OFFICE OF TNE ATTORNEY GENERAL OF TEXAS
AUSTIN ,‘-
‘.
FJ Ronorebls Char147 Lookhart
State Trearurer
Austin, Texrr
I
Dear Slrr Opinion Elo. O-i32
rnon(e Annotated Ci+-
ua the rou rubyit to
‘~mag ae8h-
n their iarm,
unt that vlll be
on well, isetal-
an4 otherwkre e-
Are thee*
he State Hate fax?*
graph la ddotion R oi &tWle ?04?e,
Btatutrr, read8 l e tolZowr
herein otherwire provided there
arsrrrrd a tax of Ten (&Of) Centa
drod ($100.00) Dollara or fraatlon
thereof, over the first Two amarea ($200.00) Doilaro,
on all noter mb ob21g4tloae 4eoucsd br ohattel mmt-
gag4, area of trwt, me4h.anlo~e lien eontreot, ronaor”r
lien, oonditional ml48 aontmat and all lnrtrumontr
of a 8lmilar nature whioh ire film3 or recorded U the
‘-. 70
Honorable Charley Lockhart, page 2
office of the County Clerk under the Reglstratlon
Laws of this State; ?irorlaen that no tax ehall be
levied on Instrument0 securing an amount of Two Run-
dred ($200.00) Dollars, or less. After thr effective
date of this Act, except as’herelnafter provided, no
such instrument ahell be fllea or recorded by any
County Clerk in thle State untll there haa been af-
fixad to euoh instrument stamps in aocordanoe xlth
the provlalona of thlr eeotlon: providing further that !:’
should the lnatrument flied in the office of the
County Clerk be eecurlty of an obligation that has prop-
erty pledger? 8s aeourlty ln a state or Stater other
than Texas, the tax ehall be baaed upon the reasonable
cesh value of all oropertp pledged ln Texas in the
proportion that sald droperty in Texsr beam to the
total relue of the prorterty seourlng the obligation;
end, provldlng further that, exoept as to renewals
or extenslone of accrued interest, the provlalone
of this seotion ahal. not apply to lnetrumente there-
tofore stamped uniier the provisions of thla Aot or
the one amended hereby, end rhe.11 not apply to in-
etrumenta given in the refunding of existing bond8
or obllgntloas where the preoealng lnetrument of LO-
ourlty was mtamDed In eooordanoe vlth this Act or
the one emended hereby; provided further thst the
tax levied in this Pot ehell apply to only one lnstru-
Bent, the one of the greatest denomlnatlon, where
sever81 Instruments are oontemporaneourly exeouted
to eeoure one obligation; and provided further that
when once stamped e8 prorlded herein, an lnatrument
may be recorded in any number of counties in thir
State vlthout ngeln being 60 stamped. This section
ehell not apply to lnetrumentrr, notes, or other
obligations taken by or on behalf of the United
Stetee, or of the Stste of Texae, or any oorporrte
agency or ln~trumentallty of the United Statee, or of
the Stete of Texee in carrying out a governmental
purpose am expressed In any Act of the Congreas of
the United State6 or of the Legleleture of the State
of Texas, nor ohall the prorislona of this aeotloa
apply to obligations or lnetrumente seoured by lien6
on crone nnd ferm or agricultural ?roauots, or to
liventook or farm lmplementr, or en abatraot of Judg-
ment.#
As you will note from 8 reading of the above, aeohanlo’a
llen oontraote ere within the etetute. We presume thet the
lnetrueents to which you refer are written contraota flled under
Seotlon 1 of Artiole 5433, R. C. S. or in oomollance with Artlole
Honorable Charley Loakhart, nage 3
5460, R. c. s. Such Instruments clearly fall within the
meaning of the term lmeohenIo's lien oontract' ea used in
the ete,tute quoted above. Said Aot provides that 'except
es hereinafter provided no ruoh lnatrument ahall be filed
or recorded . . . until there haa been afflxed to suoh
Instrument stamps in aocordanoe with the QrOViEiOn8 of thle
reotlon.* Reed.lng down into the Act we f’,al nothing to
take these pertlouler lnstruaente out of the operation of the
taxing atetute. The lrrlgatlon well oould under no olroum-
atanoes be conridered a farm lmclement or a farm or agrloul-
tural product. While it le altogether orobablp that the equlp-
ment when installed could not be olarned es "farm lmplementr'
we do not find it neceesery to tleflnltely determine that quer-
tlon. In our Conference ODinIon No. 3061 we held that where
the eeourlty 1s primarily of the kind whioh will not confer ex-
emption the mere lnolurlon of farm implements in the mortgage
would not take the lnetrument out of the taxing etatute. Llene
of the Und you mention go not only to the lmprovenentn plaoed
on the land but to the land ltaelf. Artloles 6452, 6488, 5459,
5460, Revised Civil Statutea. Aenoe, we enewer your queetion Sri
the negative.
Youre very truly
ATTORBEXQEB-XRALOF TEXAS
ByL&CLII:
alenn B. Lewis
ORL: JO Aseletent