Untitled Texas Attorney General Opinion

OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL OF TEXAS AUSTIN Honorrble George R. Bhemard Crmptrollsr of ?ublio :.ooounta Au;; tin, Tcxae letter of reoet date, of the Oeneral Laws 3lnking Fund, whioh mount oovera interest on the invest- cient of the Slnklng Pund, and intereet paid by the County degoeitorg. Ycu will pleaso advins us whether the ij5,240.33ehould be kept by Mmrton County or paid into the Stute ;%YYIYU~." Chapter 48, r.ots of the Seoond Called Jessloz of the 38 Leglsiuture, la?J, pflee 122, 411 Ad valorem state tares levied for ;c~t.e :)'ir:jo3cs sginst the lnhzbitsnts of and property in Collmls- sionersl rraoincta 203. 1, 2 xd 4 of ;:Jtagords County ad in all .iiinorable Ceorqe 3. .iheppml, pigs a ..aartonCounty were released Sor a gerlod of twenty-iit0 yeara, do;ect -a certain oonuitiona all or whloh have be.13ruiriiied. Boada of marton County were lamed In accordance with ;ile term of the ..ct,and all exceae money in the lnteroet and 3lnrrlngfund was lnrcated by the oounty aud the interest w68 l credited properlyto the lntereat and inkicg fund. Saldtdot oon- siined tha follorlng prorl4o: nprotlAeA, however, that.,.Qthe ;Aount of tarea 60 colleated ehall be auiflolent to retire aald bonds and Intereat on 4-e berore the explratlon or 28 ye&r*, x.en from and after the d&r of retirement of raid bonds, the zsxea shall revert to the State and be paid into the:Stat? i'reuaury48 now provided by law." In 1935, the 44th Leglalature, at its Blrat Called sea- 3 ton, 9asseA a donation act, aame being Chapter 402 or the Act6 ;r that session. In the preeinbleor thle itotwe find the follow- lsp statement : “Wheres6, by reaaon or tha deolalon ot the Suprame court OS Texas rendered in the oa6e of Sheppard v. Eidalgo County, 93 2. ?I. (2d) 649, them la a aerloua question aa to the ~8%ldity of the Act releasing the inhabitants of and property In said dlS- trlcta from the payment Of &ate times, the Court holAlng:ln et- _Pzotthat the Legfsl%ture ~48 without authority to aid oalamity strloirenoountlea by releaalng the inhabitants oi and property in j~ld county from the papent of state taxoa, and it now appears &at the only way In whloh the &ate oan aid auoh oountler la by donating or appropriating St&e tsxea oolleoted in suoh Counties. This fiatdonated ror tha remainder or the period of tlm6 ror whloh the inhabitants of and property in said Whnrton County end oertain partlone or hlatagordaCounty were released from the psyzaentof taxes,’the net amount oi all State ad valorem taxes levied end ookleoted for State general 9IIqoaO6 on all property, both real anA personal, in esld &mton County and said portions oi Matagorda county. deotlon 3 of etrld Conrrtlon .,ot la a6 fOllOW6: "That if at any tlinebefore the ex9lratlon of the period oovered by this Lot, the mount of txXe6 hereby Ypproprljitedshall be sufficient to retire aald bonds and all lntereet due on the ame, then rrom and after the date of the retlrelnent ot said bonds, the tore8 and my b&moe remlnlng in the hmda of the County Sresourer of-said reagectlve counties shall revert to the Gtote of ,,A~IL~S2nd shall be gald into : he Ltzte Tre~..sury aa now provided by law.” 62 dbotion 6 or mid lrot lo In the roii0wing 1snguaur: - - use and dlrereion of the money8 herein The ~ruttsn ror any purpoaa Other than for the payment or interest and principal of'the bonda voted and Issued under Chapter $8, hots Sroond Called S8a81000, Thirty-eighth Leglsluture is hereby prohibited and thr violation or any provision8 of thlr riot shall constitute a rnissppllcatlonof pub110 money and thr person or persons so orrending shall ba punishrd as grovided for In i,rtlcleBe of the Penal Coda or th, tit:ate 0r Toxm.” It is our opinion that under the provisions quotsd ttiove,~1swell as under the bet releaelng the lnhsbitanix of snd 2ropert.yIn said district, the funds remslning ln the sink- iiigrunds revert to the &ate or Tcxar and should be paid Iat0 the Sti;teTryaaurp, Youra very tru$y C. P. Glbron Assistant