Hon. A. E. Hickerson Opinion No. V-93
County Auditor
Montgomery County Re: National forest receipts,
Comoe, Texas prorating of under Article
2351b-4, V. C. S.
Dear Sir:
We refer to your letter of recent date acknow-
ledged by this office on March 4, 1947, wherein you
stated that the County Treasurer of Montgomery County
has received $6,607.95 from the State Treasurer as the
county's part of National forest receipts, and the Com-
missioners Court wishes to distribute this sum in ac-
cordance with Artiole 2351b-4, V. C. 9. You wish to be
advised as to what interpretation should be placed on
the word "area" as used and found in the second para-
graph of said statute.
Article 2351b-4, Vernon's Civil Statutes, pro-
'.
vlaes, in part, as follows:
"That, whereas Congress has heretofore
passed a law which provides that thereafter
twenty-five per centum (25%) of all moneys
received during any fiscal year from each
national forest shall be paid at the end
thereof by the Secretary of the Treasury to
the State . . . in which said forest is sit-
uated to be expended as the State . . . Leg-
islature may prescribe for the benefit of
the public schools and the public roads of
the county or counties in which the national
forest is situated, and whereas the Legisla-
ture of the State of Texas has not prescribed
any method for prorating said funds, now,
therefore, be it enacted that the Commissioners
Courts of the counties in Texas in which such
national forests are situated are hereby auth-
orized to prorate all such funds received and
to be received from the Federal Government for
timber and all other income derived from such
land as follows:
“4
* '"Hon. A. E. Hickerson, Page 2, v-93
*Fifty per cent (56) of such money re-
ceived shall be allocated to the school dist-
riota in proportion to the area in said dist-
riots, and fifty per cent (50$) of same to the
county for the benefit of the public roads in
said oountg. Provided the Commissioners Court
may transfer the fifty per cent (50s)received
by said Court to the sohool distrIots.*
Section 500, United States Code Annotated
Title 16, Chapter 2, provides that national forest ;e-
celpta payable thereunder to a State and received there-
by may be expended as the State Legislature may prescribe
for the benefit of public schools and public roads of the
county or counties in which such national forest is sit-
uated.
It is the opinion of this Department that that
portion of the national forest receipts received by the
county by virtue of the provisions of Title 16, Chapters
2, Seotion 500, U.ELC,A., and Article 2351b-4, V. C,.S.j _
for,publio school pnrpoaea should be prorated and trans-
ferred by the Commissioners Court to all the school dis-
tricts within the county In proportion to the area in
said school districts; further, that the term uareaB1as
used in Article 235113-4,means area of the school dis-
triots .located In the county, and does not mean area of
national rarest lands.
National forest receipts received by a
county under Title 16, Chapter 2, Section 500,
U.S.C.A., and Article 2351b-4, V. C. S., for
publio aohool purposes should be prorated and
transferred by the Commissioners' .Court to all
school districts within the oounty in propor-
tion to the area in said school distriots.
RAresw aa used in Artiole 2351b-4, V. C. S.,
means area of the school distriots in the coun-
ty.
Very truly yours,
ATTGRREY GERRRAL OF TEXAS
Ry ~ z.w
ATTORNEY GENRRAL Chester R. Ollison
0RG:djm:mrj:jrb Assistant