Untitled Texas Attorney General Opinion

?I-HE ATroRNEY GENERAL OF’TEXAS Eon. T. E. Knight county Attorney Stonewal1~0ounty A~permont, Texas Dear Sir; O@lnl& No-;O-7580 Rer As-.tiatithorltyfor~olty to oreatb’.wateti dletrlot rlthln lta oiinboundaries undnr dtitlolea78804SKor V881, R.C.S. 1925, and roleted queationa. W8 have considered your letter OS Aug. 25, 1946, on behalf of H. H. Shadle, County Judge of Stonewall Coutity,in whloh you request an opinion on tha following qusatlons,,ae quoted from your lettor: "1. I ha%d you latter to mo from County Judge E. H..%adls of thl6 County in whloh ha rlahsd to know whether the City of hspemnont may, under Artlolo 7880435 oi'Revlaed Statutes, oroate water dlstrlots wholly wlthln ita boundarlaa for the purpose of digging wells, pools, or tanku:~oJIly outside the olty llmlts and plplng wator lnto the olty of domestlo and oommerloal purpo~~ea. "2. baa lndloated by Judge Shadls, tMa Lt. rather suggests that a tom mlght,only aid aMthor district or be oreatod ln oonneotlon rlth outside territory aa a rater dlrtrlot, and 1s vague as to whether olty might oroata rater dlatriot within ltaelf to obtaln rater for domeatlo and oommerolal purposes. What 1s your oplnlon a8 to this? "3. I understand that the olty aldeken may appoint five dlreotors and organize the water Control and Improvement Dlstrlot - aa provided by said Art. ,7880-135, and that after this an eleotlon rould have to be held to determine whether bonds might be Issued and taxes levied. But, as stated, Aspermont rants to provide way for water for only domestic and oommer- clal purposea. Would this provision be broad enough .to lnoluds auoh4 Ron. T. E. Knight, page 2, O-7380 "4~. If Aspermont might oreate within itself a water dlstrlot for t@e purposes mentioned, should petition for eleotlon to levy taxes and laaur bonds be addressed to the Commissioners Court of then County, or might the City Council order the eleotlori on petition? "5. Under Chapter 4, Art. 7881, it seems that Fresh-Water Supply Dlstrlota may be created for purpose of transporting water for domestlo and oommerloal purposes, and that such districts may include cities. But this article does not speoifl- oally state that cities within their own boundaries may create suoh diatrlot. As stated, Aspermont wants fresh water, and she wants it for domestlo and com- merloal purposes, and she wishes to transport such water from lakes, pools, tanks, creeks or any other place she may get it outside the city. If she can create such a district wholly within her~own borders, then it may be that ahe could organize and create suoh district under this Rrtlole 7881, and this would be better than oreatlng.sams under 7880-136. But, it is not olear that she could do this alone. What do you think about it? I . . . ihylllsay that on June 19th, 1946, we asked for opinion from you relative to the City of Aspermont joining with outalde territory and orsatlng water dlstrlot, and you gave us opinion No. O-7130. Later the olty oonoluded that an eleotlon with the outsldo territory would not oarrg in favor of oreatlng the dlstrlot, and now desires to oreats dlatrlot within it8 own bordera. This la why we are asking for opinion as stated above." - we understand your letter, The baaid problem, as is the oorrsot statutory authority for the creation of a water district with boundaries ootermlnous with those of the city of Aspennont for the purpose of supplying fresh water for domestlo end oommerloal use by the inhabitants of the city of Aepermont. Your fifth and last question poses the above stated problem ln the light of Art. 7881 (R.C.S. 1925), ~whloh reads as follows: I ,t. Ls- Hon. T. E. Knight, paga S, O-7580 *Artiolo 7881. Purpcwe8 Vhero may ba oreatod within this Stata oonerrvatlon dlstrlots~.tok knom ar Frmh Wuter Supply Dlatrlota for the purpose of oonaarvlng, transporting and distributing freah rater from lakes, pools, reservoira, rolls, aprlngs, orsaks,L and rivers for dome&&o and.oommorolal purpoaesj as contemplated by Seotlon 69, Artlolo 16 of the State constitution. Said dlstrlots~shall have and may exerolse all tha,rlghta, 'privilegesand porere given by this ohapter and in aocordanoe with its directions, llmltatlons and provisions. Such dls- trlcts may or may not include oltlee and towns.* It would appear that the above article spe~lfloally provides for the exact purpose for whLoh you desire to oreate a Water District, namaly, a Fresh Water Supply Dlstrlot organized to transport.and distribute fresh rater for dorps- tic and commerolal purposes. Such a dlatrlot, however, may not be oreated by a town or olty, but may be oreatod only upon the presentation to the commissioners oourt or oounty judge of tha county embracing the lands -iR '&e proposed district of a petltlon signed by fifty or a majority&f the qualified voters of such proposed district who own land theroln, as~provlded by Art. 7882. Such petition must, among other th¶.nga,.sat forth the bouqdarles of the proposed dlatrlati tho.gensral nature of the.,workproposed to be dono, the naomaslty therefor, and the feaelblllty thoroof. As stated ln the oaee of Be10 ~vi Morrlmnn (Clv. App.) 245 S.W.,1012, reversed on other grounds, 296 8.W. 1095, there is no limitation as to the boundaries of suoh dlstrlot or sugg+stlon thritoounty llnea or lines of any other .polltloal subdivision shall be oonslderod ln l.stab- lishing such district, and it is immaterial that water to be conserved is out of the district and ia to be brought into the dlstrlot. We find no objection to the oreatlon.of auoh a Fresh Water Supply Dlstrlot with boundaries coterminous with the boundaries of the olty of,Aapermont, provided that oompllanoe is made with tha rsqUlrem&s of Chapter 4 Tltle'l28, R.C.S. 1925, as amended. (Arts. 7881-78991. It should be noted that this chapter requires an eleotlon by the resident property taxpayers who are qualified voters of such proposed dlatrlot (Arts. 7888-7893) before such Hon. T. E. Knight, page 4, O-7380 district oan be organized. Referring now to your _ first ._ four .. questlone, .. ^ you ask in question number on4 wheth4r tllsolsy Or Aspermont may, under Art. 7-6-136, R. C. 3. 