E TTORNEY GENERAL
TEXAS
November 6, '1950
Hon. Raymond E. Magee Opinion No. V-1115
County Attorney
Galveston County Rei Legality of'1evyi.n~
Galveston, Texas tax for mosquito 'con-
trol In addition to
,the maximum tax lim-
itation in Article
VIII, Sectiong, Con-
stitution of Texas,
Dear Sir: and related questions;
Yo@have. requested an opinion on the construc-
tion of Article 4477-2 of Vernon"s Civil Statutes. Your'
questions read as ,follows:
0
~.
., "QUESTION1: The sixty days referred
to in this Act now having past, does this Act
require that the Commissioners" Court call then
election, orshall the same be called by the
County Judge without any action upon theapart
of the Commissioners' Court?
"QURSTION2: Does Section 2 of ArtLle
4477-2 authorize the Commisslonerss Court to
levy a tax.of five cents oneach One Hundred
~Dollar tax valuation in the Countg,assuming,
of 'course, that the people authori~ze such levy
by a vote in the establishment.of a mosquito
control district, in addition to the constitu-
~tlonal.limitation placed upon.the Commission-
ers' Court by Article 8, Section 9; of the
Constitution?
"QUESTION3: ,Upon what fund should the
levy authorized by .this ‘Statute be made? L
'QURSTION4: 'Will the Cozzslssioners'
Court be obligated to Day the election e$-
penses for the holding of this election?
Article 4477-2, V.C.S.; provides, in parts’ r),
_’
Hon. Raymond E. Magee, page 2 (V,-1116)
“Section 1. In all counties of this
State which border on the Gulf of Mexico, the
Commissioners Court may call an election with-
in sixty (60) days after the effective date
of this Act, and at subsequent elections when
called by the County Jud e u on his being pe-
titioned by two hundred 7 200 P qualified voters
to call such election to determine if the qual-
ifled voters of such county desire the estab-
lishment of a Mosquito Control District to
embrace all the territory within said county,.
for the purpose of eradicatfng mosquitoes in
said area. 0 0 0
“Sec. 2, The Commissioners Court in each
county governed by the provisions of this Act
may call an election within sixty (60) days af-
ter the effective date of this Act and at sub-
sequent eledtions when called by the County
Judge upon his being petitioned by two hundred
(200) qualified voters to call such election
to determine if the qualified property taxpay-
ing voters of said county desire a levy of a
tax not to exceed five cents (5&j on each one
hundred dollar tax valuation to finance the
program provided in this Act, De e
“Set, 3* The elections provided in Sec-
tion 1 and Section 2 shall be combined in one
election; provided, hoWever, that only quali-
fled property taxpaying voters shall be au-
thorized to vote to create such district and
on the question of a tax levy as provided in
Section 2,”
Under the provisions above quoted, the commis-
sioners 8 court upon its motion is only authorized to call
an election “within sixty (60) days after the effective
date of this Act.’ You are therefore advised in answer
to your first question that the sixty-day period having
elapsed, the commisslonersD court cannot now call an
election. An election may now be called only by the
county judge “upon his being petitioned by two hundred
(200) qualified voters” of the county.
Section 9 of Article VIII of the Constitution
” ‘,, of Texas provides:
Hon. Raymond E. Magee, page 3 (V-1116)
in no event shall the total of o /*,~
tt
0 0 .
county taxes exceed eighty (80) cents.on the
one hundred,,dollars valuation, in any one
year; e s o
In construing Section 9 of Article VIII, It was
held in Anderson v. Parsley, 37 S.W.26 358, 363 (Tex.Civ.'
App. 1931, error per.):
~"The power of the county commission-
ers under the Constitution, art. 8,8 9, as
amended December 19, 1890, to levy a tax of
23 cents on'$lOO valuation to construct build-
ings, sewers, and other permanent buildings,
being limited to that.levy for all such pur-
poses, a levy can be made for a courthouse
.and jail only so far as the limit has not al-
ready been reached for ,the other purposes.
Stratton ve Commissionersv Court of Kinney
County (Tox,Civ.App.) 137 S.W. 117J."
The construction of this section of the Consti-
tution in the Anderson gase has not been disturbed by the
"reallocation amendment adopted in 1944; In a letter to
Hon. William Ii. Hensley, Criminal District Attorney, .twar
County, Texas, dated December 6, 1948, this office stated:
"There is now no statute authorizing
the CommissionersE Court of Bexar County to
create a hospital or health district with
taxing power* Such a district could be au-
thorized by the Legislature by the passage
of a general law but the taxes which such a
district could levy must be part of the 804
limit fixed by Article VIII, Section 9, Texas
Constitution. In order to create a hospital
01" health district having power to levy taxes
for operation and maintenance in addition to
the maximumrate available under Article VIII,
Section 9 of the Constitution for the General
Fund, a constitutional amendment would be nec-
essary. 'The Robert B. Green Memorial Hospital
now has available for operation and maintenance
the taxes received from a levy of 20 cents on
the One Hundred Dollar valuation ($100) as au-
thorized by Art. 4437a, V.C.S., plus income de-
rived from pay patients. The Legislature could
amend this law and authorize a larger levy,
but whatever additional levy was authorized
Ron, Rcymond E. Xagee, page 4 (V-1116)
would have to come out of the 80 cent per’ one .
hundred dollar ($100) maximum levy fixed fop
counties by Article VIII, Section 9 of the
ConstiDution. That section ppoviUes that ‘in
no event shall the total of ,, . . county taxes
exceed (80) cents on the one hundpeed dollars
valuation, in any one yearo”b
In view of the foregoiri a~uthopities, you are
ar’~~i:~cdin answer to you second question that the tax
1.:~;; a.uthorised by Sections 2 and 4 of Article 4477-2 is
not in addition to the constitutional limitation fixed
by Section 9, Article VIII of the Constitution,
In answer to your third question, it is our
opinion that the cost of operating a Mosquito Control
District created fop public health purposes of t,he coun-
aid out of the genepal funds AttPy Gene Op.
~:ggs~l;~8p,
In regard to your fourth question, you are ad-
vised that the holdlnil, of an election is a county purpose
to be paid fop by the countya Bexar County ~.a, 138
?J;;Je,9zi 157 S.W.2d 134 (1941). Therefore, txe commis-
court is obligated to pay the expenses of hold-
ing an election under the provisions of Article 4477-2*
After sixty days from the effect.Lve
date of Article 4477-2, V.C.S,, an election
for the establishment of a Mosquito Control
District can be called only by the county
judge upon being petitioned by two huntied
qualified voters of the county.
The tax levy authorized by Sections 2 and
4 of .!zticle 4477-2 is not in addition to the
limik;,ttion fixed by Section 9, Article VIII of
the Constitution. It must be included Pitbin
the’levg authorized by the Constitution for
general fund pwposeso
‘, The commissioners D court is obligated
to pay the expenses of holding an election
under the provisions of Article 4477-2, V.C.S.,
Eon. Raymond E. I&gee, page 5 (V&1116)
"county purpose ' Bexar County
tz E?f &58 Texs 9g9,157 i.W&& 134 (1941).
APPROVED: Yaws VePy tlwly,
Jo Cs Davis, Jr. PRICE DANIEL
Cduntg Affairs Division Attorney General.
Everett Hutchinson
Executive Assistant
Charles Da Mathews
First Assistant Assistant
JR:mw
,