u -
HE A~ORNEY GENERAL
0~ TEXAS
Honorable George H D Sh,eppard
Comptrollerof Public Accounts
Austin, Texas
.
Dear Sir: Oplnlon No. O-4682
Rea Perlod of tlme”during Which nine
months salary approprWt1on.s for
A. & M, College may be expended 6
Your letter of June 29th submits the following ques-
tion for an opinion from this department.
“May any of the nine months salary appro-
pr~iations for the A. & M. College which were not
used in whole or In part during the period of
time from September 15 to June I.5be expended
for the payment of salaries for the period of
time from June 15 to September l.”
The current Educational Appropriation Bill, inthe
approprlatlon maae to A, & M. College, provides that certain
salaries for+ posftfons itemfzed therefn shall be for nlne months,
The language of the Bill is, “salaries (nlne months, except as
indicated) -”
These salary items provided for nine months au,thoriZed
the college to pay therefrom to a person hfred to ffll the place
indicated not to exceed the stated amount for nine months I ser-,
vice D For the itemized amounts, it Is contemplated that the col-
lege shall secure nine months of service; the college might bLre
a person to fill the place for less than nine months, but k
such case cannot pay for the service rendered for the lesser
period a greater amount out of t,his ftem than that which Ss ob-
tained by dividing the fraction of the nine months for which ser-
vice is rendered into the to,tal nfne months itemized approprfa-
tion for the position filled,
It is Important to note that the approprlatfon bill
does not specify that these nine months appropriations are to be
expended during any particular months of. the ffscal year:‘. In
the absence of such provislon, we are not authorized to impose
the requirement that they must be expended durfng the period ex-
tending from September 15th to June 15th” Rather, in t.he absence
of leglslatlve llmltatl.on they are available for expendi%re jzl:?-
ing any nine months of the fiscal year.
.
Honorable George H. Sheppard, page 2 O-4682
It is true that at the time these appropriations were
made the college had for a number of years maintained what is
known as the “long session ” of nine months extending from Septem-
ber to June of the fiscal year, This session was established,
not by legislative enactment, but by the order of the Board of
Directors of the College, pM%uant”to the general authority con-
ferred upon them to govern and manage the~‘institution. R.C.S.,
Article 2613’. ~Ttiis authority was not exhausted by Its exercise
in this instance; the Board retained the power, continuing in
nature, to change the terms or courses of study of the institu-
tion as in its judgment might from time to time be necessary or
advisable 0 It is presum’ed, of couPse, that the Legislature had
in mind at the time it made these appropriations the fact that
the Board had the power under the laws end might find’ it neces-
sary to exercise such authority to change the’ terms and the
courses of study in the Institution. In the absence of an ex-
pression of a clear Intent to such effect by the Legislature, we
should~not impute to the Legislature the’ desire, by its appropri-
ations, to prevent the exercise of this authority by the Board.
In view of the foregoing, we believe it was not the
intention of the Legislature to require the expenditure of the
nine months salary appropriations only during the “long session”
as it existed at the time the appropriation bill was passed. We
hold that the purpose was to provide salaries’for employees to ‘.
be’. hired for a period of service of nine months during the fiscal
year, without regard to the period or periods of the fiscal year
during which t~he nine months service was rendered.
You are therefore advised that, where a nine months
salary appropriation has not been used to pay for nine months
servfce during the period from September 15th to June Vjth, to
the extent of the number of months, or fraction thereof, for
which ~no person was employed thereunder during the long session,
the appropriat,ion will be avallable for expenditure during the
period from June 15th to September 1st. Of course, if a nine
months appropriat.ion has not been ,sxhausted even in part during
ththt;;y ses~iop, the result will be that only two and one-half
2*/9thsi of the total will nevertheless remain availab,le
for expenditure durlr,g the period from June 15th to 3eptember
lst, since only t.%!o and one-half (23) months of service can be
rendered during that period L) In other words, for example, if a
nine months appropriation for a particular position of $900.00
is not expended even in part during the long session, then from
June 15tn to September 1st there will be available for expendi-
ture from such appropri~ation two and one-half ninths (2&/9ths)
thereof, or $250 .OO a Payments out of the appropriation for ser-
vices rendere% for one month may not exceed one-ninth of the ap-
propriation or $100 .OO I Payments from such appropriation for
less than a month’s service will be proportionally limited.
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Honorable George H, Sheppard, page 3 O-4682
We trust that the foregoing answers your inquiry.
Yours very truly
ATTORNEYGENERALOF TEXAS
By s/R.W. Fairchlla
R.W. Fairchild
Assistant
RWF:db:wc
APPROVEDJUL 3, 1942
s/Gerald C. Mann
ATTORNEYGENERALOF TEXAS,
Approved Opinion Committee By s/&B Chairman