OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL OF TEXAS
AUSTIN
GROVER SELLERS
ATIOINSI G”~=“A‘
Hon. J. P. Wllllaar
County Attorney
bar a93
Yoakm county
Plalna, Taraa
Dear Slrr
yodd t&Q be governed by thq laws under the new set
UP1 as-passed by the recent Legislature?
Y.-.-he County Treaaurcr’s aalsry ~8s not included
in the recent lawa passed by the Legialaturua, what
authority, It any, does the Commlreloner9a Court have
ror adJustlng the salary of the County lhnaurer, In
line with the aslarlea paid to the other ofrloers of
the County?”
Hon. J. P. ~~11~18m8, page 2
Tho population of Yoakum County 88 shown by thr 1940
Fedora1 Census la 5,354, and whhrnthr Commia8lonara’ Court ot
aald oounty drtrrmlno8 that the ocunty offlOer8 shall br oan-
penaatod on thr basis of an annual salary rather than on a fee
basis, the amount of ths annual salaries whloh the 8ommlaslonera~
Court may rlx ror suoh orrloera la governed by thr provlalona or
Sootloh 15 or Artlola 39128, Vornon@a Annotated Civil Statutes,
together with the amendment to aaid Artiolr, set rorth in Smotlon
4 or Senate Bill No. 123 Aota Of the 49th Legleleture, 1945. The
above mentioned Artlcla I a8 amended) oontalna g mar01 provlsloa8
a# to the mlnlmum and mnxlmum lalrrlea, lpplloablo to’811 ooun-
tlra having a population oi 1080 than 20,000 Inhabitanta, agoord-
lng to the last roordlng Fedaral Cuxaua, whore the Cormnlaa~lonora’
Court has aetrrm Pned that the oountF ofilorra shall be paid on a
salary basis, 88 wrll as spoolal Drovlalona, lpplloabl~ under
pertain olroumatanoes, whorrby thr Coamlaaloner8~ Court may allow
oortaln prroentagea or lnoreaae to br added to the amount of the
aalarlea allowed nnder Dhr grnrral provisions of raid aeotlon.
As a ganoral Dro?lelon with referOnOe to the minimum
ehd maximum aalarl8a OZ OoWIty OfflOOrs, In OoUUtle8 having a
population oi 18.~8 than 20,000 inhabitants aooordlng to the or-
ceding Ysdrr0.l Census, wm rind the following language In Sootion
15, Artlole 3912r, V. A. C. S.:
‘Thr Commla6ionarrt Court in oountlar having a
population of 1088 than twenty thousand (20,000) Inhab-
itants, aooordlng to the last preo8ding Federal Census
at the first regular meeting In Janurrry oi laoh oelen-
dar year, may pass en order providing for dcinpensatlon
of all county and preolnot offloers on a salary basis.
The Commlssloners’ Court In eaoh of suoh counties in
hereby authorized, and it shall be its duty, to rlx the
salaries cf Criminal District Attorneys. In the event
such Court passes suoh order they shall pay to each of
said District and County OffiOer8 in Coney an annual
salary in twelve (12) equal installments of not lea8
than the tote1 sum earned as oompen8ation by raid
orrloer lr hi8 said oifloial oapaolty for the fl8oal
year of 1933 and not more than the maximum allowed suoh
ofrloer under laws existing August 24th, 1935......”
Hon. J. F’. “‘lllle?s, -,sge 7
Thus, unZsr the above quoted general provision, tIm
mlnlmum salary vhloh may be paid to the orrlcerr referred to
la the amount earned a8 oompenaetion by eaoh retipeotlvo orfloor
In his said orrlolal oapaolty for the fkroel yeer 1935, while
the marlmum salary under raid general provlalon of this eeotlon
la the mulmm! oanpenaatlon whloh each r8apeotlve offloer was
ellowed under law8 existing Aueuat 24, 1935, ($),OOO.OO;for
orrloers lnoluded therein, other than the oaunty treasurer;
#2,000.CC ror the oounty treaaurerl.
