HE A~TOIR~TEY GENERAL
OF TEXAS
Honorable George H. Sheppard
Comptrollersof Public Accounts
Austin, Texas
Dear Sir: Opinion No. O-3942
Re: Cost of compilation of delinquent
tax records.
We have received your letter of recent date which we
quote in full as follows:
"As required by Article 7336F, the Tax
Assessor-Collector of Dewitt County has compiled
a delinquent tax record for the years 1919 to
1935, inclusive. Two years later, he made a
supplement to the record covering taxes delin-
quent for the years 1936 and 1937. At the end
of the fiscal year 1939, he had delinquent taxes
for the years 1938 and 1939 which had not been
compiled into a supplement. Instead of recbm-
piling the delinquent tax record for the years
1919 to 1939, inclusive, OP making a supplement
for the years 1938 and 1939, as authorized by
Article 7336F, he made a supplement covering
delinquent taxes for*the years 1936 to 1939,
inclusive.
"Due to the fact that the law only refers
to the recompilation of a delinquent tax record
or a two year supplement thereto, you will please
advise this department whether OP not we would
have the authority to pay a proportionate part
of the cost for compiling the four year supple-
ment, or should we only pay a proportionate part
of the cost for compiling the supplement of de-
linquent taxes due for the years 1938 and 1939."
Sectlon 2 of Article 7336f, Vernon's Annotated ClvLl
Statutes, reads as follows:
"Any County havfng as many as two years'
taxes delinquent which have not been Included
in the delinquent tax record, the Collector of
taxes shall within two years from the effective
Honorable George H. Sheppard, page 2 0 -3942
date ,of this Act, cause
^ __ to
_-.be compiled a delln-
quent tax recora 0s all aellnquent taxes not
barred by this Act; the delinquent record shall
be examined by the Commissioners' Court and the
Comptroller or governing body, corrections may
be ordered made, and when found correct and ap-
proved by them, payment for the'compllation
thereof shall be authorized,at actual cost to
the Tax Collector, proportionately from each
the State and County taxes, or municipal taxes,
first collected from such record, such cost in
no case to exceed a sum equal to five ‘(5#)cents
per item or written line of the original copy
of such record and in no event shaI1 any com-
piling cost be charged to the taxpayer. The
delinquent tax record when approved, shall be
prima facie evidence of the delinquency shown
thereon, and when there shall be as many as two
years of delinquency accumulated which are not
shown on the record, a recomnllatlon, or a two
year suonlement thereto shall then be made as
herein nroviaed. Tax Collectors shall causeto
be compiled'like records of taxes dellnqueiitdue
any district for which they collect from tax "
rolls other than the State and county rolls, and
when approved by the governing body of the par-
ticular district, the cost of same shall be al-
lowed in the manner herein provided. Acts 1935
44th Leg., pe 355, ch. 128.' (Emphasis supplledj
We are informed,by your department that the officer
in uestion received the above-mentioned cost for compiling the
1932 -1937 supplement.
As you mentioned in your letter, reference is made
only to a recompilation and to a two year supplement after the
original tax record is complied. This fact in itself 1s an
implied denial of any right on the part of the tax collector to
receive payment of his actual cost for any compilation other
than the ones mentioned.
The statute reads that "payment for the compilation
thereof shall be authorized at actual cost to the Tax Collector".
This payment is In the nature either of the payment of an expense
necessarily incurred by the tax collector in the discharge of a
statutory duty, or a fee or compensation'for official services
performed by him. In either event the tax collector is not
authorized under the statute to prepare a four year supplement';
embodying two years previously covered by another supplement, and
receive the actual cost Incurred in such compilation.
-- -
Honorable George I-I.
Sheppard, page 3 o-3942
In Corpus Juris, Volume 46, pages 1018 and 1019, it
is said:
"The right of an officer to compensation for
expenses incurred by him in the performance of an
official duty must b'efound in a provision of the
constitution or a statute conferring-it either
cllrectlgor by necessary implication, and the of-
fleer cannot recover compensation additional to
the compevsatlon fixed by statute for such expenses
e . . . 6
"Statutes relating to the fees and compensa-
tion of public officers mustbe strictly construed
in favor of the government, and such officers are
entitled only to what is clearly given by law . 0 .'I
We quote also from 34 Tex. Jur. 508 and 509 as fol-
lows:
"Statutes prescribing fees for public officers
are strictly construed and hence a right to fees may
not rest in Implication. Where this right Is left to
construction, the language of the lfw rrmstbe construed
in favor of the government. . . . .
Article 7336f neither expre,sslynor implledly author-
izes the compilation of a four year supplement. Thus, It fol-
lows that whether the payment is regarded as payment of an ex-
pense, a fee, or compensation, the payment of the cost for pre-
parlng the supplement for the entire four year period is not
authorized.
However, the two year period 1938-1939 is covered by
the supplement. The tax collector is fully authorized to com-
pile a supplement for these years and receive a payment of the
cost 8;sprovided for in the statute. Therefore, we believe that
he may receive payment for compiling that part of the supplement
which represents the years 1938 and 1939.
In view of the foregoing, it Is the oplnlon of this
department that under Article 7336f the Comptroller is authorized
to pay a proportionate part of the cost of the compilation of
only that part of the four year supplement to the delinquent .tax
record which represents the years 1938 and 1939.
Honorable George R. Sheppard, page 4 O-3942
Very truly yours
ATTORNEY GBNERAL OF TEXAS
By s/Glenn R. Lewis
Glenn R.'Lewis
Assistant
By s/George W. Sparks
George W. Sparks
GWS:mp:wc
APPRQVXI SEP 23. 1941
s/Gerald C. Mati
ATTORNEY GENERAL OF TEXAS
Approved Opinion Committee By s/BWB Chairman