Untitled Texas Attorney General Opinion

& 2 I- I b G-C.MANW mf.uuvo~- J2 (Jo jl’ 9 &\,\ ~n5Pable W. P. rtutledgs OountF Judge Irlon County llertron , Texas Dear sir: ndlaated upon a letter fmw y5u t Ppard, Captroller of Publio Aooount the followlag per ular res*ioa on is ertreaely ra6ue iaer- *A legal,opinion given UIIby Ha&ol, Hardemn k Wilson, Atfarneye of San Awelo, ?&la& is in- closed for pour inspection, states that8in their opinion that time vvarxnntsmet be lomed against the general fun& of the oounty, in the HIS voted, a5d ii their oontentlo5 1s eorreet, it ie golag HonorableW. p. Rutledge, page % to place tNe county in a tight 8pot. a8 ex- penditurelrlong &me ear marked from auob fund, neosasery to the operation of the oounty adminlatration,fer exoeede receipts therain. c. . .” It is dif!Toult to aaoertnin tbc eraot question eubmittodbut we conolude that,the yrinmry questionis the manner In whlob the purobaee of fire ZIghtIng equipmentcan be flnanoed. You advlso by eupplementalletter or April %, lece, that the election vataheld on the Elat day of Pobruarp, 104%, pursuant tc Rouse Bill Ko. %b%, supra, and that said election aarrieb but that the CommIssioned Court is still unoe,rtain a~.% the propar procedureor method of financing mob pur- oha6eo. hrtfcle E38la-1 Vernon's Annotated Civil Btatutea, provider that the Ccumia&ero' Court mhall have authority to furnIab fire proteotlonto the oltleena of the oountl re- 8lding outside the oitp liniit~0r any olty, town or rillage. It providea that the Comissloner8b Court &all have eutborItg to enter into oontraotsrlth the cltiea, tome end vlllaager Sor the use of the alty equi ent upon nuoh aontraot baslr a8 the respectivegoverning bodr em mSfht agree upon or *to pur- ohare fire truaks and other rtn f ghtfng equlpraent by rirrt advertising and receiving. bide thereon a6 provided by law*. It is further prooidedr * That any fire equipment purohaeed by any*o%y shall be done only by a majority vote of pmpaertr owning taxpa?ere and qualified votere of suck county et a oounty wide eleotloa oelled ror s;rchpurpo8e." The statute is silent arrtc how such purohameeoan be finanaed an6 hence we must look t0 the,et&tutor dealing with oounty fioanoee In eensral. We have found no oonetitu- tlopal or statutory provlolone for the leauance of bonda tar much purpose, in the ebaenoe of wblch we must hold that boada Oannot be Issued. It la orwell eetabllshedrule of law in this State that a oouuty mbjsct to the express restrlatianslapoeed by Bonorable U. P. Rutledge, pago 3 the Couatitutlon atid goneral lewe ht& the Ii@ied power tc j.eme tine warrafite in payment for Imprcvenonte it Is expreee- 1y authcrfxed to conetruot, proaded the applicable regula- tions relatbq to the Iewanoe of euoh werrente are obeen- ed. iian PatrioIo County v. YcClene, 3% Tex. 243; La6Iter v. ape&, Xl.7 S. M. 373: - v. McGill, 146 S. W. (Ed) 332. ::e bellWe ouch authorltlee aro oontrclllllg here. Article %Sd%a,vernonbe Annotated CIvIl Statutes, ooamoaly celled the bond end warrant law, set6 forth the pro- oeaure for the isauanae OS warmmt8 whloh are to bs retired out of c-rent funds or those tunde other then current nhleh am to noorus to the ceneIr.1 revenue fund. It la provided that (L tax rust be levied end oolboted to ;yrg the Interest crnd prlnolpal ee it natures. Suoh tax eo levied and eolleat- ed Is a part or the general Wad and bnoe Ie governed by the ooastltutIanaland eta:.utory lllaitetlone of twenty-five aeats on the One Hundred Dollar valuetica. See Cotititutlou Artiole VfII, Seation 9, end Article X35%, verIwn*e Annotate& Civil Statutes. It la our opinion that the purcbace of the fire flghtIng equipment desired oan be parchased a.fter a inriotity vote of the quaiifled voters lne authorized such pureheee but that It muot be paidfbr out of the general fund or by the iosuence or rerrente to be pia ultimately out cf the generel fund as 8bove pointed eat. We wish to thank you for enoloeiag the opiaion pre- pared by gnghes, Hardema8 k Wileon, with, which we hmva ayeed. Ycure very truly