THXAIS'OIKNEY GENERAL
OF TEXAS
AUUTIN s1,Tpxas
PRICE DANIEL
ATTCIRNEYGENERAL
June 30, 1948
Ron. George 11. Sheppard
Comptroller of Public Accounts
Austin, Texas Opinion No. V-622
Re: The authority of the
Automatic Tax Doard
to reduce or eliminate
the 26 ad valorem levy
for the Confederate
Pension Fund.
Dear Mr. Sheppard:
You request the opinion of this office upon the
following, which is quote? from gour letter of May 27,1948:
“Articles 7041 and 7043, R. C. S. , 1925,
create and prescribe the duties of the Auto-
m atic Tax Board in calculating the ad valorem
tax to he levier! an? collected eaah year for
State and free school purposes.
“Article 7043 sets out a specific formula
to be followed by the Automatic Tax Board in
calculating the rates to be levied for the
di,fferent funds: ‘In calculatiry said rates
the Board shall calculate the same by the fol-
lowin,? rules and upon t,!le following basis: *. . ,’
“Section 17 of Article 7 of the Constitu-
tion reads, in part, as follows: ‘In lieu of
the state ad valorem tax on prooerty of Seven
(7d) Cents on the One Rundred ($100.00) Dollars
valuation heretofore permitted to be levied by
Section 51 of Article 3, as amended, there is
hereby levied, in sdd.ition to all other taxes
permitted by the Constitution of Texas, a state
ad valorem tax on propert~y of two (2d) cents on
the One Hundred ($100.00) Dollars valuation for
the purpose of creating a special fund for the
payment of pensions for services in the Confed-
erate army and Navy, frontier organizations s
.
Hon. George H. Sheppard, l?age 2 (V-622)
and the militia of the State of Texas, and for
the widows of such soldiers serving in said
armies, navies, organizations 0rmXlitia;
vided that the Legislature may reduce the Es-
rate hereinabove levied *‘I
“There is sufficient monies in the Confed-
erate Pension Fund in the Treasury to meet all
claims that may arise or accrue against said
fund .for the ensuin,? bi-ennium and for a period
of years thereafter. The question naturally
arises, therefore, as to whether or not the Au-
tomatic Tax Board has the ‘power to reduce the
2~ levy provided for in Section 17 of Article
7 of the Constitution above quoted.
“I shall therefore thank you to advise me,
as a member of the Automatic Tax Board, as to
whether’ said Board would be authorized to re-
duce or eliminate the 2$ levy, above mentioned,
for the ensuing year.”
Section 17 of Article VII of the Constitution
provides that in lieu of the seven (7#) cents on the One
Hundred (d)lOO.OO) Dollars valuation for the payment of
pensions said tax shall be two (26) cents per One Hundred
($100.00) Dollars valuation instead~ of seven (76) cents
as theretofore, This two (Z$) cents is expressly levied
by the Constitution as was the seven (7#) before. It is
observed that this provision of the Constitution further
provides: “provided that the Legislature may reduce the
tax rate hereinabove levied.” This rate, therefore, may
not be reduced except by the Legislature, and the Automat-
ic Tax Board has no authority to eliminat,e~eor reduce this
rate. The fact that there presently exists a surplus in
the Confederate Pension Fund sufficient to meet all de-
mands for the present biennium and several years thereaf-
ter is imnlaterial. Until the Legislature takes some ef-
fective action to reduce or eliminate this rate, it continues
an annual tax liability upon all property in this State sub-
ject to ad valorem taxes.
Hon. George H. Sheppard, Page,3 (V-622)
The Automatic Tax Board has no authority
to reduce'or,eliminatethe two (29!)cente levied
by Section 17 of Article VII of the CorsIX%utirn
for Confederatepeasionsr
Yours very truly,,
ATTORNEYGENERAL OFTZX$S
LPL:erc