I’:‘lth reference to s~eolsl provlolona slithorizing
certain peroentegoa of lnoreeae to be added to the roregolng
amounts eUowed under the general prorl8lona, the pertinent
prorlalona are:
R , provided, thet in oountlaa having a
&la& or lea8 than twenty thousand (20,000) lnhab-
ltanta, according to tho last preoedlng Federal Census,
and having an aeaeased valuation In uoeaa oi Ten Mll-
lion ((10,000,000.00) Dollars ecoordlng to the last
preceding approved tax roll ot such ocunty the maxhum
amount rllowed such orrioers a8 sal8rlea may be ln-
creased ona (1%) purr cert for eaoh One Xllllon
(~1,000,000.00) Dollar8 valuation, or rraotionel part
thereof, In exceaa oi meld Ten Mllllon ($10,000,000.@0)
Dollars valuation over end above the maximum amount
sllomrd such oifloers under la w8lxistlng on Auguet
24, 1935, . . ." (Section 15, Article 39124)
Thus, ::ken the ~omissioners ’ Court determines to in-
crease the ofricers selariec above the amounts allowed under the
general provis:ons (@,OOO.OO - r*2 , OOO.OO), under the above
q1;oted Irovlsion, ;ne perof nt per rciilion or ?ractlon,thereof oi
;unty tax vsl;%:.tlrr. akve .~10,OCO,OZO.G0 nay be eSded tc the
:xe;oi.lg b.rounts.
I^$ “That ‘actlcn 15 0r Article 35120, Sevlsed Xv11
.i,
-tetutee 3 Texbs, 1925, as amended, be end the 8aze
is hereby amnded by adding thereto the following:
“‘Lq The Commissioners Court la hereby authorizeA,
-&en in t..slz ,iudtl;ment the ilnanc:al conditlzn of the
__ ‘lnty 2 n i the ZETCS c: the cfficsrs,
.- justtry the increase,
- e2ter ~1.: -r.ier
-“_, iiicreesing t5e ccm?enseti:n c1’ the
;:,tci..ct, ckinsy 2z~L d:a;rict oific~rs In 3 s?dl-,isnsl
Hon. J. F. “:illlama, page 4
rmount not to sxoeed twenty-tire (25%) per oent
o r the r umlllcmrd under the law tor the ilboal.
year o? 1944, proridrd the total oolpsnbation
ruthorlbbd under the law for the tlboal Fear oi
1944 did not sxoeed the bum o? Thirty-nix Hundred
($3600.00) Dollarb. (a (sec. 4, 9. a. 123) Aotb
. 49th Lbglblbture, 1945)
Thle prorlbion
authorizer the Comlealonsrb’ Court
to allow an inoraeesthe balarl~b
in o? the OttlOsrb referred
‘to, not to bxoead twenty-tlvb peroent bbove thb amount allowed
under the law a8 oompenbatlon for buoh ottlorrb for the tl8oQ
year 1944. Thub, in order to determine the ~xlmum b#brleb
allowable in Yoakum County under thlb prorlblon when beid oounty
ohanger to the ralary bybtem on January 1, 1946, it lb ffrrt
neoebbbry to detrrmlne what amount wbb bllowed under the law tor
bald oiiioere in Toakum Coiintq tor the tlboal year 1944. In the
tiboal year 1944, bald ottloerb o? Yoakum County were oompen-
bated on a ?ee basib and were rubjeot to the provisions ot
Artloleb 3863 and 3891, V. A. C. S., lx o epth t e0Ounty treasurer
whose maximum oompenbation wab governed by the provision8 or
Artlola 3943, V. A. C. S. The oompenbatlon allowed those otil-
oera governed In the year 1944 by the provision8 ot &tloleb
3883 and 3891 war llmlted to $3,000.00, while under the prowl-
blonb OS Artiale 3943, the oompenbatlon oi the oounty treasurer
web limited to $2,000.00. Se note here that the provisions oi
Section 15, Artlole 3912e, authorizing the amount bllowed under
laws existing August 25, 1935, to be inoreased at the rate o?
