KEN PAXTON 

ATTORNEY GENERAL OF TEXAS 

July 13, 2015 

The Honorable Bob Wortham Opinion No. KP-0028 

Jefferson County Criminal District Attorney 

1085 Pearl Street, 3rd floor Re: Whether a Type C municipality may 

levy an ad valorem property tax 

(RQ-0006-KP) 

Beaumont, Texas 77701 

Dear Mr. Wortham: 

On behalf of the mayor of the City of Taylor Landing, Texas (the "City"), you ask whether 

a Type C general-law municipality may levy an ad valorem property tax. 1 In a letter attached to 

your request, the mayor states that the City has a population of 272 and provides various municipal 

services. Durkay Letter at 1.2 The mayor asks whether the City may impose "a traditional 

ad valorem tax," but he is uncertain whether the City has that authority under the principles 

discussed in Attorney General Opinion JC-0291. Id. at 1-2. That opinion advises that the power 

to tax, which belongs to the state, can be exercised by a political subdivision only when the 

constitution or the Legislature has expressly granted taxing authority to the political subdivision. 

Tex. Att'y Gen. Op. No. JC-0291 (2000) at 4 (determining that a political subdivision may levy 

an ad valorem tax only if the constitution or the Legislature has "plainly and unmistakably 

conferred" such authority). While that opinion concerned a county development district, the same 

principles govern the taxing authority of a Type C general-law municipality. See Tex. City v. JL.. 

Martin Inv. Co., 222 S.W.2d 139, 141 (Tex. Civ. App.-Galveston 1949, writ refd) (stating that 

"municipalities are strictly limited in the exercising of their taxing power to the powers expressly 

granted them by the constitution or by statute, either expressly or by necessary implication"); 

Vance v. Town of Pleasanton, 261 S.W. 457, 458 (Tex. Civ. App.-San Antonio 1924) (stating 

that general-law municipalities "have no ·power to levy or collect taxes upon property within their 

1

See Letter from Honorable Bob Wortham, Jefferson Cnty. Crim. Dist. Att'y, to Office of the Tex. Att'y Gen. 

at I (Jan. 20, 2015), https://www.texasattomeygeneral.gov/opinion/requests-for-opinion-rqs ("Request Letter"); 

Letter from Honorable John J. Durkay, Mayor, City of Taylor Landing, to Honorable Bob Wortham (Jan. 13, 2015) 

("Durkay Letter") (attached to Request Letter). 

2

The 2010 decennial census lists the population of the City of Taylor Landing, Texas as 228. See U.S. Census 

Bureau, U.S. Dep't of Commerce, 2010 Census of Population, http://factfinder.census.gov. 
The Honorable Bob Wortham - Page 2 (KP-0028) 

territorial limits, except such power as may be expressly delegated to them by the Constitution or 

statutes"), aff'd, 277 S.W. 89 (Tex. Comm. App. 1925). 

Under article XI, section 4 of the Texas Constitution, the Legislature may authorize 

municipalities with a population of 5,000 or less to levy an ad valorem tax. TEX. CONST. art. XI, 

§ 4. Section 302.001 of the Tax Code grants ad valorem taxing authority to home-rule 

municipalities and Type A and Type B general-law municipalities without addressing the authority 

of Type C municipalities. TEX. TAX CODE ANN.§ 302.001 (West 2015). But section 51.051 of 

the Local Government Code gives Type C municipalities the same authority as a Type A or Type 

B municipality, depending on population. TEX. Loe. Gov'T CODE ANN. § 51.051 (West 2008).3 

Subsection 51.051(b) of the Local Government Code provides: "The governing body of a Type C 

general-law municipality with 201 to 500 inhabitants has the same authority as a Type B generallaw municipality unless the authority conflicts with a provision of [the Local Government Code] 

relating specifically to a Type C general-law municipality." Id.§ 51.05l(b). No provision of the 

Local Government Code that relates specifically to a Type C general-law municipality conflicts 

with the taxing authority that a Type C municipality may possess under section 302.001 of the Tax 

Code. As a revisor's note to section 302.001 of the Tax Code explains, it is not necessary for that 

section to specify the taxing powers of Type C municipalities because of the authority granted in 

the borrowing provision of Local Government Code section 51.051. See TEX. TAX CODE ANN. 

§ 302.001 revisor's note (West 2015). Accordingly, section 302.001 of the Tax Code and section 

51.051 of the Local Government Code expressly authorize a Type C general-law municipality to 

levy an ad valorem tax on property within its city limits. 

3See also TEX. Loe. Gov'r CODE ANN. § 51.052 (West 2008) (authorizing certain Type C municipalities to 

adopt the power of a Type A municipality based in part on assessed valuation). 
The Honorable Bob Wortham - Page 3 (KP-0028) 

SUMMARY 

Section 302.001 of the Tax Code and section 51.051 of the 

Local Government Code expressly authorize a Type C general-law 

municipality to levy an ad valorem tax on property within its city 

limits. 

CHARLES E. ROY 

First Assistant Attorney General 

BRANTLEY STARR 

Deputy Attorney General for Legal Counsel 

VIRGINIA K. HOELSCHER 

Chair, Opinion Committee 

WILLIAM A. HILL 

Very truly yours, 

~?~ KEN PAXTON 

Attorney General of Texas 

Assistant Attorney General, Opinion Committee