OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL OF TEXAS
AUgllN
Honorable C. Lyne Miller
county Attorney
Bee county
Beevills, Texar
In your letter of , $0~ requested
our opinion on the f
home to the
arolman January
rs anseared aald
ian Churoh of Beeville
yew 1942 or alp ror
betveen Jenuaq 1 and April 30 of each rear,
vhen required by the amee~or, vlth reference
to the quantity held or ovned on the first day
of’ January in the year for vhioh the property
is required to be lluted or rendered. Any
property purchased or acquired on the first d&y
.‘Cf.’
Eonorablo C. LJns Wller, ?am 2
of 3.srwcry shall ba lietod by or for the par-
eon puwhaelng or coqulrln8 it. If any pw9erty
has by muon of any epooial lrv, ooatrrot or
isa 1, been usapt or ha8 been olalmd to be ex-
emptod fro0 taxation for 8~ period or l-it OS
tl.me, and luoh period of exemption shall l xplro
botvaen January 1, and Deoember Jl of my Jear,
ecid property shall be reeeeeed end listed Sor
taxes as other pwpertyf but the taxer assessed
agakrat sold property shall be for only the pro .
rata of taxes for the portion of euoh year re-
Slalning. Aote 1909, p* 373.*
By Artiole 7152, Y.A.C.S., the ovner of real ee-
tate 1s required to list or render it for taxation. Should
he fall to do SO, Artiole 7205, V.A.C.S., makee it the duty
of the Aaeeaeor to llrt and assess the same in “The nBae of
the ovner” If euoh nBp(t be knovn.
With respect to the enforaemont of the llabillty
of the taxpayer, Artiole 7272, V.A.C.8.. states as follovsr
“All real and perron pwperty held or
ounad by any peruon in t&la State shall be
llablo for all State and County Tuee dua by
the ovner thereof, lnoluding tax on nfi ee-
tate, psreonal property end poll tax; and the
Tex Colleotor lhall levy on any punanal 0~
real property to be r0Upd in his oouuty to
- eal+fy all delinquent taxw, say lav to the
oontrary notvithet8ndiag~ . . . .’
By virtue of the ~wrieione of those statutes, the
o~tnenhip of~property on the firet day of J6mmry areatee a
9ereanal liability on the part o? the ovnar for tuee for
that year, and the sale thereof shortly rrtervardr does not
affeo t this llabtlity . Itumble Oil and Beilnlng Company 7.
State (Clo. App.) 3 S.Y. (sd 5591 Caevell & Co. v. Habber-
csttle (Clv. App.j, 87 S.Y. 9 111 Wintare 0. Independent Sohool
Dlatrlot Clr. App.) 208 8.X. 574; Chlldreee County f. dtate
f 26) 1011; Cranfi1.l Broe. Oil Co. v.
k% f%v: zEp:jy*5 I S.W. (26) 81 (error reiaeedl; Cerlsoh
Jteroantlle Co. v. State (Civ. App. 3 , 10 S.Y. (26) 035 (error
refieed) .
Jkmorable C. Lyne Niller, page 3
As to the dormer owner18 liability for tmoe,
40 Tez&r Jurlaprudenoe 1 70, page 104, states the follovingr
“Thus li the ovner should sell the pro-
perty b&ore the date on vhlch the tex becomoe
due he is liable therefor and to any penalties
or interest that have aoorued, although aa be-
tvesn euoh ovner and the purchaser, he may be
entltlse under the oontract of sale to recover
over from the purohaeer.”
In the light of the above authorities ve think
your loaal tax aeaeeaore oorrectly aeseeaed taxes on-the
property in question against the ovnsr aa of January 1,
1942, regardless of the faot that the property V8s subso-
quently acquired by the Presbyterian Church and is POWbe-
$.ng used In suah a vay that It is exempt from taxation
under the provisions of Artlole 715Cb, V.A.C.S., and ve
feel that personal liability for the 1942 taxes on thle
property rests solely on euoh owner.
Notice, hoverer, that uncl6r the provisions of
Section 15 of Artiale VIII 0: our Conatltutiox~t
“The annual aeaesnment made upon lpaded sro-
perty shall be a special lien thereof; and a,11
property, both real and personal, belon&.ng to
any delinquent taxpayer shall bo liable to eel-
zure and sale Sor the payment of all the taxes
%nS-penalties due by such delinquent; and such
property may be sold for tha payment of the
... taxes and penalties due by such delinquent under
.-L...-euohregulations as the legislature soy provide.’
Llkevlre, Artlole 7172, V.A.C.S., provides:
---~__ “All tcxse qon real property shall be a
llen’upon eooh property until the same ehall
have been paid, And should the aeeeeeor fall
to aaeeea any real estate for any one or more
years, the lien shall be good for every year
that he should tall to as8eee ior3 and he may,
Ixr-Umtlng property for texes any year there-
after; aaeeee all the back taxes due thereon,
aooording to the provielone of this title.”
Honotiable 0. Lyne Killer, Page 4
As vae said by the Court In Caewell v. Rabber-
zettle, auprc, bt 912:
“This lien attaohee and the taxoa beoome
an lnoumbrsnoe on the land from the date lla-
blllty Is fixed on the ovner, vhlch Is the let
day of January of the year, although the amount
of arid tuee is not fixed and determined until
some time subsequent thereto.”
Consequently, although the Presbyterian Church is
uader no personal llablllty for the payment of 1942 taxes
upon this property, it did aoqulru the property at a time.
vhen it vae burdened vlth a speoial lien to leoure the pay-
ment of euoh tues.
Dasplte the faot that Artlole 7150b, V.A.C.S.,
provides the follovlng exemption for churoh property used az
a parsonagei “There is hereby exempted from taxation any
property ovned exolualvely and ln fee by a ohuroh for the
exoluslve use as a dvelllng place for the BidStry of euah
ohuroh and vhloh property ylelde no revenue whatever to
euoh ohurohl provided that such exemption shall not extend
to more property than is reasonably necessary for a dwell-
ing place and In no event to more than one acw oi’ land.
Aots 1931, 42nd Leg., p. 67, ch. 44. [ l”, it is OUT opinion
that this Article in no vay affeots the existence or valid-
ity of any tax llsne attached to the property prior to its
aaquleitlon by the churoh. Such llena continue and may be
enforoed In the ueual manner despite the prorpectlve tax
exemption of the property.
Although the authorities and the dleouesloa above
have been addressed speolfloally to the question OS State
and oounty taxez, you vi11 notice that, by the operative
effect8 of Articles 10608 and 1043, V.A.C.S., the liens and
llabilltler for taxes levied by oosmoa school dletrlcte,
Independent school dletrlots aad incorporated olties and
tovnr are to be treated the same as are thoze for State and
aounty taxes.
Speolflaally mevering your question, it 18 our
opinion that the Presbyterian Churoh of Beevllle is liable
for no portion of the 1942 taxes on the property Ln quee-
tlon, but that the property vaz burdened vlth a lien Sor
;, Bonorable C. Lyne Hlller, Page 5
such taxes at the tlme of its acquisition by the chtiroh
a& that such lien may be enforced despite the present
1
. ovnorshlp and utilication of the property by the ohurch.
Trusting that the foregoing fully answers pour
,I lmulrj, we am
,i Vex-y truly yours
:
ATTORNEY
(+EtUtRICt
OF TEXAS
.!
R. De- Moorhead
AssletEu.lt