Untitled Texas Attorney General Opinion

I’RE A~OR~Y GENERAL OP TEXAS PRICE DANIEL ATTORNEYGENERAL beeember 22, 1952 Hon. Har$ison .Hall OpinionNO. v-1559 county .Attomey, Newton County R0: Authority of Klrbyvllle Newton, Iha Consolidated Independent School District to require that schools taxes not be collected by the Tax Asses- sor-Collector of Newton County, although the Tax Assessor-Collector prepared assessments and rolls prior Dear Mr. Hall: to this notioe. YOU r6p383t.the 0pin10n 0r this 0rfm UPON the following question: Map the Board of Trustees of a consolidated independent school district. composed of territory in .two adjoining counties collect its t+xes through ‘a tax collector appointed by the Board of Tras- tees of the district notwithstanding the taxes may have theratoiore been adsessed by the assessor-collector of one o? the countiasl Your question arises from the following facts: “ti.Maroh 29, A.D., 1952, Kirbyville Ind.‘~ S. bist. No. 905’of Jasper County, and Call County Line Ind. S.,Dist., in- volving parts of both Jasper and flewton Countirr, Jpspr couuty hftvinf cttE;;l of said County: Line Mst. above:date thebe two S. Dists. were con- eolidated’by election, forming w’hat is .frd knrs; aa the Kirbyville ConsoUdated . . “In the years past, the Newton County Tax Collector-Assessor, by agreement, has bian collectiiig the taxes for the said Comity,,Line School Dlst . and turning, same ovef to the’schaol, aocbrding to the As- sessments and roll& made up by the Assessor- Collector of Newton County. . . Hon. Harrison Hall,, page 2 (V-1559) “The assessment and rolls were made out for this year by the Assessor-Collector of Newton County. Thereafter, on the 29th of Sept., pf this year, the Assessor-Collec- tor of Newton County was notified by the newly formed school dlst. not to collect said taxes.” !qe do not find It necessary to review the steps leading up to the formation of the Kirbyville Consolidated Independent School District as it pres- ently exists. We assume that Its formation and its existence Is In all respeots legal. This being true, it possesses all the power and authority in the mat- ter of ~the assessment and collection of its taxes oonfrrred by the Legislature upon Independent school districts in general and this without regard to the prior procedure outlined In your letter aa to the Call County Line Independent School District which is now oonsolidated with the Klrbyvllle Consolidated In- dependant School District, ‘IheXLz’b~ill~‘.CaMlldi4ted ::Wepei.~dent$k&r&l MS- trlotiJ Mough St. BfXird bf ‘Trusteed, ~ssesse?::the mr to;:eZi3ct_ to. izollect:~.tts3i.%ies .throug .:lts .o3n :tax:: collector. That It Is composed of territory In two adjoining counties does not have the effect of separ- ating, dlmlnlshlng, or dividing the powor which the Board of Trustees has over the administration of the afXalrs of the district including the power of assess- ing and oolleotlng its Caxes. The power of the Board of Trusters is~coextenslve over all the territory of the dietriot. Since the question you present 1s oonfined to the authority of a colleotor of an Independent school dlstrlot to colleot the taxes of. the dlstrlct we do not Sind it necessary to deoidr the question o h the correlative powor of thr County Assessor4ollector to collect the taxes of the school district under cer- tain oondltlons provided by statute nor do we pass upon the validity of the assessment. It Is sufficient to w that if statutory authority be found for the lnde- pendent school district through Its Board of Trustees to collect It8 own taxes and proceeds under such statu- tory authority to appoint sudh collector, his authority may not be quertioned. 