Untitled Texas Attorney General Opinion

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