A&st 6, 1952
.i.opi'.R:;
~l$.~~S&&.d~r,.J& CpinioniNo.V-1494:
County At+rnizy.
Live oak County .F(e:
A&hor4ty,of the Co&is-
George West, Texas sioners' Court to levy
and.collecta tax for
the::purposeof iuiproving
afid.a.mainta$nln&Tips
StatePark;::
.?Ciha..Cqmls~i~nq-8'Court.levy and col-
lect'a,l~@i,fti~.:the
purpoiie.of':$iiiprovlng
and:.
maintalniqg.aYparknow.owneO by:$he .State:oP
Tex@
.'A number of yea& ago an individuai.&n-
veyed.eitherto the State of Texas, or the
State .?arks.B~ard~.+ .tractof-..l+nd.in
Live
Cg&.Coun~y,~.n~'theCLty .ofm.ee*Riverq,.
fo~~.,p~k .pupposesi.~Private.donzit$oqs
.have..
been.qbta$nedand.the-landps+rti$Q! .$npro,ved
apd,,,used.asa publIc.,parki~t-~s:%nowq.,as.-::
'Tips-.~Staj?e
Park. .$y ltiormat3on~3.s that,the
State..~hasexpended.no.money:3'~~t.he..improvemetit
.or,wintenar& .df;thePqk or .at.mostthe H$gh-
tiayDqparfmtint,may.have,.made..&ome.
improvement 'I
onthe. approaches from the highwas in and.-out
~of...the
park.- Parties,ititereste+d.i,I%?
the park
.desire'theCommissioners'Court'to.callan..'
election for the purpose.ofdeterminingwhether
or not.to.levya. tax..for .thepurptse of lmprov-
lng .a+maintajning the>park;::..:
.We.,as&ume$romthe&$ovq.statement'thattitle
to thenTiLps-lSt,ate..Pi&~Q~in.the
St&e.of Texas rather
.thEin
Live O&County.
The d&islons: pfl,$heTexas:co&ts.hav& rec..
:peated~gl.hel~.;:that
the .qo@.ss:io.ners:l
c.ourt.
is a court
of limited jurisdictionand has only such powers as’are
conferredupon it, either by express terms or by neces-
Hon. R. E. Schneider,Jr., page 2 (v-1494)
62G
sary impllcatlon,by the:Constltutlon~andstatutes of
this State. Chlldress County v. State, 127'Tex. 343,
92 S.W.2d 1011 (1936);Von Rosenbergv. Lovett, 173
.S.W. 508 (Tex. Civ. App. 1915 . Koper v.
Hall, 280 s.w.289 (Tex. Civ. iprg2gy;'A$t. 2351,
VrcrS.
Article 6078, V.C.S., authorizesthe commis-
sloners'.courtto ezpend money for .lmprovlng 'iind
operat-
ing a Park which Is being operated by the!State Parks
Board. . It provides in part as follows:
."Each'CommlssionersCourt is authorized
%o levy-and collect a tax not to exceed five
.(5) .cetits'oti
each one hundred-dollarsasses-
sed valuation of the county for the purchase
and Improvementof,lands for .tise.aa county
pa&s.;-:No such tax Shall be ltiviedand col-
lected until the propositionis submitted to
and ratified by the property taxpaying. voters
.of thb'county'ata general or speclal~election
caXled,:for that puppose, provld&d,.~&two- -'
thirds:-majorityof the propertytaxpaylne;.
voterti of such county, at an electioriheld~.for
such purpose shall determineln,favor of said
tax. ;~~. .~.
!~Saction'2.All parks acqu$red:by'aG
thorit$tif'thisAct ~.+iall.beunder‘the-coritfiol
and management of .thecbuntg iicqulring-the:
'same,,provided~that the CommissionersCourt
may by ,,agreement
with the StiateParks Board
thin the land :over.tia
the State Park&Boa?d
'to be .operatedEisa public park; the expenses
of the Improvementand operatlofi.of-such~park
to~be,pald by the c‘ountgand/ol(,coopez?ative‘
~Federal-.agenciesaccordingto the agreement
to be.made between such'countyand the.S$ate
Parks .Board:"
It is .ouropinion-thatSection 2 of this act
contemplatesthe expenditureof coizntyfunds on parks
which are owned by the countiesbut which have been turned
over‘to~theState .ParksBoard to be~operatedby it. The
.statutedoes not-authorizea ~countyto .transferownership
to the State Parks B.oard,nor does It authotiisee,county
to expend county monies on parks which 8re ?wned,by the'
Boara, hitmerely authorizestransfeFof pqssesslon to
the Board 'andpermits the,courityto prov'ide
:~ftidti,jfoti.
Hon:R. E. Schnelder,~- 3..
Jri,:,page
improvementand operationof the-parkivhlleit-.&s;
In
the possession~of~theBoard?'
Article '@Sl.e,
.V:C.S.,-'aiso.authorizes
coun-
ties to.~levya~+axfor,the.lmprovement.,andoperation of
parks owned b.ythe counties.butoperated by the:..State.
Parks Roard..:.Y~Sec~tion.3
of this statutereads:.
"All parks acquired by authority of this
Act shall be under the control and management
of,the city or c~ountyacquiring same or by the
city :andLco.untyjointly,where'theyhave-
acted Jointlyiinacquirings.ame, ,provided.
that the Commissioners1Court and.the.City
Commlsslon or City.Councll.may, .byagreement,
with the State Parks 'Board,turn the land over
to.'theState Parks.Boardto begoperated.as~ a
'publiccpark,:the expense of the:tmprovement
and .operationof such~~~park'to
be paid~by the
aounty and/or'c&ty,according to::th~eagreement
to begmade between such.munlc%palities Andythe
State Parks.Boai?d~.
"~A11counties and Incorporatedclties'are
.authorfze,dto levjra,tax of not:'exceedlng:,five
(5) 'cents:on~the,-Cne
Hundred ($1C0~00)~~Doll~s
property;v+.u&+on to,create.afund,for $he ~
improvementAndyoperationof such parks.
Here again, It is OX& opinion that the statute does not
authorize a county to,expend:ltsfunds for'the improve-
ment Andyoperatlon.ofa park which 'isowned by the,State.
Parks Board.
.,
We have been unable to find any statute which
would authorize a countyto'expend Its funds for the
improvementand operation of'a park which is owned by
the State of Texas or by the State Parks Board. There-
fore, we agree with you that the Commissioners'Court'of
Live Oak County Is not authorizedto,levy and collect a
tax for the purpose of improvingand malntainlng~Tlps
State Park.
SUMMARY
Commissioners'courts may not levy and
collect taxes for the purpose of'improving
and maintainingparks which are owned by the
Hon. R. E. Schneider, Jr., page 4
State of.Texas or ,theState Parks Board. Ar-
ticles 6078 and 6081.:e, V.C.S., authorizing
counties to levy a tax for the Improvement
and maintenanceof county-ownedparks which
are being operated,by the State Parks Board
under agreementsbetween the counties and
the Board, does not apply to parks owned by
the State or by the Board.
Yours very truly,
APPROVED: PRICE DANIEL
Attorney.General
J. C. Davis, Jr.
County..Affalr,s
Division
.ery g. Wall.
RevIewIngAssIstant
Charles D. Mathews
First Assistant
BA:am