.
635
OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL OF TEXAS
AUSTIN
Honorable0. C. 3aokaon
county Attorwy
zevalaCounty
CrystalCity, Texas
3car sir:
/t’ pColleotor o? !4avela
County
be requhed under lav to
tit da the Tar Aaaeaaor-
./+toUaotorof Clyakl city
Ix&dependentSohoolDintriot?
Ud othm related questiona.
Yo ur r eQue8t o d th elbwe
fd a nc g inio m lpettera
haa
kx?n receivedati.Mrpfully’qo~dered. Ye quote said request
as follavar \> -‘y ) 1
.I"Rkt,,Tax )L48~~8ti02104t0Pfor.Cryat Cltr
:““yyy Sohool~~*
11
J “Qwat.it)s Can the tax aaaeaaor-oolleotcm
loi mm14 ckullb be required umlelr Iw to rot as
the tax aaaea,aor-oolleotor
of CrystalCity Independ-
enb,SQIyl~pbat*ct?
\
*Antkerr “No. AlthoughArtiole 2792, Reriaed
Civil S8atnteaof Texas, Aota 1937, prcnrideathat he
@shall’sat as assaaaar-oolleotor of auoh indspend-
ent aohool districtvhen a majorityo? said trusteaa
of suoh dlatrlotprefer to here their taxes laaeaaed
and oolleotedby the assessor-oolleotor OS the oounty,
beoause such sot is in oonillotvlth the Constitution-
al prwlslon which holds It unlavf%lto hold tvo of-
fices of trust or emolumentin this state.
Ilon. 0. c. JeokDaa, ?a@ 2
"Qwatiaaa 21 Whet hod wuld be mulud or
swh eaaosaovand eolloeto ii thmtotal tax rob
leo)aalvm$2o,oooT
*Amver: @o,ooo, Avtlole 27gl.
3:a u th e
“Qmetla Oo u B ty
lu u q rod
o o uo o tc ua
p b er o q ulud
a du lu to luu a a d
oolloottb taxer tae tha ladapmdon% rahool dl8-
trfot, t&mavZvt oaapumtiouorakpd4blmoa
$2o,ooo Oolauam?
"@MStiW 'a = tb. OOWlt~ UBU8OWO~bOt6l
oaa k FaqlIal-Ddto 688088 ud oolleot the taxer foe
the vt aohoaldirtriOt, thrrr era thD fJeu
that he PUOOiV.8
ior auoh oo;llo&ionsoaountablefor
~g e 8 o fo fa 0l0
futtngh laM%$.WB f888 OOUOO-
“tt’hO?h 8 m&D’% Ofth8bortidobtW8Of
an lmapemlmntDl8 a otpretertohevetheta%uof
th a w
mo tr lo l uued eM o o llu to a th e
t Co u nty
h UUO lrd CO%hOtW, OF 8-m ‘37
couat~ Fe% collutor, um ahallba .8808*~ i!z
0011utod by uld cow* ofaum ud ttwud our
to the Treaaunz,or the ImlopeMoat boboa Dutriet
fCS’VhlOh8UOhtuerh~~O0&b0t8d.. . .’
Artlola 8, Seot%oal4, of the Cosutltutimof Texas,
1la as follma
%a uo lb r llkll~todbytbe qualfflad
eleotora ata8ahoountyattheurtLrnrabuada
the use LEV regulatitqthe eleatioa of State and
caunt~OICfl0~~,~ill~aua~*DdC0U toe ofTuo8,
vho aball hold bia offlom,for tvo (2P mn and until
his mooeDsOT 18 OlOOtOdl&l qlpllftiad~alld8UOh Aa-
aeaaor end Collrotor0S 'Psxeashall paFfOXU all the
ROIl.0. C. Jaokaon,Pega 3
duties vith reapeot to la a ea a lng
property for the
purpose of tam&ion and of oollrotlngtaxer as mar
be preaoribedby the Legialeture."
