~THEA'rroIRNEY GENERAL
OP .TExAs
PRICE DANIl$L
AT,ORNBY GENERAL .
September 10, 1951
Hon. Robert S. Calvert
.Gomptroller of Publlo Aooounts
At.18
tin, Texas Opinion No. V-1273
Re: Applloablilty of tax.
-authorized by Section
1-a of Article VIII
of the Constitution
to University of Texas
Dear Sir: endowment lands..
Your request for an opinion reads in part
as follows:
“In.1930 the people amendea Sec. 16
of Artlole VII. of the’.State Constitution
authorizing counties ln’whloh University
of Texas endowment ima9 ‘were located to
levy a tax for oounty purposesagainst
’ such lands ,equal .to the tax imposed upon
&rlvately owneg lands for county pur-
oses...,-The,oounty of Wlnkler has within
Pts boundary quite a large aoreage of the.
endowed University lands. The Tax As-
sessor-Collector of Wlnkler County has
asked this department whether the Unlver-
slty of Texas endowment lanas located
within Wlnkler County are subject to the
306 tax authorized by Sec. l-a of Article .
VIII of the Constitution of Texas from
and after January 1, 1951. I shall thank
you to advise this department the correct
answer to the question submitted by,,,.the
Assesebr-Collector of Wlnkler oounty.
“The 52nd Legislature, Regular Ses-
sion, made an appropriation to pay taxes
on these University owned lands but ap-
parently did not take into account the
tax authorized under Sec. l-a of Article
VIII of the Constitution, and the appro-
prlutlon dO6s not Include sufficient
money to pay the tax levied under this
section of the oonstltutlon.n
.
. .. . ..~
;. ,..’
:’
Hon. &b&t S. Caivert, p&e 2 (V- 1273)_.
!. ..
‘. .‘.
‘I
. -
Section i6( al of .btiole VII, the Texas
Congtitutlon p$0via6b: (
“All land’ nent’lonsd in Sections’ 11,
12, and 15 of Article VII, of the Constl-
tutlon of the State of Texas, now belong-
.. ing to the Universlt of Texas shall be .. .,_
* subject to the taxat f on for county pur-
.poses to the sane extent as lands prlvate-
ly pwnea; . . ,fl
v-
Lleotlons :lJ., 12,. fd’15 of Article VII all relate to
lands that’are a part’ of the permanent University r;
fund of the Unlver%ity,of Texa%.
Sect&o l*a*o$ Artlole VIII of the Texas. ’
Constltutfon provide% in part<,
. ‘.
“From and ‘sitei- Sama& 1, 1951
xho Pltate aa ti%oreti tmt-.abi$ll be levied 1 ,,
up&i.any Property &thin .thl% State for ..
eneral r;evetiue pu!%po%ibI ~.srom a& af-
‘< er January 1 1951; the :sdveral~ oou&
.tlea of .the -S&6, are acithorlzea to’l6vy
baa valorem; t.aXs% upon. @I’ property with-’
. ln.thelr reap’ectlve:‘boun&rle% for .ooun-’ ..., ‘_
ty purpo%e%, exoept .thq flr%t Thre&.Thou-
sand Dollar% ($3,000)~ ‘value of re%ldentlaI
hornsstead, not to exoee$‘thlrty.oents (306)
on each One Hundred Dollar% ($100) vz&a-
’tlon,’ In .addltlon to al& Other ad .valorem
tties authorized by the Constitution of
this State, provided th6 rsvenue derivea
therefrom shall be uSed for Construction
and malntenanae of Farm to Eark6t Roads
or for Flood Control, exoept as herein
otherwise provided.*
’ Z&6 Unlv6ralty~land% in Wlnklsr County are
a portion ‘of the p6rmanent.Unl+er%lty f&d, and have
beep in such funa sin06 Zi384. Ssetlon I-a of Art-
ieIe.VIII authorizes the sevsr%I oountle% of the
State to. levy aa tioxeq taxee upon all property
within ~thelr respe@tfve boundarl68, except th6 first
Three Thou%and Dollars ($3,00~.00) Valuation of res-
ldentlal~hom6stead%, .not te exceed thirty cents
. (30$) on each One Hunarea Dollars ($I~O,OO) valua-
tion, In’ addition to all other ad valoren taxes au-
thorized by the State, Cons.tltution. Thst portion of
.
.‘,~ .. .,
.;
.‘&
Bon, Robert 5. Calvert, page 3 (V- 1273)
Section 1.6 [a!, au ra which states “that Unlver-
slty of Texas lan-+-*
s shall be subject to the taxa-
tion for county purposes to the same extent as
lands privately OWned” Is pros ectlve In nature
In that new, as well as presen t county taxes are
to be assessed agalnat the taxable University
lands in the same manner as against privately
owned lande.
In view of the clear and unambiguous
language In the above oonstltutlcnal amendments,
it la our opinion that the University of Texas
permanent endovvnent lands looated in Wnkler
County are subject to the thirty cents (30$) tax
provided In Section 1-a of Article VIII of the
Texas Constitution,
SUNMARY
The University of Texae permanent
endowment lands located in 3lnkler
County are subject to’the thirty oerite
(30$) tax authorized by Section l-a,
Article VIII, Constitution of Texas.
APPROVED
: Very truly yours,
J. C, Davis Jr. PRICE DANIEL
County Affairs Division Attorney General
Jesse P, Luton, Jr,
Reviewing Assistant
By &&p-L.%
Everatt Hutchinson
EX6cutiV6 Assistant Assistant
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