18 therm such statutory autholc IQ? We think there la. Articlea 2791-2792, V&S., prmldr in part as follarsr Hon. Harrison Hall, Page 3 (V-1559) “Art. 2791. . There Is hereby created the off1ce~‘o.h assessor and collec- tor of each lnde endent school district, whether &sated i y ,speolal or generil law, who shall be appointed by the Board of Trustees thereof, and shall have the same power and shall perfora the same duties tilth reference to the assessment and col- lsotltin tif taxes for free school purposes that are conferred by law upon ,the asses- sor and collector of taxes In and for any Incorporated city town or village, or,upon the person or officer legally performlng the duties of such assessor and collector, and he shall reoelVe such compensation for his services ati the Board of Trustees map allow, ekcept ln~cltles and towhs provided : for not to exceed fotir (4) ppr oent of the wide amount of ta%lrs kecelved by him. He ahalL give bond In double the estllllated a&ount Of taxes cofaing annu;?lly’lllto his hand‘s ‘payable and to be approved by the presic!ent of the Board,. conditionad for the ?aIithful’dlsqharge of his duties, and that he will pay over to the, tieasurer oi the B.oard all funds coming Into his hands by, virtue ,of his office as such assessor and .collqctor; , . .” liArt. 2'792.. . . When a majority of the Board of Trustaes. of ati Independent dls- trlct prefer to have the taxes of their dls-‘,- trlct ,assessed and collected by the county assesSor and collaetor, or by the city asses- sor and oolleotor, of an Incorporated city or town lti the limits of which the school dlstrlot or & part thereof Is ,located, or collected only by the county or city tax* collector same may be assessed and collected, or ooJ.l’eo &ed only as the oase’map be, by .said county or cl?q off leers , as may, be deter- mined by’,the Board of Trustees of said lnde- pendent school district and turned 6ver to the treasurer of the Independent -school dls- ,tryp,nfor which such teams have been collected. . .-~ ~,rhla Papartment_- has herrtorqo, in Opinion O- 1407 (1939,), ruled as rollowsr . - Hon. Harrison Hall, Page 4 (v-1559) “There can be no question but that an lndependant school dlatplot which has pro erty In two diiferent counties oould ampPoy one colleotor to oolleot Its tax49 Sri .both of said aountlos.n We do not think that the fact that the taxes have heretofore been assessrd on a roll prepared by the County Arsessor-Colleotor 7 of one or both of the asressor-collrotors~ of the two counties In which the Consolidated Indepeddetit School Dlstrlat has ‘mllltates against the oonclnslon we have the Kirbyvllle Consolidated Independrnt School Distrlot through Its Board of T usteer, has. the authority to oollsat Its ow’n taxes. 2 Statutory author- It rxists’ for the oolleotlon by an iade endent tax 00I leotm, aotwlth9tandlng thi assessmen e was madr b the County Tax Asrersor-Colleotor, In other words, &m asssssor end oolleotor may be different, depending upon the rleotion mad@by the Boa d of Trustees as to how the s@trr 19 to be handled. 3. In otbrr words the Kirbyvllle Consolidated Independent Sohool District 19 ln effrot a nbw lndepe’nd- rut dlstrlct unaffected b thr prior diatrlots entering lntg Its oonsolldatlon. % the absenor of an eleotlon by ti independent sohool district to avail Itself of the statutory prlvllege of having Its ,tue’s ~essessed and ool- looted by the County Tax Assessor-Colleotor, It possess- ea the power to have its own assessor and oolleotor. I~t appears. from the rmdisputrd fact8 dlsolosed by our let- ter that the Klrbyvlllr Cdnsolldatrd Iiidmpendent Sohool .District desires to oolleot Its own turs whlah negatives lnteirt to have.them oollratrd by the Tax Assessor- %leotor of Mawtonbounty. An indi~endent sohool dlrtriot has au- thority to designate and appoint, by appro- prlatr order or ordlaauoe of the Board of Trustees of thr dl&rlot, a tax ls9 e sso r ~ oolleator for the district or it may alact to have this duty performeh by the County Assessor-Collector. The fact that a previous assessment has barn madr by the Cotity Asses- sor-Collrotor does hot preclude suoh lnde- pendant school dls~rlot f9o.m aolleotlng the ‘Hon. Harrison Hall, Page 5 (V-1559) taxes assessed through the collector of the in$ependent school ‘district upon the roll made by the County Assessor-Collector. APPROVED: Yours very truly, W. V. Geppert PRICE DANIEL Taxation Division Attorney General E. Jacobson Exeautive Assistant Charles D, Mathews First Assistant By& .eo3i+ . Assistant LPLtwb