. -
THEA~TORNEYGENERAL
OlF~EX:AS :
June 18, 1948
Honorable Lon Alsup
Executive Secretary-Director
State Commission for the Blind'~ "
Land Office Building
Austin, Texas
Opinion NO. v-609
Re: 'Authorityof State Commission
for the Blind to accept land
as a donation; to pay taxes
thereon: to sell; and dlsposi-
tion of proceeds of such sale.
Dear Sir:
Your letter requesting anopinion reads in
part:
"The laws . . . in behalf of the
State Commission for the Blind permit
the said ConmIssIon to accept donations.
Mr. Ben M. Beaver ';. . desires to donate
to the State Commission for the Blind ap-
proximately17 acres of land, . .
"Mr. Beaver proposes to give a deed
to this land to said Commlss$.onwith the
specific agreement that all mineral rlghts~
are to be reserved to him and his wife un-
tll their death. Then, such mineral rights
would become the property of the commission.
"In view of the statementmade above,
please advise this department If it would
be advisable for this agency to accept this
donation. Also advise if this land was ac-
cepted by this agency, if it would be ex-
em ted from county and,state taxes. If it
wete not exempted, would this agency be re-
sponsible for the taxes or would such taxes
be paid by the Legislature of the State of
Texas.
-
Hon. Lon Alsup - Page 2-V-609
"It is also to be taken into considera-
tion the fact that if the Commission for
Blind were to accept this donation of land
that It is to be used for the development
of a rural project for blind persons. If
it Is found over a reasonable period of time
that such a project is not feasible, then in
that event, the Commission for the Blind or
the the State of Texas would be permitted to
sell such land and the proceeds,of the sale
of such property would go to the State Com-
mission for the Blind to be used in develop-
ing the business enterprisesprogram for the
blind."
Sec. 7 of Ii.B. 347,Ch. 241, p. 374,Acts of
1945, 49th Legislature is codlfled as Art. 3207c, Sec.7,
v. c. s., and reads as follows:
"Gifts. The Director is hereby au-
thorized and empowered,with the approval
of the Commission, to accept and use gifts
made unconditionallyby will or otherwise
for carrying out the purpose of this Act.
Gifts made under such conditions as in the
judgment of the Commission are proper and
consistentwith the provisions of this Act
may be so,acceptedand shall be held, in-
vested, reinvested,and used in accordance
with the condttlons of the gift."
It is OUT opinion that "gifts" as used in Article
3207c, Sec. 7, V.C.S., is broad enough to include land.
Your letter states that this land, if accepted,
would be used for the developmentof a rural project for
blind persons. It Is further noted that the deed re-
serves a life estate in the mineral rights to the grantor
and his wife.
In our opinion, a reservationof a life estate
in the minerals to the grantor and his wife is "proper
and consistent"with,the provisions of Art. 3207c,V.C.S.
The reservationof the minerals In the land to the gran-
tor and his wife for life may conceivablyinterferewith
the future use of the land for the developmentof a rural
project for the blind, if there is any substantialoil
and gasdevelopment. In such event, however, the land
could be sold without affecting the mineral rights of
Honorable Lon Alsup - Page 3-v-609
the grantor and his wife." -'
If the Commlsslonaccepted the donation of
this land, would It be tax exempt?~ The State Com-
mission for the Blind isan Instrumentalityof State
government and possesses only such powers as has
been conferred on it by the Constitutionand Legls-
lature. We do not find any statute or article of
the Constitutionthat permits the,paymentof 'taxes
by the State Colmnissionfor'the Blind; therefore, It
is our opinion that such property interest conveyed
to the said Commission would be exemptfrom Stite~~
and County taxes.
The question of whether or not such property
could be sold was answered in Attorney General's Opinion
Ho. O-2355 as follows:
"Your question is answered,'then, by
determiningthe character of the'grant.
It is clear that 3.Pit is public money
it may not be expended except upon a ape- ,
clfic appropriationmade therefor by the
Legislature. Sectia.6, Article VIII,
Constitutionof Texas; &Combs v. Dallas
County (CCA; 1940) 136 S. W. (2) 975. On
the other hand, if the gift constitutesa
trust fund, and we hold under the specific
facts given, that It does, It may be ex-
pended by your Commlsslon as trustee under
any lawful condltlons Imposed by the donor
of the grant consistentwith the Com-
mlsslonts duties under Art; 3207a, V.C.S.
Such funds have no place in the State
Treasury and Section 6 of Article VIII
of the Constitutionhas no application.
Under such circumstances,moreover, rea-
aonble prudence would dictate that all
such moneys received be placed in a pri-
vate bank account."
It is to be noted that Section 7 of Article
3207c, V. C. S., authorizes the Director "to accept
and use gifts," but the Commission must first approve
the gift. The conveyanceshould be made to the Di-
rector of the State Commission for the Blind and his
successors In office as trustee. Itis also to be
Hon. Lon Alsup - Page 4 -- v-609
noted that the gifts "shall be held, invested,
reinvested and used in accordancewith the con-
ditions of the gift."
SUrnY
The Director of the State
Commission for the Blind, with the ap-
proval of the Commission,may act In the
capacity of a trustee and accept gifts
of land with mineral rights reserved in
~the grantor and his wife for life, and
the interest in the land that is accepted
will then be exempt from State and County
taxes. Such land may be sold and the
proceeds of the sale held, Invested, re-
invested and used for vocational rehabil-
itation of the blind as authorized in Arti-
,cle3207c, V. C. S.
Yours very truly
ATTORNEYGENEML OF TEXAS
BY Robert W. Spence
Assistant
RWS:bt
APPROVED