Untitled Texas Attorney General Opinion

6 OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL OF TEXAS AUSTIN ‘Eon. Thoass ?. OloVar Dlstrlot Attorney 50th Judloial Dlstrlot ?eymour , Texas Gear .%r: oplnlonNo. ia>)8 \ R-ether the Co\latp>Tax I Assassor-Colleobor bf thr flQoudty, ho la dI’r0 the Tax 1 .I’ Colleotor for an lnoorporated I. atty or town within the ooun- .‘,. ‘\,ty la required by law to ao- cc&t for rees reoeived sa “i , city tax oolleotor,ae tee8 or .,f-- ’‘L ‘., oiUce,and to pay over the ,.." ,l' ') qxoea8, if any, to the oounty. I .r ‘t. \,. b/ Your ietber or ihoeiber 151 1944, requesting the opinion or thls~ deplrtment on the question stated therein, 1s 08 fol1gnla.r \\ 'i., ,/ / .x. *Please give me e&6plnlon on the r0il0wing questL0h1, ,, ‘--C’ ‘. Whk?s the duly aleotad, qualified and aotlng ,Tax Assessor-Colleotor oi a County la also the Tsx Eolfeotop ‘for an lnoorporated olty or town within said Wunty; la he or not required by law to eocouat rorsthe fees reoelved as City Tax Collector as rees or ofrlca, and pay over the BXO~BS, ii any, to the oounty7m For the purposes of this opinion, we assume that the city or town in question has avallsd itself of the privilege or requiring the County Tax Asaeasor-Colleotor to oollect the oity taxes under the applloable pro~lslons of Art. 1042b, Vernon's Annotated Clvll Statutes. Ye also assume that the county oiil- clals or the county involved are oompensated on a fee basis for their offlolal services rather than on an annual salary basis. :-Ton. ‘I’homaa F. Clover, page 2 Article 3891, Vernon’s Annotated Civil Statutes, pertalnlng to the disposition of fees, provide6 in part: r( The oompensatlons, llmitatlonr, and naxin&s’h&ein ilxed in thls Aot for orrioers shall illclude and apply to all officers mentioned herein in aeoh and every oounty of this State, end it 1s hereby deoiared to be the lntentlon of the Le&islature that the provlatons of twin Act shall cpply to eaoh of mid officers, and any speoicl Lr general law lnoonslstent with the provisions hereor is hereby expressly repealed in 80 far 6s the s6r.e may be inoonsistcnt with this Aot. “The compensation, 11zAtatlo1?s and merlmuns hareln rlred shall also apply to all f608 and oompenaation whatsoever colleotad by said officers In their official capaoity, whethbr sooountable as fees or ofi’ios under the presett law, and any law, general or speolal, to the oontrury 1s hereby expressly repealed. The only kind end oharaoter of compensation exempt iron the provisions or this Aot shall be rctwarda received by Shbrlfro ror apprehension of crlmlnele or fugitives frmn juotloe and for the recovery of stolen property, and moneys reoelved by County Judges and Justices of the ?eaoe for performing merriege oeremonles, which sum shall not be aooountable for and not r6qulred tc bc reported SE ieea of office.n ;i’hea the Tax kssescor-Colleotor oolleots the taxes of and for the olty or town involved where there is no oiiloe of oity tax ssseasor-oolleotor, the oounty tax assessor-oolleotor is holding only one oifloe which :s the orrioe of oounty tax sasessor-oollaotor, and In oolleotlne the taxes for ths olty (r town involved, he is only periorminq additional duties imposed upon him by statute. In the ease of Taylor, et al, V. Brewster County, 144 P . y . (2d) 314, it was h6ld, among other things, that fees recelvei by a sheriff (;vho was also acting as tax essesoor-osll6ctor of the county), i or assessing and ccllecting taxes for lndegendent school Zlatrlcts be10n~ to the sheriff, sub:eot e0 !:iS duty t0 account therefor to th,a county under the fee bill. (irlso see the case of Flchcls v. SZalveston County, 225 ?. I’. 547). 614 !!on. Itc3t1 B. Clorar, peea 3 -fOU-aI.0 TCWpOOtfUllf 6fiV1666 that it 16 th. OpiniOth Of this 4e;rtWmt G-at it 1P tl?. duty or the Gount7 Tax Aaaorror-Collaotor HYC OOllOCt6 tsrer fo r l oltp or town to laoount for the raar ra- oeivsd from ruoboity or town for bie 60nlorr. Statad dirr0r0ntl7, BUC:? fee8 reOdvOd irOB the Oity Or tOWn rOr 5OlleOthg tnxea are roec :lr offloa and murt bo rooounted tar to tte oounty under tha r04 3ill. i;s ksr~tofora 6tatod, ansunln~ that thm County Tax Aseeasor- Collector 11 002pnw5t0aon a r00 baalr, in arriving at t-110 xarinum oc:;!;onsatlon under Artiolar 3683 and 3891, V. A. C. 2., tha faae rec3losd ty him ror collootlng tam8 ror tka oity or town in quartlon tiu~t ho included In srrir?ng at his maxima ooapensatlon. Ghan t3a CoJIltv Ter ~asoeror-Collector !aaae raosirad any amount tn lxoaa8 of t!e !..~xl?lum aomponsatton allowed by Artlolrr 3603 and 3891, V. A. C. S., he IS required to pay the mount in axoem OZ hlr iaaximum aom;:anr8tloa to :::e oounty.