THEATTORNEY GENERAL
HonorableT.H. Trlmble
First hesat State Superintendent
Departmemtof Education
Au&in, Texas OplnlonNo. O-7042
Ret Under the provisionsor Senate
Bill 167 Sea. 2, Aeto 1945,
49th Legislature,RegulerSeselon,
would a uorimton
eohooldistrictbe
eligiblefor aid ii the valua-
tion ot the propertylocated
thereinfor the schoolyear 19&j-
46 was set at a flgure leswthan
that of the previousysar?
Pour letter of reoent date requestIn&an opinionon the above
eubJeaChas been receivedand given care?Cul conelderation.we are Quoting
below the body of the letteryou receivedfWun Hr. H.C, Hinton,ae well
as the seaondparagraphal'your letter.
"Article1, Se&ion 2, Paragraph2 of the
EguallzatlonAid Law reads ‘no. sahooldlatrlatwill
be eligiblefop aid under ihe provi&ma of this Act
which hatsreducedits tax valuationin order
icad& budgetaryneed."
%dgetary need 1s defined in Artlale1, Se+
tlon 5, Paragr- 1, as 'the diirereneebetweenthe
total of all revenue6or the dfstrletand the tot81
of EU operatingexpenseif such expenses me greater
than tha revenucs.t
"Pleaseask the Attornayffenerelto
give us an
opinionon the followingquestion.
"Woulda saho@Z dietrictthat show8 budgetary
need using 1944-45amessed valuationbe ineligible
for ald If the valuationof the dlstrlatXor the school
yeer 195-46 ia lesa than that of the pretiousyew?"
The second paragraphof sour letter Is as follows:
t,
. . . . . .
"Thioque&lon ia broughtabout because the Cm-
mlsslonors~Court of El Paso County requested the Counts
Assessor to lower county valuatlunaln view of the f ct
that it wa* nnt necessaryto maintainlast year e va Bua-
HonorableT.W..Trlmble,Page 2 O-7042
tlons la order to 8eauns enough aounty taxes to operate
tti.countygovernmant, When the aouhty valuationswere
raduoed,of oourse the valuationsfor sohoolpurposea
la cumon S&a01 dstriots were likewisereduced.
". . . . ."
Seation2 of SenateBill No. 167, a6 passedby the 49th
Legialatur$,RegularSeasion,1945, read8 in part a8 follower
"sec.2. Tax levy. No eohooldistrictshall be
eligibleto receiveany type of sZd authorleedunder
the provisionaof this Aot unless it shall be providing
for the annualrmpportof its achoolaby voting,levying,
axulaolleatlngfor the CuITentschoolyear a loaal
ten&me sohooltax of no less t an Fifty Cents (50#T”- oh
the One lhmdredDollarst ~lOO.O# r of propertyvaluation
in the entire dlgtrlat. The propertyvaluationsmhalf
not be less than said propertyis valued for state and
countypuqwnea. The lnuomefrom such a malntenaaaetax
la exuem of the requ%redFifty Centa ($50#) maintenance
tax mw6t first be used to retire lndebtedmes, ii any, la
tha k&al and l@ualiaatioh(RuralAid) sohoolfunds. After
th6 indebtednessIn these funds, if any, haa been retired
the inaomefrcm this malntenanaetaxin exaeas of the
requlmd Fifty Cantn (504) malntenaace tar may be used
at ~thedlsoretlonof the local sahoolauthoritiesof the
dlrtricrt for any lawfulsciwolpurpoeeexaept increastng
or supplementing any tcaahcr’s or admlnlstratlve salaries.
Any ur all malntenancetax above Fifty Cents (504) racy not
be lmluded in the calculationof need for aM but shall
be reportedin the budgetwith an ltemleedstabstent of
its etxpenditure. If t e lntwm Prom the tnslntenenae tax
above %i+ty Cents (!5C$ f ls not spent amprescribedhereln,
it shall be lnoludeda8 reae~ptain the budget. In order
to oomplywith the terms of this aectlon,it shall be
neeeamry far suoh aahooldiutriota apply%ng?or any type of
ald authortaedunder the temaa of thle Aat, to report
all valuationsw;fth%n suoh dlstriata, Smluding al.1aon-
solidateddistrIctaand aunexeddirtricta,and failurato
reportall.muh valuations&all prevent sucPhdZatx?lat from
retmlving6ny type of aid authoricaaunder this Act.
