Untitled Texas Attorney General Opinion

OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY OENERAL OF TEXAS AUSTIN Honorable George H. Shmpprd ColPptrollsr of Publio Aoaounte AuntIn, Texas mar sir: s depar8mblIt am 8e U l8harlag booorsc, delinquant fop u alao ark thb bS- foot of Chapkr Aota Of the Mth LO6- lisfaturm, 1939, on thi8 aubjmt. part an folA6w~ re the. thirtieth day of mmaber d&l, the remining am-hali (*) hall be detllnquent ii not paid first day of July of the par next rueaaedlng the year for which tha return ot the ammrammnt rolls of the aount~ are made to t& Comptroller 0r Pub110 A000Un8~.~ Iionorable George R. Sheppard, Fags 2 Evidently you are oonoerned with the problem of the date on whioh six per oent interest begins aooruing on taxes for pears prior to 1939 whloh taxes were still delinquent and unpaid aa of the effective date of Senate Bill 402. It Is to be noted in the first plaoe that Senate Bill 402 doss not attempt to met up at what date taxer be- oame delinquent for prior yeara, but has provided that taxes ehall .beoome delinquent on osrtaln bates. It Is thererore unneoeeeary to dieouas the question or whether or not the Legialaturo could provide that taaes for prior years have become delinquent at a date dfftsrent than the date upon which said taxem beoame delinquent under the lawa prevailing at the time of said tax. Article 73366 or Vernon’s AMOtated Civil Statute8 was enaoted aa Chapter v, Rouee Bill rio. 7, by the Nrd Leg- islature in fte Fourth Called Sareion in 1834. Salit statute made in part as rollow6; I Veo. 2. That all Interest and penaltlea that have aaarued on all ad valoram and poll taxen that were delinquent on or before August 1, 1934, and not paid under the provisions of Section 1 or this Aot, due to the St8te or any oounty, oommon sohool dietriot, road distrlat, levee lmprovemant dimtriat, water improvement district, water oon- trol and Im rovement distriot, irrigation U&riot and other ..-x, . efined aubdlvl~ions of the State (ex- oept suoh aitlee, towna, vlllageu, speolal school dietrlete and Independent sahool distriots whiah do not adopt the provialons of this 8sction) shall be and the same are hereby released, . . . and the same shall be an4 are henby relaaeed provided said ad valoram and poll taxee are paid after June 30, 1935, with an additfon of eight per oent (S$) pen- alty on rsald tarosr, together with interest on amid taxes at the rate of eix p@r oent (0s) per aMum, on and from July 1, 1935; but it is espeoially pro- vided that the pnaltlsa herein provided for mhall not be ouf&lative.W There oan be no question but that the above-quoted article releases all interest on delinquent taxae prlor to July 1, 1936. The Forty-rourth Lsgl8laturs enaated Houee Concurrent Resolution No. 13 on January 22, 1935. Said R6@- olution provide8 ln part as follower: Honorable George H. Sheppard, Page 3 *RESOLVED,That said House Dill Xo. 7 in- cluding this Resolution Is an emergency measure and such eisergenay Is hereby declared for the reasons herein and in said Houae Sill 140. 7 stat- ed; and on acoount of such emergenoy an Impera- tive publio neoeas1t.y demands that the Constitu- tional Fiule requiring 411 bills to be read on three several days In eaoh House bs suspended, and said rule Is hereby suspended, ma 9aid House Bill No. 7 and this Resolution ehall be in foroe and take efreot from and after the passage here- or, ma it 18 SO enacted. “%othlng herein shall be construed to remit any costs, interest or penalty after June 30, 1935, and it ia hereby deolared to be the pbll;cy of the state and the Intent OS the Legislature not to remit any 006ts, interest or penaltieu after June 30, 1936.v The intention of the Legielature In the last para- graph of the above-quoted Resolution is not clear. At any rate, said provision oan have no effeot on the bill whloh had been previously paeaad because of the holding or the Supreme Court of Texas In the oaee of Caples v. Cole, 108 s. w. (24) 173. The aourt 8tated that a bill could not be amended by a resolution of both housea of the Legislature. You are therefore advised that all interest on delinquent taxee prior to July 1, 1935, ha8 been released by the Leg- falature. It is unneoasearp, therefore, to go baok of 1935 to determine the delinquent date of taxes. Article 7336,as eunended in 1934, reads In part as iollowe : “All ad velorem and poll taxes shall be- aone delinquent ii not paid by July first of the year next suooeeding the year, for which the return of the assessment rolls of the county are made to the Oomptroller of Fublic Accounts. All delinquent taxes shall bear Interest at the rate of six per oent (6%) per annum from the date of their delInquenoy.n you mre’therefore advised that taxes ior the ytimre 1.934 through 1938 beoane delinquent on July 1 ~followlng the year for whiah said taxes were asseseed. This was true re- gardless of whether the taxes were partly paid under the split payment plan or Artiole 7336 or not. Honorable George I?. Cheppard, Page 4 .senate Bill 402 provide8 in part as follows: “All delinquent taxes shall bear interest at the rate of six (B$) per cent per annuui fros the date or their delinquenoy.” In your letter you are conoerned with the ques- tion of whether or not the above provision authorizes the collection of six per cent (6%) intereat on delinquent taxes baok of 1935 deeplte the interest releasing bill discussed previously in this opinion. In this conneotlon you are advised that whlle tt Is possible for the Leglsla- ture to enact a tax penalty or interest statute which 1s retroaotlve (aee League v. State, 57 s. Y. 55, Supreme Court of Texas, atfirmed by the United States supreme Court in 184 U. S. 156), at111 such retroeotlve effeot will not be given to a tax penalty statute unless it la speoliloally provided therein that the Aot should have such an eifeot. (See Conklin v. City of E. Paso, 44 S. W. 879, writ of error rerueed by the supreme Court). The language of Senate Bill 402 looks to the future and not to the past. It Is provided that “taxes shall bear interest”. Nowhere In the Aot is there lnolud- -any language whloh would lndloate that the Act was to be retroaotlve and that lnterert oould be assessed rrom the date of dellnquenoy on taxes which were delinquent prior to the passage or the Aot. It ia the opinion of this department, therefore, that Senate Rlll 402 does not operate retroaotlvely and that Interest at mix per aent (6$) may be oolleoted on de- linquent taxes rrom July 1, 1935, or iron the date of de- llnquenoy of taxes which beoame delinquent rubetiquent to July 1, 1935. You are also advised. that Senate Bill 402 does not Offrot the date of dellnquenhy of taxes assessed for years prior to 1939. Yours very truly ATMRNZY GZXERAL0; TEXAS