Untitled Texas Attorney General Opinion

March 16, 1959 Hcnorable Qeo. Comptroller of ;;b% % ara oounts Aus tin, Texaa Dear Sir: Opinion No. O-376 Re$ What~ is the zWaning of the word ?oheirgen as used in Artlole 1047f. R.C.S.? Our attention is dlreated to Article 7047P (a), Revised civil Statutee, .~ rhloh reads as fioIlora: Qvery person, firm, or corporation oondtruting a theatre, place of amusement, or any.buainess enterprise in oonneotioin rith the operation of which a prize in the form of money or eomething of value la offered or given to one or more. patrons of such theatre, place of amusement, or ~buslnesS enterprise, and not given to all patrons~ thereof paying the same oharge ~for any aertati servioe, commodity, or entertainment, shall make a verified monthly report op the twenty-fifth day of eaoh month of the Comptroller of Public Aooounta of the State of Texas, ahonIng the’amount of maney 80 given in prizes, and the value of all rieea or awards no given in coMection with suoh t usin~ss during the next preceding month.” iirticle 7087f (b) then provides for a 20$ tax on hoh priaes. Since, under the express terms of Article 7047f, (a), no tax is due where the person reoeiving the priae ~has paid a oharge additional to that paid by other patrons, It beoomes necessary in every instanae to asoertaln whether auah adalt,ional acharge” ha8 been paid within the meaning of the statute. - .- In order to avoid the neoeaalty of requesting our opinion on each individual oaee as it arises; you request our oplnlon as to the meaning of the word “oharge” as ueed in the foregoing Article. The word under ooneideratlon haa many different meanings. There 5s the oharge of the oourt. There was Piokettre famoue oharge, and that of the Light Brigade. A man bequeaths a pieoe Hon. Gee. H. Sheppard, March 16, 1939, Page 2 , O-372 of Iana to a daughter, but there is a charge against lt ln Savor of a son. & jailer has oharge of a group of oltlzens against each of whom is a serious charge brought by the grand jury. One man Is charged with the duty of administering to another a charge of eleotrloity that will eliminate the vlotlm as a oharge upon society. There follows a burial charge. .- We quote from Reese v. Pennsylvania R. Co., 6 L.R.A. 529 Pa., 8s~ S allows : “‘Charget Is a word of very general and varied use. Vebster glves It thirteen different meanings, none OS which, however, expressee the exact aense in wblch it Is used ln this oharger. The great dictionary of the Phllologlcal Society, now ln course of publication, gives it twenty separate prLnolpal definitions, besides a nearly equal number of subordinate variations of meaning. OS these definitions one (10 b) la: ‘The price required or demanded for servloe rendered, or (less usually) for goods supplied,’ and this expresses accurately the sense of the word in the present case. The essenoe of the meaning 1s that It la something requlred, exacted or taken from the traveler as compensation for the service rendered, and, of oourse, something taken permanently, not taken temporarily and returned.” Slnoe the above opinion, Webster has expanded his vooabularly and his ‘Hew International gives the word twenty three dlSferent meanings, of whloh Rumber Twelve la about the same as the definition embodied ln the above ease. In general usage the word %hargen.has one meaning which Is about the same as soonsideratlono.(When such last mentioned word 1s used ln connection with oontraots). We think the word nconslderatlonn could have been uaed.ln the statute here,.lnvolved ‘without any ohange in meaning. The word as 80 used might include money, or any other artlole of value. It mlght include skilled or unskilled labor, a poem, essay~or motto. It oould be a painting or other piece of art. In short, anything of value wuld suffioe. On the other hand, the delivery of something of no value or the performanoe of merely a peri’unotory aot, such as signing a name to a register lnvol.vlng no obligation, would not be sufl?lclent. It must be a bona Side oonslderatlon passing the reoelver to the given of the prlae, a conslderatlon not c . 4 ! ) Hon. Gee. H. Sheppard, Msroh 16, 1939, Page 3, 0-3'19 reoelved by the giver from other patbans of his business. Yours very ktwly I~~ORLWXGE?ERALOFTEXJIS a/ Glem R. kria BY Glenn R. Lewis &sslatant GIiL:W/cg hppR6vE, a/ Gerald C. Mann ATTORNEYGBTERAL OF TEXAS - -