In the oaae of Pint Xeptlrt Churoh v* CltJ of Fort
Worth, 26 3. W. (26) 196, the CammIaalon of Appeals had before
it the questionof vhether m net an la a ea a a ent
of plalntlffin
error18 propertyfor the year for vhioh reowerj vaa lverded vaa
valid, as it vaa ooateadedthat, at the tlma ruoh laaeaammt vaa
made, the offloesaaaeaaing memo Ma 8ttemptUtg to hold tvo of-
floes of emolumentin vlolatiouof Art1018 16, Seotlon 40, of
the Conatltutlonof thla Wate, in that he vaa 8aaudng to lot
sa asaaaaorand oolleotorof taxes is the City of ZrortWorth
and also far the Fort Worth IndepeadentSohoolDirtriot. The
faots vere thet the lev laoorporatlng the PO& Worth Independent
SchoolDlstrlotprovided that;"thearaeramentand oolleotionof
the taxes of the dlatriothereby orertedshall be rde by the aa-
scaaorand oolleotorof the City of ?ort Uorth, vho shall make
osaessmentof all the real, personalax! mixed property looated
in said dietriot,'eto. In holdingthat said naaeaaor add ool-
lectorvaa not holding tvo offlo~r of molument, tha oourt laid
dovn the follovlngmilea of lev vhloh are lpplloablohere,
"The offeot of the rot ln’queationla merely
to Impose additionalduties upon the aaaeaaorand
oolleotorof texea of the oity of lort Worth. It
la not ahovu that thla offloerreoeivednay added
oompeasatlonto that paid by the oity fur the per-
fomanoe of the additionalduties thua plaoed upon
hla. Xven ii ho had been allovedauah ooapeaartlon,
it vould not follaa that the Legislaturevaa oreat-
ing a nev offioe. Ho aouxb3re8aonulata vhythe
Le~alature oould not Imposeldditloml duties upon
this officer eml Lnoruae his ompenaation aaoord-
InSlY l
'IThe lmpoaltlonof additionalduties,) saps
corpus Jurla, vol. 46, pa 934, 2 29, haponaa ex-
isting office, to be performedunder .adlfferant
title,does not constitutetha oreatlonof 4 nev of-
fice.@ The same autharltyfurthersays: *An offlce
to vhloh the dutlea of anotherare lnne%ed remains
teohnlcallga single office; it la not an off108
under its ovn name end title and anotherunder the
name of the one vhoae duties are annexedto it.@
see, also, Allen v. FidelityCO., 269 Ill. 234,
109 N. E. 10351 Hatfield1. MUnga CountJ C-t,
80 w. Va. 165, 92 9. B. 2451 State V. PCWOll, 109
Ohio at. 383, 142 N. B. 401.
Hon. 0. C. Jaokaon,Page 4
nPlaIntIffIn error laalata that, beaauae tha
duties perioxuedby May vem those pertel.ning to
aovareIgnt~,an offloe vaa neoeaaarll~oreatedfor
the Fart Worth lndep ea dentlohool dlatrlot. The
natura of such duties vould not be determinative
of whetherarrof?108vaa orsated,88 the Laglala-
ture msy, if it @loots to do so, requirean lnoua-
bent in an exriating offloe to pbrfon ldditioaal
dutlea lnvolvlagthe lxeralaeof auoh poverm, The
aaaeaaor end oolleotol, of taxes of the olty of
Fort Worth la 8 pub110 oiflobr, and, la tha absence
of any oonatltutionalUmltatlcm, tha Lagialature
might iapoaaUpon him the perfonsanoeof such of
this oharaoterof dutieses lt dbbpledpropbr.’
Anaverlng Question2, laakbd by you, va hand Pou a oopy
of our opinionHo. o-2967;vhe~n It vaa held that tha general
county bond requiredby ArtfalO 7249 of V. A. C. S. leaurea the
paymentof all taxba oolleotedby the aaaeaaor and oolleotol? or
tares to the proper prrtiea. Thereforb, Artlole 2791, referred
to by you, has no application,and the amount of taxes oolleoted
by said assessorand collectorSor tha ladependantaohool dlatrlot
vould not detamlne the unount of his bond.
He hand you herevitha oop~ of our opinionlo. o-2152,
a similarquestionvaa being oonalderedsnd In vhich the
-ihereIn
Pollovlngholdingvaa mado, vhlah la hen adoptbdr
“Where thb Aot amsting the Independentaohool
districtalso creates the offioe of aaaeaaor-oollbotor
of taxes for such dlatrlotand luoh offloe la tilled
br the board of truatbaa of the dirtriot, the holder
thereofis inhibitedby the Conatitutlonfrom holding
also, the offlob of oounty tax aaaeaaor-oolleator, or,
oonveraal~,the oountp tax aaaeaaor-oolleotor la Lnn-
hlblted from llkevlaaholding the oftlab of tax easeaaor-
colleotorfor the schooldlatrlot.
