OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY OENERAL OF TEXAS
AUSTIN
Honorable George H. Shmpprd
ColPptrollsr of Publio Aoaounte
AuntIn, Texas
mar sir:
s depar8mblIt am 8e
U l8harlag booorsc,
delinquant fop u alao ark thb bS-
foot of Chapkr Aota Of the Mth LO6-
lisfaturm, 1939, on thi8 aubjmt.
part an folA6w~
re the. thirtieth day of mmaber
d&l, the remining am-hali (*)
hall be detllnquent ii not paid
first day of July of the par next
rueaaedlng the year for which tha return ot the
ammrammnt rolls of the aount~ are made to t&
Comptroller 0r Pub110 A000Un8~.~
Iionorable George R. Sheppard, Fags 2
Evidently you are oonoerned with the problem of
the date on whioh six per oent interest begins aooruing
on taxes for pears prior to 1939 whloh taxes were still
delinquent and unpaid aa of the effective date of Senate
Bill 402. It Is to be noted in the first plaoe that Senate
Bill 402 doss not attempt to met up at what date taxer be-
oame delinquent for prior yeara, but has provided that
taxes ehall .beoome delinquent on osrtaln bates. It Is
thererore unneoeeeary to dieouas the question or whether
or not the Legialaturo could provide that taaes for prior
years have become delinquent at a date dfftsrent than the
date upon which said taxem beoame delinquent under the lawa
prevailing at the time of said tax.
Article 73366 or Vernon’s AMOtated Civil Statute8
was enaoted aa Chapter v, Rouee Bill rio. 7, by the Nrd Leg-
islature in fte Fourth Called Sareion in 1834. Salit statute
made in part as rollow6; I
Veo. 2. That all Interest and penaltlea
that have aaarued on all ad valoram and poll taxen
that were delinquent on or before August 1, 1934,
and not paid under the provisions of Section 1 or
this Aot, due to the St8te or any oounty, oommon
sohool dietriot, road distrlat, levee lmprovemant
dimtriat, water improvement district, water oon-
trol and Im rovement distriot, irrigation U&riot
and other ..-x,
. efined aubdlvl~ions of the State (ex-
oept suoh aitlee, towna, vlllageu, speolal school
dietrlete and Independent sahool distriots whiah
do not adopt the provialons of this 8sction) shall
be and the same are hereby released, . . . and the
same shall be an4 are henby relaaeed provided said
ad valoram and poll taxee are paid after June 30,
1935, with an additfon of eight per oent (S$) pen-
alty on rsald tarosr, together with interest on amid
taxes at the rate of eix p@r oent (0s) per aMum,
on and from July 1, 1935; but it is espeoially pro-
vided that the pnaltlsa herein provided for mhall
not be ouf&lative.W
There oan be no question but that the above-quoted
article releases all interest on delinquent taxae prlor to
July 1, 1936. The Forty-rourth Lsgl8laturs enaated Houee
Concurrent Resolution No. 13 on January 22, 1935. Said R6@-
olution provide8 ln part as follower:
Honorable George H. Sheppard, Page 3
*RESOLVED,That said House Dill Xo. 7 in-
cluding this Resolution Is an emergency measure
and such eisergenay Is hereby declared for the
reasons herein and in said Houae Sill 140. 7 stat-
ed; and on acoount of such emergenoy an Impera-
tive publio neoeas1t.y demands that the Constitu-
tional Fiule requiring 411 bills to be read on
three several days In eaoh House bs suspended,
and said rule Is hereby suspended, ma 9aid House
Bill No. 7 and this Resolution ehall be in foroe
and take efreot from and after the passage here-
or, ma it 18 SO enacted.
“%othlng herein shall be construed to remit
any costs, interest or penalty after June 30,
1935, and it ia hereby deolared to be the pbll;cy
of the state and the Intent OS the Legislature
not to remit any 006ts, interest or penaltieu
after June 30, 1936.v
The intention of the Legielature In the last para-
graph of the above-quoted Resolution is not clear. At any
rate, said provision oan have no effeot on the bill whloh
had been previously paeaad because of the holding or the
Supreme Court of Texas In the oaee of Caples v. Cole, 108
s. w. (24) 173. The aourt 8tated that a bill could not be
amended by a resolution of both housea of the Legislature.
You are therefore advised that all interest on delinquent
taxee prior to July 1, 1935, ha8 been released by the Leg-
falature. It is unneoasearp, therefore, to go baok of 1935
to determine the delinquent date of taxes.
Article 7336,as eunended in 1934, reads In part as
iollowe :
“All ad velorem and poll taxes shall be-
aone delinquent ii not paid by July first of
the year next suooeeding the year, for which
the return of the assessment rolls of the county
are made to the Oomptroller of Fublic Accounts.
All delinquent taxes shall bear Interest at the
rate of six per oent (6%) per annum from the date
of their delInquenoy.n
you mre’therefore advised that taxes ior the ytimre
1.934 through 1938 beoane delinquent on July 1 ~followlng the
year for whiah said taxes were asseseed. This was true re-
gardless of whether the taxes were partly paid under the
split payment plan or Artiole 7336 or not.
Honorable George I?. Cheppard, Page 4
.senate Bill 402 provide8 in part as follows:
“All delinquent taxes shall bear interest
at the rate of six (B$) per cent per annuui fros
the date or their delinquenoy.”
In your letter you are conoerned with the ques-
tion of whether or not the above provision authorizes the
collection of six per cent (6%) intereat on delinquent
taxes baok of 1935 deeplte the interest releasing bill
discussed previously in this opinion. In this conneotlon
you are advised that whlle tt Is possible for the Leglsla-
ture to enact a tax penalty or interest statute which 1s
retroaotlve (aee League v. State, 57 s. Y. 55, Supreme
Court of Texas, atfirmed by the United States supreme Court
in 184 U. S. 156), at111 such retroeotlve effeot will not
be given to a tax penalty statute unless it la speoliloally
provided therein that the Aot should have such an eifeot.
(See Conklin v. City of E. Paso, 44 S. W. 879, writ of error
rerueed by the supreme Court).
The language of Senate Bill 402 looks to the
future and not to the past. It Is provided that “taxes
shall bear interest”. Nowhere In the Aot is there lnolud-
-any language whloh would lndloate that the Act was to
be retroaotlve and that lnterert oould be assessed rrom the
date of dellnquenoy on taxes which were delinquent prior
to the passage or the Aot.
It ia the opinion of this department, therefore,
that Senate Rlll 402 does not operate retroaotlvely and
that Interest at mix per aent (6$) may be oolleoted on de-
linquent taxes rrom July 1, 1935, or iron the date of de-
llnquenoy of taxes which beoame delinquent rubetiquent to
July 1, 1935. You are also advised. that Senate Bill 402
does not Offrot the date of dellnquenhy of taxes assessed
for years prior to 1939.
Yours very truly
ATMRNZY GZXERAL0; TEXAS