OFFICE OFTHEATTORNEY GENERALOF=-
AUFTIN
Honorable Walt$irMarchleon
county Attorney
Iiaakall County
Haskell, Texas
Dear Sir* opinion lb. o-4124
Ret Does the tern “resident
property tax paying ooters”
88 used in Arts. 75&J and
7524, V.A.C.S., mean that
the sigaera of the petition
therein aentIoned for a
road bond election maat
have actually paid their
poll taxem 60 aa to be
quallfled to VOtU?
Your rogue& for our oplnlon on the herekabove c&p-
tiened queatlon hs been cecefvsb by thls department. Ye quote
from your letter aa Pollover
court
-The County Judge and ansIll.llsionerr
of Harkell County have xqUe8tW.l me to submit
~w;;~lovfng question to you for rour gplnlon,
Woea the tarm *re*ldenttax paying voters'
an it appears In Arts. 75S?oain87526 of the
Revleed Civil Statutes oi Texas, mean that the
dgnerr of the petitlow therein mentioned for
a road taotielection mu$t hme actos'llj -id
their poll taxes so as to be qualiifed to VOte.
"The question arose vhen it was mid to
appear at a hearing on a petition asking for
an election that although the rsqtired number
of tignerewere lreeldentproperty tax PaYerr'
and lnaufllclentnumber uere aotual VQterS(lM
the sense of havin.$pa%d their Poll taxes-
Xonorable Walter Hurohi8On, Pa@ 2
Artloler 752d aad 75% OS Vernon~~s Annotated Civil
Statutes read ae follovat
‘Art. 7524. Petltlon for eleotlon
"Hhere any polltlaal mbdlvialon, or any
road dlatrlat,dealree to Issue bonda, there
@hall be prewnted to the Commlarloners~Court
of the county in vhioh uwh mbdlvlalon or die-
trlct la situated,a petition s&ned by ftfty
or a majority of the resident mopert~ t-y-
lng voters of aald &dfvlslon or road dletrlct
praying such court to order en election to
determinevhether or not the bonds of auoh
subdlvlelonor dlstrlat ehall be lamed toan
ambunt etated Sor the purpose of the construe-
tion, maintenanaeand operation of macadamlted,
grfmeled or paved roada and turnplken,or in
aid thereof,, and whether or not taxes shall
be levied on all Able-property within eald
mhdlvltslon or district In pay'mnt thereof.
Upon presentationof suuh petition, It ahall
be the duty of the court w Vhieh it ,iepra-
sented to fix a t*m ~~#a a aetwh ic hlua h
petition ub8ll b@ h,a .'; i&l& g Eybe
r. Thealerk
lasue a notlae
of such tlnm ,lihluh
notlce ehal.1 onoemed of
the time and plaoe of hearing and of thelr
rl@t to appea@t such hearing &ml aontend
for'or protert'theordo
eleotlon. Such not100 Eii3roX::P&d-t
of bondsIpropored to be lmled, and ehall
deaorlbe suoh polltleal eubditiaionor r+d
district by its name or number, &u&dshall
deacrlbe the bounderlee thereof 8e 8uCh bound-
ariea am deearlbed mad defined in the ordOT
of the CoaslLs810nerstCourt ertablih5.ngnrch
subdfvlslonor diatrlct. The olerk ehll eace-
ate said .mtioe by poeting trus OOPlee them-
of in three public plaaes within eu& subdlVl-
t~ionor road dlutrlct and one at the oourt
home door of the county. Said notloe shsll
be poeted for ten .dayapriok to the dste of
Honorable Ualter Humhlaon, Page 3
said hearing. Said notlae shall also be pub-
lfahed ~~rapaper.ofg~eralolrculatlon
ln tha aubdl~lalanor dlatrlat, if a newspaper
is publlahod there& ona txma, and at leut
five days prior to aueh Wing. If no nova-
paper is published 5.n auah aubdl~iaion or dia-
trhrt, then auah notlae shall be published in
ems nevapQar publlehed In the aounty, 1s