“It tha method adoptedvheraby the school dla-
trlct authorizesthe county tax saaessor-collector
to also aaaeaa and/or oolleot the h%ea of tha school
dlstrlct,effeots the abolishmentof the office of
t8x assessor-oolleotor of the school dietriot,the
result Is merely the ImpoaItlonOS additionalduties
upon the office OS county t8x aaaesaor-collector,and
the holder thereofdoes not therebybecome the holder
of tvo olvil officer of emolumentas prohibitedby
the Constitution. By the same token,cormbpondIng
642
Hon. 0. C. Jaokaan,PSgb 5
sotloa by an iaoorporstbdOltr, In the aunner nboeaae~
to aoocmpllaha linlla~ result,vould llkevlaebe pemla-
provlalonunder dlacuaalon.
sible under the oonatltutIonal
"It la therefonmanifeatthat to obviate the prohibitian
InSea. 40 of Art. 16 of thb ConatItutIon,thb OfflOe OS lohool
districtand olty tat raabaaor-oollbotor mat be abollahadbe-
fore the txunafbr of the duties thbrbofto thb oount7 tax
assessor-oollaatar, otherwiretvo 0i011 offloeaof emolument
vi11 be held and exerOIabdrt the aeme tlae. Aeoordlngl~,
the mbthod adoptedrhbrabr the school dlatrlotand o1t.r&u-
thorlcea ‘by ordlnanoeor by proper rbaolutIon~,ln the
18nguagOof Art. lOk?b, SupFa, thb OOntbUpl8tbd obmgb, nboea-
sarll~must mean auoh proobdure as IS required undbr the ap-
plloable lsva, the City Oharter, 8nd organ%0 lav of thb agency,
to legallyaccomplishthe 8bollahmentof the reapeotlve o??lcea
of dietriotand olty tax araeaaor-oolleotor.
‘I? and when auoh o??Ioeabrb so abolished,it la the
opinionof thla Dbpartment,In a na verlpeoI?Ioall~to your
question,that an Inoorporatbdolty and an independent lohool
districtamy properlyauthorlabthe county tax eaaeaaor-oolleotor
to aaaeaa and/or oolleotall laxer dua to auoh oltr and lohool
dlstrlota,and the county tax aaaesaor-oolleotor MJ legally
act for such other taxingauthorities.*
In vlev of the rules of lav above set out and referred to,
It Is our opinion that the tax aaaeaaor and oolleotorof Zsvala
County can be requiredunder the lov to 8SSbS8 Snd Oolleot the
taxes of the CrystalCity IndbpendentSahool DirtrIot. Ewever,
ve are Purtherof the opinionthat the oS?loe of Aaaeraor and
Collectorof Taxes for a8ld school dlatrlot,I? such offloe b%XiStS,
shouldbe abolishedbefore thb duties of aaaasaIngand OOllOOtlog
thb taxes o f luoh’achooldlatrIatare h4Mfbrrbd t0 the County
!faxAssessor and Collbotor,as he cannot hold any offloialposition
as Tar Aaaeaaorand Collectorof meld dlatrIot,but vmld be only
performingaddltlonalduties lmpoaedupon him by thb &glaleture,
See also the holding of the Supreme Court in lloholaat al v.
CalvestonCouuty,228 9. Y. 547.
In 19%. the Lagialatura aaad Haure Bill Eo. 1032,
pages 652-654,Generallawn o? the r6th Legislature,vhloh v&a
carried into Vernon’sAnnotatedCivil Statutesas Artlole 1042b.
his statuteprovidedthat any incorporatedolty, tovn or village,
independentschool dlstrlot,and other ruuneddiatrlota,could
pmvlda ?or the oounty 8aseasorand tax oolleotorto Bases8 Snd
collect their taxer. Provlalonvaa also made thereinSor ccispenaa-
tlon for such servicesas ?OllCVS~
643
fion0. C. Jackaoa,Rga 6
*Sea. 5. whea the county ~a~aaor and county
Collaotorare nquired to assess and oolloot the
taxes in any * . . ladepmdent aohool dlatrlot . . .
they ah811 reapsotlralynoolve for auoh awvlo~a
z amuut to be qraed upon by thr govemlrq body
. lndependont school dlatrlota
and the &&iaaion.ra Court of tha county ii ;h.ioh
suck , , . Independentaohool diatrlota. . .
d t to lxooed one pmr oent of tho
a r a a itua to no
tares so colleoted.’