one percent per million or fraction thereof or county tax relu,s-
tlon In exoess ot $10,000,000.00, according to the last approved
tax roll, applies only to those oounties operating on the salary
basis. “lnoe Yoakum County was not operating under the salary
law In the flsoal gear 1944, the one percent per million in
excess of ten pillion reterrsd tc i:. said salerr la:: oc,uld net b
apTlIed in deterzinixc the aEo:ount of tte salaries aLlox.?5 under
the law for the oftiolals o? Yoakun Count;? for the iiecel yeer
1944. Thus, In a county, such as Yoaiu~ County, that opersted
on a fee basis in 1944, the amount allowed undar the law tor
the fiaoal year was governed by the llmitatlons of Artloles
3883, 3891 and 3943. ‘::hen the twenty-five peroent Increase
591
Hen. J. :. “~‘?lllece, pege 5
authorized by Seotlon 4 o? S. B. No. 123, la added to the
maximum amount allowed under the lbW ?or the tleoal year
1944, the total maximum snuual salary allowable by virtue
o? buoh proriblon would be $3750.00 ($3,000.00 PlUb 25%)
for all orrloerb referred to, exoept the oount treasurer
whobe maximum bnnuel balarg would be $2500.00 T$2,000.00
PlU* 25%).
SummarIb?.ng the above and foregoing, you are
adrlsedr
(1) Under the general provlbIonb o? Seotlon 15,
Artlole 3912e, wlthout reterenoe to the appll-
oatlon of any speolal prtnlalon authorizing
peroentager of lnorebbo, the maximum annual
bblbr~ of the ottloerb lnoluded therein lb
the maximum emount o? compensation allowed
buoh otrloerb under laws existing Augubt 24,
1935, ($2,000.00 for the oounty treasurer1
$3,COO,OO for other ofiloers referred to).
(2) Under the special provlslonb authorizing per-
oentages o? lnoreese above the foregoing
amount8 under the general provlalona,the
mexlmum peroentage o? lnoreabe, lnbotar as
Toakum County 1s oonoemed, would be twenty-
?lre peroent, unless the tax valuation of
said oounty an shown by the approved tex
rolla of 1945 wan suoh an amount that an
Increase o? more then twenty-five percent
could be authorized. stated dl??erently,It
viould be neoeesary that the 1945 tax valua-
tion o? Yoakur: County be In exoess of
~~5,000,OCO.OO before the fore&olcg amount.8
(t?,OC,O.CO end ~2,GCO.OO) could be ICcrezsed
more t,“.Er. t.iient.y-five yeroent. Thus, If the
1945 t,zx vzluEtl)n or Yoakun: County is
:35 ,OOC,OCO.COor less, the mxlmum annual
salary of the county treaeurer for the flaoel
year 1946 would be $2500.00, ant for other
oiiloers governed by the salary law, the
maximum annual salary vrould be $j750.00.
Hon. J. P. ::‘illiams, page 6
Nlth reterenor to Jour question as to the bdjubt-
ment that may be made in the OOunty trebburer*b bb1br~, the
foregoing dibOU#biOn inoludeb the prorIbion8 l pplloable to
the county trerburer where a oountf oompenbateb it8 o??loerr
on the baa18 oi an annual bblary. When a oounty operate8 on
a balary Habib, the QrotibiOnS o? hOtiOn 15, AX%iOle j912e
(ab amended) lre lppliobble to the ocmpenbatlon of the ocuntr
treaburer. However,when a oounty oompenbateb it8 OffiOerb
on 8 fee babib, we know of no prorlblon authorizing anr ln-
oreaae beyond the ,62,000.00 maximum ocmpenbbtlon authorized
by Artlole 3943. In thin oonneotlon we refer you to our
Opinion Rio.O-6588, addrebbed to you, wherein if wan pointed
out that Seaata Bill Ho. 12) in no ray amended the protlblonb
lpplloable to the mbXi.lIIUm oompenbation of the eountf treasurer
when the oftloers of the oountf are ocaapenbbted on 8 tee kblb.
We trubt that the above and SOregOing batib?aotorll~
anbwerb your lnqulrleb.
Yours very truly,
ATTORNEY
GENERALOF TEXAS
BY J. A. gllib
ASbiStSnt
.-.