OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL OF TEXAS
lionorable
R. 8. Wyehe
countyAuditar
Gregg county
LonevIew,PePas
Dear alrr
w* have your let
upon the followingqyest
r, the
or relies OS desiltuteper-
y of this your and the cait-
4 oontraet with merchantsto
nemessitiiesand lilaie
warrant8
emed (lV,VVV,to pay Zer
, $esO, These warrentstirebaing
aerdaentsby the lwil bank at
aoa that tke warrantsmay be ex-
rpm~mttoOaaua~X,l9#L
I
Honorable R. 5. Wyahe,paga #8
u5s had against the oounty
“‘(3)A juagnteat
sor $8le.o0. Them being no funds on hand to
pay same, a time warrant us6 Ismod due 19ovember1,
1939 for it8 payment.The holder agreesto ertend
time or p5ymentto Jaxluary1, 1011.
Vmper tax Levi and slaklngfund was in eaah
case pmperli 6et up.
*The tax ramlsslonbill reaentlypa8sadby the'
lagislatum is the reasonSor extension.-
ft Is not.detewinablafrom tha taota dlsoiosadwhetbar
or not the wTimaWarrentsw ware 1egall.f Issued,and we are,
therefore,not passingupon their le@alltr', but wu think the
power of the C~aalonera * Court to extend the tlxw of their
paymentmart detol~s upon the westion or whathsr the desodbsd
obligationsuara intendadto be paid out of ourrentfunds or
werato.avldanoealoaa agaln8tfuturefand*rmrrhiah thef
were to be paid aml for rbloh a tar had ban pmvlded.
TOILbare denoniln6ted the obligation*Time warianiw.
ArtloleZ568a 02 tfs Retlwa Clvll Statute8deH.nas *Tiao
Warr5nt?“asany warrant Issued by a oity or aountf not pay-
able out oi ourrentfund*; and it definesmourrentfundsa
as lnoladingmoney in the treamary, taxes in pmaesr of ool-
leotionduring suah tax year and all othar revenue8rblah mar
be antlolpatadwith rea8onablaaertalntyduringmah tax year.
In providinga tax levy for e&h insue,it appaclrs that
it wa8 Intendedthat a loan agala6truture revenue8be pade,
but in settingthe maturitydata8 of tsuohharrants, January1,
1940, for the first twe issues,and Korember 1, lQS9 for the
third lssae above deaorlbeb,we can not oonoelrs that it was
definitelycontemplatedthat 6ua& obligationswere to be paid
Srcm revenues derived rma taxes for the year lQ4V. We nunt
assume,however,that the lntsntionwas to barraw against
future revenues,and advise that in our opipionthe provi8iop
of ArtsaleZ?MSa of tiw RevisedCivil Statutesnmat have been
~followedIn the leauanoaof the warrant8and that the refund-
ing 07 +endlng thereof1s Zikewlsegovernedbr this statute.
72
HonorablsR. SI Wyche,page #3
Tha oaae of Aahby v. James,Zi%b 8. '19.
9S2, held that "tha
ooamlaaionera*court has no authorityto borrow moneJrby
means OS warrants;this map be done only by the isming of
bonds*. And further that "bafora warrants may be laaued
dlreetlngthe treaaarerto pay money out of any fund, there
anaatexist an obligationvalid in law.*
Artlole gSd&, known as the Bond and WarrantLaw,
wae~eneeted in 1931 aubsequent to the holding in the above'
quoted 0888, and in our opinion provides the only mmumr in
whloh time warrant8 can be laauad,and.also the only nay in
whloh aama oan be ertendedor ref'uniled,with or without the
oonaent of the holders. See Seotlon9, subaeotion: (6) there-
of for the steps neaeaaaryto be taken in re-ng itams at
lndebts6nssa.
We think that the mason underlying tha proposed ax-
tension or refunding beoomes lxmt~lal In riew of our oon-
elualon that Artlole .23&i of ths Raised Civil 8tatutea aUSt
govara any auoh action by the ooamisaloners*oaart.
It may be well to point out hera that in (LoaQrdanaa
with tha deolalon handed down by the Supreme Court in the
recentoaae, City of Wauo v. Mann, l89 8. W. (84) 899, that
any money in the ak&lng SunU to the oredlt of any isum muat
be used to retireao auiehof said debt as rraidsum ulll
permit,and only aueh debt aa raaalnsunpaid ahallbe extended
or rsfnaded. To:.usethese runds for any other purpore muld
oonatltutae diversion of anoh fur&s es la inhibitedby
Articles839 to 841 of the RetiaadOlrll Statutes of Texas.
Trusting that the foregelng aatl6feetorllyanwem
your question,we are
Very truly years
APPRC)VE“AUG 18, 1939
OPINION
COMMC-TEE