement System for such deficit, as provided in Article 70&a, Vernon's Civil Statutes. Yours very truly, WILL WILSON Attorney General of Texas Assistant JR:ms APPROVED: OPINION COMMI'E'PTEE W. V. Geppert, Chairman F. C. Jack Goodman Phocion S. Park III W. Ray Scruggs REVIEWED FOR THE ATTORNEY GENERAL BY: Houghton Brownlee, Jr.