At the time this l8v vaa passed, Artiole 2792 vaa in
full Some and effectand Oontainedthe Sollovingprovialom
“When the CountyAaaeaaor and Collaotocla
requiredto a88688 and oollecttha taxes of Inde-
pendent Sohool Dlatrlotahe ahall reapeotlvslpre-
oelve one per omit (l$) for aaaoaalag,and 08x1
per Cent (l$) for 0olleotIngame.”
Artlole 10422,
vaa amended In 1941, and lndspmdent school
dlstrlotavere isit out Sntw.31~. Acts 1941, 47th LsgIalature,
page 404.
An being applicableto the situationthat sxlatedafter
Article 1042b was passed while Article 2792 was In full foroe and
effectsad after Article1042b vaa amended in 1941 so as not to
apply to Independentaohooldietriots , ve here quote and adopt the
~OllOvingholding Of OUC OpiniOnHO. O-5426 vhloh deals vlth the
same situation,though from a dIfferwitltandpointt
‘The.legal effeot OS said hot of 1939 (AHIole
1042b,Vernon’sAnnotated Cl011 Statutesof Toxaa) so
iar as i& pertlnsnt to the questionunder dlacuaalon,
was to repeal by Impllcatlonall that portion of Article
2792, which by Its terms had theretofore emitted the
property OS Independentsohool dIrtrIot L vl.ngtheir
propertiesaassasedand collectedby the Oountyaaaeaaor
and colleotorto be assessedat a greater ValUS them
tbat aaaesaedfor countyand State purposes. The said
Aot of 1939, hovever,did not repeal by implloationor
othervisethat portion of ArtLcle 2792 vhlch permitted
independentSOhOol dlatrlotrto have their PrOpSrtiSS
assessed and aolleot@dby the oounty aasesaorand
collectorr rather, the Act OS 1939 vaa cwnulatlveof
644
Hon. 0. C. Jaokaoa, Page 7
the pertinentprovisionaof Artlole2792 so tar as
this pwor of lndopondentaohooldlatrlotawas oon-
cernod.
“As has boon said by an omlnontauthority:
“8...A statute ttit aovora the aubjootaattor
OS fomor l8v and is lvidmtly Intended 8s a aubatl-
tuto for it, althoughcontainingno express vomla to
that ofieot, operatesas a repwl of the toraw lav
to the extent that Its provlalonaarm revised and
its flrld apootr1l.yoovered,...* (39 Tax. Jur.,
Sea. 80, pagoa 148-149)
‘In 1 41 the Legislatureoi Texas amended la ld
Artlolo 10!2b by cinlttlngthenfrom any reforenoo to
Independentaahool dlatriotaand common aohool dla-
trlcta. The legal effect of said amondmontvaa to
leave artlole 1042b nov appllcablronly to incorporated
cities, tovna or villagas,dralnagodistricts,vater
controlsnd improvement dlatrlota,vater improvements
dlatrlotaend navigationdlatriatain the St8t.oof
Texas.
‘Said amendmentlast mentioneddid not, however,
operateto vithdrav fraa independentaahool dlatrieta
the povor of tholr sleotion to have their tamJ8 8SBeSSOd
and collaotodior them by the oounty tar assessorand
oollootor,but said privilegeawmalnedln said lndo-
pondont aohool dlatricta,
“We may here obaemr that the lndopendentaohool
dlatrlotahave only auoh povera vlth reference to tax-
ation as have been graated to auoh dlatrlotain olear
terms of lav. ‘The granting or taxing power by the
Legislatureto any county or districtshould be con-
struedvlth atrlctaoaa~the presumptionbeing th8t the
Leglslatu~ has granted in clear terms all it intended
(3~ State V. Houston& T. Ry. Co., 209 9. Y.