1995, oreate within its own boundaries a water dlstrlot for the hitherto stated purposea. Suoh artlole reads ln part as follows: "Any town, olty or munloipal oorporatlon may have the benefit and powers herein provided under th4 constitution of this Stat4 and may aid any district in the oonstruotion and operation of any suoh lmprove- ments to the extent that same may be an advantage to such municipal oorporatlon in the following manner: "A. The area included in any town, olty or Ir municipal corporation be organized into and oonstl- tuted a water oontrol and improvement dlstrlot with all the powers, authority and prlvll4g4s provided by Seotion 59 of Article 16 of the Constitution and be governed by this Act, by an ordinance duly enacted by the board of aldermen, oommissloners, orgoverning body thereof, oonstitutlng same a water oontrol and lmprovs- ment district and appointing five dlreotors therefor. The bonds of suoh directors shall be filed with and approved by said governing board of suoh munlclpallty, and upon the quallfloatlons of said dlreotors said dlstrlot la completely organized without th4 neces- sity of holding an 4leotlon therefor. Said district shall from and after lta organization be governed by th4 provisions of this Aot and sny amendments hereafter 4naotsd." The above quoted artlole by its terma provides for the orsatlon by ordlnanos of the~governlng body of a town or oitv of a Water Control and Imrrovement 0lstrlot to include only the area of suoh town br oity, without the neoesslty for an eleotlon to oonfirm the creation or organization of such district. Suoh dlstrlot is given all the powers provided by Section 59 of Art1014 16 of the Texas Constitution, which rmoessarilv lnoludes the purpose act forth in your letter, tog4ther with many other purposes, as 4numerated in Artiole 7880-3, 7880-3a, and 7080-7. It will be noted that after organization of suoh a district pursuant to a duly enaoted ordinance of the town or olty in question, said ordinance appointing five direotors for such dlstrlot to serve until the next general election in such dlstriot, there must be held a general election on Hon. T. $. Knight,.pago 5, O&7384 1: ,, the aeoond Tuesday in January next after the said dlatrlot is formed, at whloh time the flvo dlreotora for thr @strict shalk b4 aleotad. (Art.~78SO-37) i. , : After or&nl~a&&, a'*dlatriot'o&aCad k&r Art..7880-155 la subjsot. to a11 the,provlsions~of Chapter 3A, Title 128, R.C.S. 1925, as amended,.where applloable. (Arts. 7880-l to 7880-1472, inoluslvo) Your first question is therefore answered in the affirmative. Your ~seoondquestion is, in general, answered by the above statements in our answer to your first question. It may.b4 added that a distrlot areated under Art. 7880-135, after organization is a separate polltloal entity from th4 town or olty,by.whose ordinance s'uohdistrict was created, even though the boundaries of suoh dlstrlot are ooterminous with the boundaries of such town or city. By the terms of said article, the town or city in question may aid such district "in the oonstructlon and operation of any such 1mprovament.sto th4 .4xtent that same may be an advantage to such municipal oorporationn in the manner set out by the statute, but after creation of the district the govern- ing body of the town or oity in question has no oontrol over the dlstrlot, whloh has a governing body of its own and its powers, authority and privileges are referable to a different title of the Revised Civil Statutes than are thos4 of towns and cities. The statement included in your thlrd.quebtlon to the effeot that an election in the dlstrlot would be necessary before bonds may be issued and taxes lovied in support theroof is oorreot. As stated ln our above answer to your first question, districts organized under Art. 7880-136 are given sufflolqntly broad authority to carry out th4 purpose of transporting and dletrlbutlng fresh water for domestic and oommeroial use within suoh dlstrlot; therefore, your third qusstion is answered in the affirmative. Your fourth question is answered by referenoe to Articles 7880-9, -31, -32, -78, -00, and -81. No petition is required for an election in water districts to issU0 bonds and levy taxes in payment therefor.. Suoh elections are ordered by the direotors of suoh dlstrlct~on the basis of surv4ys and investigations oonducted on the order of such directors, and bonds may be issued only after the approval of the State Roard of Water Engineers is secured, , Hon. E. T. Knight, page 6, O-7380 as Gquired by Art. 7880-139. It will be noted, as stated, above,,that after the oreatlon of a water oontrol and lmprovbment district under the provisions of Art. 7880-136, such dlstrlot beoomes a separate polltloal entity and is not eubjeot to the oontrol of the govsrnlng body either of th4 olty or of the oounty~wlthln whose boundaries suoh dlstrlot may be looated. Truatlng that we have satlsfaotorlly answered your questions, we remain Yours very truly ILTTORNEXO~WSRJUIOF TEXAS s/ Wm. Blanton, Jr. BY Wm. Blanton, Jr. Assistant WB:hMW/og Approved Wov. 8, 1946 a/ Harris Toler First ;bssltant~' Attorney Oeneral This opinion oonsldered and approved in limited oonferenoe.