there be one. The dutiaa hiraln imposed upon
tha clerk may be parforprd by said alerlc in
person or by deputy, (~8 rovlded by lav for
other alaullu-dutlea." PUnderaoorlng ours)
“Art. 752e. Ifearlnguul detemlnatlon
“At the tima and Platteset for the hearing
of the getltloa, or auah agbaaquantdate aa may'
then be fixed, the aourt &all prooead to'hear
such pot1tioa anqall mttera ia mapeot of the
proposed band lle~tia Aay a .porqon laterested
may appear before the oaurt in person or by
rttornay and aoqSead for of protest the a&lag
of auah propaag# bond llectlcm. Suuh a hearlag
asybead#nd#frai~ytodaynadfiolltirs
to tlm, 91 th&+xwt may deemnmeraary. Is
upm t&e hawUijj of suah petitian, It be fotmd
that .&haaaaa $6 lQnedby fifty or m mJw$ty
due natlae ‘$aa km given, wid that
sod lagmvesenta vould be for tha benefit
ln such aub-
for the purpaae oi dekrPsinfnsthe que*tionX
aientloned 3.n8uah petitiona~ prwlQml, howwor,
thetmlhaourtsry~othe~ofthe
bonds propooed to be iaau~d, If, up- thr htiw
ing such change be found naceaanry or desirable.
m propositionto ba aubntttedat au& eleation
shall apeolfy ,3hapurpose for which the bonds
are to be leaued, the amount thereof, the Nte
Iiapomble Knlter Mur&l?on, Face 4
of interest, and that ad valorem taxes asw
to be levied annually on a.lltaxable property
vlthln aald dietriot Or mbdlvlolon sufficient
to pay the ennual Interest and provldena alnk-
ing fund to pay the bonds at amturlty.
(Underaoorlng ours)
The vord 'voters" as ordlnarllyused, has two man-
ins* -- paraona vho perform the aot of voting, and persona vho
.have tha puallflaatlona entitlingthem to vote. Its marUng
denends on the cmueatlon 3n vhlah lt la used. ax&lit la sot
*Gaya equivalentto eleatora. See Words and-Phrases(Pem.Rd.)
Vol. 44, p. 459-461.
As used In the phrase %ealdent property tax paying
votera,R ln the quoted atatutea,Ye am of tha oplrhm thatly
vord "voters"ma8na peraan8 vho have the auallfloatlonaent t -
inn them to vote.
what la the puxpoae'ofa provlalon, au&a as contained
In tha statutes under oonslderatlan,mplrlng a oertaln aud3ar
of "m&lent prope*y tax paying voterc to petition for a band
electionbeforethe Comlarlonera~ ana o tierlueh an eleo-
tlon? This queatlonseam to ba fully answeredby formar Chief
JuatleeOalneaofdur8~Courtlntb case of SW-,
et al vs. Eubaak,9).20x.106, 53 8. W. 573, froa Whoa0 opilrton
Ye quot. ali follQlm1
Vhe main, if not 8ol.e purpoie of mqulr-
i2tgthe petitionin ra*ob or a &ange (or the
county sad) before orderingan eleatlon is
to save tha pub110 fmm khe axpanae, 1088 of
tlm, a& atGitvt l.nfJidant to luah UI aho-
tlan, unlaar then 1s a maanablo probablllty
that the requiredmj~~y*of eleotors v1l.L
vote for the ahange. .
%a number (of petltloxwra)ought to ba
aufflalentto give mama aaauranaa that there
exlata a 4ealre on part of l large OjllagOrtl~
or the votera for the ahans to be voted for,
end than la a prabablllty thatc In aaae
the election be ordered, the propoaltion Vil.l
-=7. ma Ze the foundation of the poliap f
xonorabie Walter Ibrrohi*on.'PPge
5
vhlch detemlnea the nmber of appllcants
neceuea to procure 6n order for an elaa-
tton." 1 Undersuorlng and~parenthetical
matter ours).
we eru of the opinion th6t the uord 'raters," as used
In the quoted statute,neana persona vh~ have the qu&ificatl.ona
entitling them to yrzte.
