-RICE DANIEL
u7ounsY GENERAL February 20, 1948
. .
Ron,-Jill1R. WSlson opinion NO. v-508 ...
District attorney
Dallas County Re: The proper fund from which
Dallas, Texas \ to pag.the matdhlng con-
tributionof the County
for;County Rmployee Re-
tirementSystem.
.
Dear Sir:
Reference-ismade to your re&nt.reque& for
an opinFbn from this Departmentrelative to theabove
captionedmatter.~ It reads, in part, as follows:
"Dhllas County is-settliigQiLa'.Couhty.
Rmployee Retl.rement.System as prescribedin
Section 62-b of Article 16‘of the-Constitu-
tlon of the State of Texas. In view'of the
fact that some employees of Dallas~County .' ~ _
are paid out of funds other than the“gener-
aI fund, for example, the Road and Bridge
Fi+d,.the question is presentedas to vheth-
er the five percent to be paitd‘bg.theCoun-
ty under the provision of the constitutional
amendment, to match'the~deduction iuade:from
the employees' salaries,must be paid out t
'of-theGeneral Fund~or may the County pay -
such five percent out of the fund from which
the employee is paid . . . .
"It is, therefore,requestedthat you
furnish this offiqe ,withan oplx+on on the
question above presented, . . z
So far as is pertinent to your-inqudry,Sec-
tion 9, Article VIII, of the State Constitutionpro-
vides: ..
II
. . .. and no count7 . Llali.1ei-y
more than twenty-five (25 ieAts for . . .
county purposes .'. . on the one hundred
dollars valuation, . . . provided,however,
that the CommissionersCourt in any county
-
-
202 Hon. Will R. Wilson, page 2 (V-508)
may re-alldcatethe foregoLugcounty
taxes by changing the rates provided for
any of the foregoingpurposesby either
tincreasingor decreasingthe same, . . .a
Subdivision(b) of Section62 of Artii%e XVI,
of the State Constitutionis, In part, as follows:
"(b) Each county shall have th& right
to provlde for and adminlstel' a Retirement, _
Disabilityand Death CompensationFund for
the appolntlve officersand employeesof
the county; provided same-laauthorizedby
a majority vote of the qualifiedvoters of
such county and after such electionhas
been advertlsed.bybeing publlshed'inat
least one newspaper of general circulation
In said counti once~eachweek for four con-
secutive weeks; provided that the amount
contributedby the county to such Fund shall,
equal the'amountpaid for the same purpose
from the Income of e&&such person, and
shall not exceed at any time five per cen-
tum (5%) of the compensationpaid to each
.suchperson by the county,and shall in iio
6ne gear'exceed the sum'of Cne'&uidHd &id
Eighty Dollars ($180) for any such person,'
We believe that provldlng fiindsby'the'county
for such RetirementDlsabilltyLnd Death CompBnss'tion
Fu.ucl~lsa county purpose wit&n $hfimeanTngof'AHi%iile
~II,~S~ctio~'~9,'suplis: -The Supreme~Cotit'ln-tti'case
df Be&-County v..Maxi&-157 S:'W. (26) 1;34,"in,deter;
mXning?whetheti the CoMtisloners( Cotit was ~authorised
to pu5chase'votingmachines and pag .forsame out of the
General +nd of t&e county, had this to say:
I)
.The ptatute does not in express.
w&&*provlde that th6 bonds iSsu&d.the&e-
vinclbr sEall,be.z~aharge against the gener-
al fund; .but,'in-our opinion,.lt;doea so
provide by necessary %mpllc&tldni~'this
isustbe trriebecause the.Leglsl;&ture by'
6nactlhg the stitute'hereinvolvedhas pro-
vided for the expendltme of county funds
for a.county purpose. Such expendLiz&e
does not oome or ,fallunder any purpose
for which a specisl fund has b&&n provid-
led. All oounty expenditureslayfully :
i..
autho+zed to be:inade.bga oountjimust :..I~
be.:paid&t-of t,haeounty!rjgbneral.fund
~es~~'thez+is.sdme'l~w which makes'$hem
a charge against a.spedal-fundi.. .
We belleve~thatthe same rule-of latrInvoked
in the;above case is appll&able'tothe question present-
-.. . ed here. Therefore,you'are respectfxilly advlped that
if ls.~.our t& five-per cent to.be id by-the
cipl.n.lon
County undid the provisions-‘ofBubiie&loxirb), Sebtlon
62.of $rtlOle ~'of~tfie'State.Constltuti~~ to'm&tch
.the.dedu&t;lon
made from oounty employetis'salaries,
must be paid out of the General Fund of the Couuty.
SUMMARY -
- Th6 five pez iiefit'~to
be~pai~~by~t~
couutg‘~.er the provision of Subsection
.(bJ;Seatibii62-of~Brtible‘XVI:..of~.thE,‘--.
.State~Dbnstltiitlti~'to
niatch-theadhc- --
ti0n~maae from'cpuntyemployees salaries,
must be n&id out of-the General Fund of
f
the qou&y. _
. .
:a.
Yours. very trply, ,
ATTORFJEP
td?ZRAi OF 'TE#lS.
:
BHice JIllen
Assistant
.