Woaorabiu H. A. Elodgeo, Page 2
:
9. Aftot the Taxes a?% lsvtcd by the COSYSXI~S-
elono71~’ Court and certifiad to the Tax A44sssor-
Collector of tba County doos the Tax krcemor-ml-
,. lector have any loqal authority to an&e any changes
la the retea levied aHhough u sabsoqbcat election has _
been htld to either dccrcase or increasa the rate I
“I em of the oplnlon that the authority for iavyla2
the C3hcnmoslSchool Ziatrictm taxas is wholly ~ulthfn
the pawar 01 the ~ommlmiionurp’ Court, sin0 that the
Tax ,hseesor dods not hcvc tho authority to grant MY
changer aftor the levy Is made and cartlficd to hkn by
tbu Gourb
*i ~hdi be p]en6ed t0 he%% yOU76pinloa 4t &II
very earliest eoovcnlence as an election hss been or-
de-d for an i~crcaee in tha taxea of a ccmmoa school
district, if this election carries there will be a request
for a change ia the oats levied by the Commloclorrera*
Court, whtch was dorm at the roauiar moetiag 00 Mep
12, 1941.*
The mwwor to yorrr flrct quostloa 1s found in the rp&flc
tormr end rcqulremcnts of the pertban: statutec. Article 2784,
Re~ulsod CM1 Stalute4, provides. in perrt, as foliowot
“The commlastonercl court for the eommoa aehool
dlstrlctr in it’s couaty, and t-h distrtct eehool trustaes
.for the independent school diutrlcte lacorporated for
rchool purposar only, &all have power to levy tutd cause
to bo collected the annual taxes and to ieaue the bonds
hetoln authorlrad, auk&act to the followinng ptotislonst*
Arttcle 2795, Rovlaed Civil Statutes, pz-ovides, fn part,
RU followa:
*The conrmbhnors coult, at the tlma of levying
taxes for county pufpoeee, shall 01~0 levy upan ail tox-
able property within &ny cammoa school dlstrtct the rats
of tan so voted if 4 specific rate ha4 been vokd; other-
wltw mid court shall Icvy such a rate within tb Ihr.it
so voted aa has been dctsrmtned by tbo board of trustees
Of S4ld district 4nd the COUnty muper~nteodcnt and CWti-
fled to said court by the county super&tcr.d!ont. IL such
tax ha8 bsea voted ailcr the levy 41 county taxas, ft ohaii
bc levied at 8x1~ tie∈! of Raid eaart prior to t.ba dc-
iivc7y of t.ke ocecssrr.cat rolls by the ascesser.m
lfonarable 11.A. liodge*, Papr 3
Under the foregoing hmlteo we answer your tir6t queutlon
la the efftrmatlve.
: Your second questloa findo sptciflc anmver in our oplnlm
No. O-2364 to tfonorablo I:. L. !~v:arquess, County Auditor, ;vhrrrton
Cmnly, Wkwton, Texas, from whtch we quote:
The date wken such ret&r term of the Cmmlr-
eioaers’ Court may meet for tiae purpose of levying tbo
county tax arldo from the nbove reqzlrementr ie of-
fected by Rrticio 6dYa-ll of Veaaoa’a Annotated Clvll
bmute6, which provides in part as follows:
The Caanmlsslonors Court ln each
ceuuty sbsll each year provide far l public
hoartna on the county bud@--which hear-
&g shall take, place on some date to be
named by the Commissioners’ Court sub-
s,a umntto hWu6t l!ith aEd prkar to t%ivy
?iihTy-,*-~ awn .dxm-rnac
‘1 omrs r;oorl.
* * *‘(Lnderscorlrq ours) .
??ou are advlscd therefore thst It is necessary that
‘the publtc hearing on the county budget 1s heid QD some
date subsequent to Irusst 15th snd that the Commlsslon-
ers’ Court may not levy the tax until after such the.
There is no requirement however that the Commlrslon-
CPS* Court must Walt tint11 SephMbOr to levy the couaty
tar.
*It 1s (he oplnlon of this department thet If, as you
outltno ln your letter, the Commiosioners’ Court lo ln
session at a ragulnar term of cald court in August on a
dote subrcquent to tbo date on which the publlc hearbng
ca the county budget was held that the Comudeslmers*
#urt may on such date levy the county tax.”
Although thls oplnlon Involve8 the levy of county tsxea, we
have seen that the samc otatutory proccduro obtained with reference
to common school dlstrlct taxes. Kence. It follown from thte rulinq
that tha tax Levy mad@ by the Cfxzxs~s&b3ncr6' ‘:ourt Of your iounty
at ita regular tneetinagon hiey 12, 13‘41.la unoutbortzeci and Invalid
beccruw a lawslul tsx levy csnaot be n;adc until oorr:e regular term OK
6aid Court 6ub6CqUfSt t0 .kIgU6t 15, 1911. ‘flS CUCkOW 0 COPY Of the
oplnlon adverted to far your complete laformation.
I
Hmorabl! H. A. tfodger, Page 4
Attowering your tbtrd question, we mfcr egoin to the
ctetutor quoted, In part, in our dl6cu65ioa under your first ques-
tion, es statutory al;thortty ior our cc~elu~lon that the Asaeseor-
Collector of tax66 of a county ha6 no lawful authority to mcko
any ch~a~e6, by way of Iacrearrc o? din-~&ion, of the tax tato
theretofore lavtad by a Commipsrkm~ra Court, raqardleao of the
tbne such attempted action is taken aad despite the fact th a tl nub-
acquent election ha6 bocn held to either decrca6e or increaaa the
rate. Such actioa would be toJItamount to a new levy, and the power
aad duty to levy tax66 for common school diStriCt6 of a county \6
ve6ted exclusively ln the Commtssioners’ court of the county.
Ifowover, it i6 a corol&ny from our CoAclusi~~ and dla-
cuorloa under yolr sacoad qua&Ion, that the Commissioners*
Court of .your county may. at a rtplar tarm, 6Ubs6qWAt to Aug-
tist IS, 1941.levy a tar for common school W&lets of the county,
ln accordance with the biercased or decreaecd rate voted at the
contemplates election. k, thaa?eat such election Is heki on e date
subsequent to this tar levy by the Cotnmtsslon6rs* Court, it never-
theless appeare that said Court may make another levy of taxes in
accordnncc with the ratoa voted at such election, providing ouch
Icvy it mad6 *at any meetinq OS raid cow1 prior to ths delivery
of the 666666moat rolls by ths a66eise0r”. Thie 66Cm6 to be the
bhwkncnt of article 27%. Revised Zlvll btatotcs, quoted 1~ part.
at the outclotof thts opinion.
Trusting th6 forego&$ fully aaawern your several lnqulrle8.
wt arc
voy truly Your8
ATTORM?XGENEFIALOFTEXAS
Et3 /S/ Rat M. Gaff, Jr.
Aeclotaat
APPROVED JULY 28.1941
/S/ Orover Feller6
FLRST ASSXSTANT
ATTORNEY GF3CZRAl.a
.
. l%!N:lh:sm
APPROVED OPIN!C!N COMMITTEE
RY BWB. Cb6lrmaa