Artlola 2954, Vexnon's Annotated Civil 8tatute8,names
the alaaaea of persona *o are not. qualified to vote la Taxna.
Article 2955, Vernon's Anuotated Clvll l3tatutea.aetttnn forth
the quallflcatlaw for voting, reads as follova~
‘Art. 2955. 2939 Quallflcatlonafor
Yotlng
Avery person aubjeot to name of the
foregolagdl.aquallfications vho ahall have
attained the ege of tvsaty-one (21) yeara
and who a!tiall
be a altlaen of the Unlted
Stetee, md vho ah8ll have railded ln this .
stat8 03M YOU 8l'BXtplWCediZ& 811QbOtiOJJ,
and%Im Inat six (6) lootbe vithb the dir-
trlut or county in vhidr he or she &fez8
to vote,,shall ba deemd a .qusllfied .eleetor.
Pap eloatwa living in au wzoqpxnfaedaormfy
may vote at an eleotion preoimat Sn the em-
of Febbrusrp niutt preceding aueh eleotlon~
opal,lf said voter 1s exempt fron peying a
poll tax and zw3ider in+ aLtyoftcmthau-
sand (10,000) l.nhabitoPta or more, lu or
aha met prmmra a ce~lfloat~ ahow- his
or her exemptiona,as 8equlred by th%a title: ‘.~ . .
If aimh votn ehsll Mve lost or mlapleaed
aald tar reaelpt, he or ahe shall be entitled ~(i
to vote upan mklng and lesvlng Vlth tha judge 1:~’.%k
of the election an affldayit~thatsuch tax ~6.
¨pbLe Walter Mur~aon. PaSo 6
paid by hiasor her, oreb hla wife or b
her husband before said Flrat day of Pa g-
ruarynextpreaedlng auaheleatlonatvhioh
he or ehe offers to vote, ,+x<hat aald re-
oelpt hae been lost or daplaoced. In any
oleatlon held only Ln a aubdivlalonof a
aounty for the purpose of d~tsmining any
loaal question or propoalt:onaffecting
only auah aubdlvlalan of th6 uounty, than
in addition to the foregoing~quallflaatlona.,
the voters muat have resided In aald county
for ak (6) months next prem aubh eleo-
tlon. The provlalom of thla Article as to
caxting bBllota &all apply to all.el.satlana
iaoludw general, apeclal, and primary elec-
tfona; provided that n city pelJ.tax &all
not be required to vote in any election In
this State except in oity eleotions.'
(Underscoring oura)
Qne of the ~ualiflcatlonathat a parson aiuathave in
or&r to be a "voter, therefore, la tbtt he mud hnve either
paldUe poll tax op 8hovhimeeLftobe exemptedfk~the pay-
mnt of a poll tax as provldgd by l&u.
Ia Oplnlaa 510.O&145, randered by thl% bparmcmt
.oztOctobm 6, 1941, ;ttwas held t&t the term %ualWhd voter”
am wed in Artlck 666-32 of the Fexaa Liquor Contml Aot mans
that a person aunt be .qualifiedto vote either to the extent of
having paid hi6 poll tax or ba exemptad fraa!paying aaam. before
his l~tura cm a petition raqueetlng a looal option electlon
aan ba counted ln coasputlngthe number of Qualified voterr who
have signed tha petition. We are enclosing herewith a copy of
said oplnlon for your inforsatlon.
In vlev of the forego*, themfore, it is the opln¶.on
of thla department,under the facts &ate& that your queatfon
bauld be amvvered in the affirmatlvo,Irmait is aaensvered.
Very Wuly y6ura
ATTORNEY
GENERAL
EPIRS
OP
WMMII-I’EE