%o 7lsat*
“We desire to how point out that the omlaalono?
Independentschool dlatrlotafrom the Act of 1939 by
the amendmentof 1941 did not have the legal of’fectof
645
Bon. 0. C. Jaokaoa,Page 8
restoringor reviving those parts of Art1010 279::
which bed been repealedby the Act of 1939.
39 Tex. Jur., Sootloaa 63, 85, pages 125, 154I”
Applyingthese rules of law to the questionhere being
considered,vo find tbrt, vhllo Artlole 2W2 originallyallowed
componaatlonof one per oat woh to the Tar Assessor and
Collectorfo rlaaeaaing aad oollootingtexea for indopondont
schooldlatrlota, this pMvlaIon was repeeledby the passago of
Artlcla 1042b,providingtht luoh oompeaaetlonshould be en
amount to ba agreed upon by the govembg body of auoh lndo-
pendentschooldlatrlotand the oowIaaloaera.r oourt of the
county ln which awh Independentaahool dlatrlotwas situated
not to exceedone per coat of the Wxea so oolleoted. When
Article 1042b vea amended In 1941 so as to amtltindependent
schooldistrictstraa Its provlalona , auoh dlatrlotawore left
vith the povar under Artlale 2792 to requirefieaaaaoaaoraend
collootorato asremand aolloottheir texea,but no provision
has been made to ooatpenaatosuch tex aaaeaaora end oolloctora
for auoh aemloea.
in 1935, reads
Artlalo3891 of V. A. C. S., as fbmonded
ia pert aa follovar
“The oompoasatlon,llmltatlonaand msrlnruna
herein ftiod shall also apply to all fees end WEI-
poaastioavhetaooveroolleotedby aeld offloors in
their offlolaloapeolty,whetheraaoountebloas foes
of officeunder the present law, end my lav, general
or epoolal,to the contraryis hereby expressly ro-
pealed. The only kind cad ohereoterof oce@onaatloa
exempt fro81the provlalonao? this Aot shall be re-
wards reoolved by Sherlffafor apprehonalonof c&u-
laela or fugltlvoafraa just100and for the re0oVory
of atoleaproperty, end moneys receivedby County
Judgesend Juatlooa of the Peace for performingmar-
riage aoremotioa,which sum shell not be aooountablo
for and not required to be reported as fees of office.”
In the case of Taylor,et al. v, BrewsterCounty, 144
3. W. (26) 314, suit was broughtend judgmentrecoveredagalnat
the tar collectorof BrewsterCountyand the surety on hle bond
for excess offlolalfoes for vhloh aald tar oolloatorhad not
accounted,a large portion of vhloh vaa foes or commlsaloaare-
ceivedby him for aaaosalngand oollootingschool taxes for an
IndependentSchool Dietrlctunder Article 2792 of V. A. C. S.
The Court afflmod said judgmentand held such fees or commla-
sloua officialfoes for which he was requiredto eCCOunt to the
646
Hon. 0. C. Jackson,Pago 9
countyunder the fee bill. Aooordlngly, your quoatlonfour (4)
is anavorodin the afrbmative.
We hand you herowitha copy of our opinionlo. o-5426
and dlreot yaw attentionto the faot that it la hold thereinthat
“therenow exists In Texas no statutoryauthorityempovoring
an independentlohool district to ham taxablepropertythoreln
situate, vhioh Is aaaeaaed for taxes by the oouaty tar oolleotor
and aaaoaaor, assessedat a value other tbaa the value used In
the aaaoaamsntof taxes by that OfflC@rfor oouaty and state
purpoeoa.’ Thla hold- would be applloabloto the dlatrlotyou
inquireabout ln the went It requires the oounty tax assessor
and collectorto assess and oolleot Its taxes.
Our opinionsHumbera o-1821and 0-3632 are hereby over-
ruled Insofaras they oonfllotherewithas to the compensation
providedfor a oounty tax assessorend oollootorfor aaar8alng
and collectingthe taxes of en lndrpendontaohool district.
Trusting that this aatlafaotorIly
answersyour Inquiry,
we remain,
Yours very truly,
AWORICEP(IEHERAL
OF TWAS
Assistant
JWB/JCP
WCS. 3