"No sahooldUtrict will be eligiblefor aid under
the prevloio~ of this Act whlah has reduced its tax rate
within the tw6 years innecdiately
precedingthe year for
which aid I.8applied for hereunderor whlah haa reduued
It8 tar valuationin order to show budgetarymed."
Article2795, Vernon'6Annotated Civil Stntuten;reads
a8 followai
+e Caavniseloneracourt, at the time of levydng
taxe6 for munty purpo6es,shall also levy upon all
taxablepropertywithin shy mamen aahoolBiatrlGtthe
T.#. ‘&&able,Page 3
.Ekonorable o-?o&
rate of tax 80 voted ii a apealfierate has been voted;
otherul~ said aourt &all levy uueh a z-atewIthIn the
limit I)Ovoted ae has been detemined by the board OS
truateee02 raid dlstrlatand the countysupeHntendent
and aertlfledto ae.Idaouzt by th4 county supQrIntendent.
If auab tax has been voted after the levy of aounty taxes,
It &all be lt%vIed at any meetingof eaid court prior to
the deliveryof the a8serementrolls by the aemeecr. !l%he
tax anaemor shall aweas Bald tax as&her taxer are
aaseraaud and meke an abetreat6howlngtha amount of spealal
texes stseeeede&%Inste&ah school ditatriat In his aounty
end f’uamioh the came to the aounty ruperintendent on or
before the first day of Se- of the yeku.fOrwhich
euch taxes am roeeseed. The Wxe6 leviedupon the real
property In seld dletrdata ahell be a lien thereonend
the sem shall be sold Sor wpald taxes in the lsapner
and at the time of sale8 for State an4 oounfy t3xm3. The
tar collaotorshall colleatmaM taxes a6 other taxee we
collected. The tax aasetms thall receivea aomlsslon
of one-~half of one per oent for assessingQ.&J tax and
the tax collector a aommIasion 0r~,otwial9 oi one per tent
r0r aolleetingthe efkme.The tax collecrtor ahall pay all
such tams to the countytreasurer,en4 said tree&urer
i&all crediteaab echooldirtrletwith the emountbelong-
lztg to it, and pa?;out the came In acoordancewith law.
Aats 1321, p. 56.
Ye fM no etatutoryauthoritywhloh would pezmkt a common
eahooldirrtrlct to piece a differentvalue on its property, that LB,,
propertylocatedwithin It,6erea from thet nkiich uould be Ipaced on It
by the county-texaeeessoror the Ca1~lse1cmerrs ( Court for Stale enU oounty
tax pnpomaa. Tbecefore,when the murky aomnleelonerrelectedto lower
thevaluatlonofproperty In the aountyfor aountytexpurpoeeothere
w an automatlnreduotIonof the value for schoolpurpoees. The common
e&o01 di8trIator the ccemwn aahooldistrict: trusteeshad no volaa Ln
the matter w?mtsoever and we oennet say that they %educed the tnx valu-
ation In order to show budgetaxyneeds.’
It 3.eour opinion,therefare,that a ccewon echo01diatriat
that shows a budgetaryneed, using either the 194445 or the 194546
assessed veluatlonunder the fact situation you presentedwould be en-
tltlod to ald under the provisionsar SeneteBill Ho, 167, provId&d,of
course,It meets the requIsIteaOS other provlslons In the bill.
Truetingthe above satlefactorlly
anewer your inquiry,
weare
Yours veqr truly
ATJ!ORNSY QEKKRAL OF TEXAS
ildnorable
2.H' Trimble,Page 4 o-7042
1
APPRoVEDFm 20 lg46
e/ Cerlos C.ASl:iey
FZRSASS-
ASTORKEY C?-