PRICE DANIEL 

*TTOHNEY GESERAL Februsry 26, 1948 

Ron. L. A. Uoods Qpinioa Ho. v-5l.a 

State Superintendent . . . 

Department of Educati.oa Re: Se&w1 questions relAu&la, Texas atlve to the taxation 

of vheat while stored 

Attn: Hon. T. M. Trimble in an elevator 

First Assistant 

Dear Sir: 

You request the. opinion of this office upon the 

questions~oontained in the letterof Mr. George M. Waddill, 

Business Manager of the Amarillo Public Schools addressed 

to you under date of February 5, 1948. His letter reads in 

p&t as ~follovs : 

kho Is responsible to pay the taxes on 

wheat stored in an elevator? 

“(a) Is the elevator obligated to give 

‘, the tax assessor information as to the. ~mnery 

of the stored wheat, the same as applies ~to 

wa.rehous es 1 

“(b) Is the farmer whose farm Is in the 

Amsrillo Independent School District but whose 

wheat Is stored in an elevator in the School 

District responsible for the tax on the stored 

wheat? 

s(c) If the farmer lives In another 

county and has wheat stored in an elevator In 

the Amsrillo Independent School District, is 

the fermer who owns the wheat supposed to pay 

z;zr$xes In the Distriot where the wheat Is 

, or in the District in which he lives? 

“(d) Would wheat stored in the. elevator 

still belonglng to the farmer be exempt under 

Section 19, Artlole 81” 

Prellmlnsry to answerlog the foregoing questions 

contained i,n Mr. Waddill’s letter, ue quote Article 7243 
‘“1 

. 

: . 

. "'Ron . L . A . Woods - Page 2 (V-511) 

V.C.S.'snd Article 1060a, V.C.S. and Seotlon 19 of Artlole 

VIII of the Constitution of Texas. 

Artlcle.7243, V.C.S., provides, in part, as follous : 

'Any person, co-partnership, assoclatlon or corporation doing business in this 

State as a warehousemen or operating pr controlling a warehouse or place of storage, 

shall, upon demand of the tax assessor of 

the county, In which said business Is operated or in which property is so stored, on Januery 1st of each year, furnish to the ssld 

assessor, a list of the property so stored In 

such warehouse or plaoe of storage, together 

vith a list of the owners of such property 

. 'and their resldenoe. . . ." 

\ 

Article 1060a V.C.S; provides as follows: : 

"That all of the provisions of Title 122, 

'of the Revised Clvll Statutes of Texas' of 19'25, 

be, and the same are made available In so far 

as same may be applicable and necessary to all 

school districts and q unioipal corporations 

organized under any general or special law of 

. this State and which have power and authority 

to levy and colleot thelr own taxes, and that 

each of such oorporations shall heve the beneSit of all liens and remedies for the security 

and colleotion of taxes due them as is provided 

in said Title In the case of taxes due the -' 

State and Counts. '~~Aots 1935, 44th Leg., p. 666, 

ch. 281, 11 1." 

Section 19 of Article VIII of the Constitution of 

Texas, provides as Sollovs: 

"Farm products in the hands of the producer, and family supplies for home and farm use, 

are exempt from all taxation until otherwise 

directed by a two-thirds vote of all the membsrs 

_ elect to both houses of the Legislature." 

It Is apparent from the provisions of Article 

106Oa, V.O.S., supra, that the provisions of Article 

7243, V.C.3. are avallable to the Amarillo Independent 

School District for the reason that said article is com- 
‘,’ 

1 

‘! 

z~ _ 

. - Hon. L. A. Woods - Page 3, ,(V-511) .~,." 

prehended under the provisions of Title 122 of the Revised 

Civil Statutes’ of Terns of 1925. 

In answer to qkestion (a) it is sufficient to' 

say that a gmln elevator comes within theVprovislons of 

the foregoing statutes. IS it 1s not a warehoizse under 

the oommdnly accepted use of the term, It is ctirtainly a

'place of storage ‘. 

It Is, therefore, the duty of any nierson 

partnership or corporation doing busltiess in this &a~~ 

- 

operating or controlling a grain. elevator" In the Amrillo Independent School District to give the Tax Assessor 

of said dlstrlot the information required by the foregoing 

statutes. Thr, name and address of the owner and the number of bushels of wheat stored by such ovner as of January 

1, of each year would seem to be a suiflcient oomplia'nce 

with the,statutes. In the 'case of Interstate Forvarding 

Conpang v. Vlnyard, 49 g.U. (2d) 403, the Supreme Court 

said: 

"It is reasonable to believe that the 

Legislature Intended to r~equire of the warehouseman. nothing more than that he furnish 

.J ': the assessor such information concerning the 

general nature of property on storage, and 

.-the names and addresses of the various owners, 

as.the warehouseman necessarily acquires In 

handllng the property in the ordluary course 

of business. . . .“ 

We next ansver question (d) for the reason thst 

our answer to this questlon will render an extended discussion of questions (b) and (c) unnecessary. 

The Legislature has never, by two-thirds vote of 

all members of both houses, Imposed a tax on farm products 

Fn the hands of the producer. This provislon of the Constitution is still in full force and effeot. 

You are, therefore, respectfully advised that, 

wheat, owned by the, producer, stored in an elevator in the ' 

Amarillo Independent School District or elsewhere in this 

State Is still "In the hands of the producer”, vithin the 

meanlug of the above quot8d section of the Constitution and 

not subject to taxation. 

~Briefly reSerrFrg to questions (b) and (c), we 

think It safe to essuae from the questions that the farmer 

‘3 . 
Hon. L. A. Woods - Page 4, (V-511) 

referred to is the produoer and the3 he is still the ovner' 

of the vheat. The fact that hit is %tored In an elevstor by 

him until sold is immsterlal. Under such conditlons'it~ 

vould still be exempt from taxation under Seotlon 19 of 

Artlole~VIII of the Constitution of Texas. OS course, after 

it passes from the producing farmers ownership, It is no 

longer in his hands as the producer, and Is, therefore, taxeble, as any other personal property to the then owner under 

existing laws a.pplloable to persona1 property. The residence 

of the farmer or the ~locatlon of the elevator in which the 

vheat la stored are llkevlse immsterl.al: It vould still be 

exempt from taxation as a farm product in the hsnds of producer until sold. . ..,' 

SUMMARY 

A gra,ln elevator is a ?plaoe ~of storage", and 

Comes undey Artlole 7243 V.C.S. and Article 1060a. 

V.C.S. Wheat stored In a grain elevator by a Ssrmer is not taxable If he is the producer of thewheat, so long as he is its ovner. Hovever, irhea 

the wheat is no longer owned by the farmer, as the 

producer, it.ia subject to.tax as any other persons1 property of the then ovner.' Seotlon 19, Ar- 

.tlcle VIII, Constitution of Texas. 

-_ 

Yours very truly 

ATTORIiEY GENEXAL OF TEXAS 

LPL/lh 

APPROVED: