NEYGENERAL 

TEXAS 

Hon. Gee. Ii. Sheppard 

ComptreLler of Public Accounts 

Austin, Texas 

Opinion No. V-543 

Re: Basis of allocation to 

sr$ool and road districts of funds paid to 

the State by the United 

Stntas from moaies reIc;eiwd by the United 

States from the leasinS 

of lands required by the 

United States far floodcontrol purposes. 

Dear Mr. Sheppard,: 

You request our opinion as to the pmoprr method to be used 

in allocatinp the funds on deposit in the “‘Flood Ara5 School and 

Road JFu&’ to the sclw@ and road dQtri&s located Within, ti p*rkiy 

within, b flood control district *Is fiord c@rMat ~d& Thee fun& 

were paid u1 the SPrte of Texas hy the Se#retery sf ihe Treasury of 

the UnIt,& Sates in ursuance of the provisfons of the Act of Congress, Augus%M, 19 B 1, Chapter 377. Sec. 7, 55 Stat. 650, as amended 

33 U.S.C.A. Sec. 701ce3 which reads as follows: 

“75 per centum of au moneys received and deposited 

in the Treasury of the United States during: atry fiscal 

year on account of the leasing of lands acquired by the 

United States for flood-control purposes shall be paid 

at the end of such year by the Secretary of the Treasury 

to the State in which such property ir: situated, to be expended as the State kgislature may prescribe for the 

benefit of public schools and public roads of the county, 

or counties, in which such property is situated: Provided, That when such property is situated in more than 

-diie State or county, the distributive share to each fram 

the proceeds of such p~~p@rty shall be proportional to 

its ax ea there in,. ” 

5. B. No. 343, 49th Legislature, Chap. 250, reads, ‘in part, 

a6 f+llows: 

“Section 1. The Comptroller of Public Accounts of 

this state is hereby authorized to receive and receipt 
, Geo. H. Sheppard, Page 2 (V-543) 

for all funds due or payable, or hereafter to become 

due or payable, by virtue of the Act of Congress of 

August 18, 1941, Chapter 377, Section 7, 55 Stat. 650, 

33 U.S.C.A., Section 7Olc-3. All of such funds shall 

be placed in a separate account entitled “Flood Area 

School and Road Fund’ to the credit of the Comptroller of Public Accounts and shall never become a part 

of the general funds of the state. The Comptroller 

shall annually pay over such funds to the school district or districts, county, OP other political subdivision, as hereinafter provided, to be expended for 

school purposes, or on the roads, as contemplated 

by the Act of Congress. 

“Sec. 2. It shall be the duty of each school district tax collector, county tax collectoF, or other person charged with the duty of collecting school taxes or 

road taxes, the territory of which district, county or 

other political subdivision is within, or partly within, 

any flood control district, or flood control area, created 

or designated under authority of law, to prepare and 

file with the Comptroller of Public Accounts of this 

state a report under oath showing the total number of 

acres of land acquired by the United States for flood 

control purposes within the boundaries of such school 

district, county, or other political subdivision; and the 

tax rate per one hundred dollars of valuation for school 

purposes and for road purposes levied by such district, 

county, or other political subdivision for the year in 

which such report is made, 

*Sec. 3. On 01 before the 15th day of September 

of the year 1945 and each year thereafter, the Comptroller of Public Accounts shall pay to the school district or districts and to the county or other political 

subdivision colle‘cting road taxes, their proportionate 

share of funds on deposit iaa such ‘Flood Area School 

and Road Fund’ which were produced by leases upon 

lands acquired by the United States for flood control 

purposes located within such school district, county 

or other political subdivision, the pro rata to be allotted to the school districts and to the road taxing 

entity to be based upon the proportion which their respective tax rates bears to the sum of the two rates. 

The Comptroller shall Zdd the school district tax rate 

and the road tax rate together and the school district 

shall be entitled to receive such a percentage of the 

‘Flood Area School and Road Fund” as their tax rate 

bears to the sum of the s:chool tax rate and the road 

tax rate; and the county, or other road taxing entity, 

. . 
- - 

Hon, Gca. H. Sheppard, Page 3 (V-543) 

shall be entitled to receive its proportionate part 

of such fund based upon the proportion which its 

tax rate bears to the sum of the two tax rates,. . .” 

The emergency clause of S. B. 343 reads, in part, as 

follows: 

Y 

. . . and the further fact that the acquisition of 

properties by the United States in areas in this 

state has worked a hardship upon the school districts of Texas in which such public works are 

located, and that their tax funds have been depleted 

by the acquisition of properties by the United States; II 

a . * 

If the Legislature had intended that the basis of alIocation 

was to be the amount of rental received from lands within the school 

or road districts, it doubtless would have indicated that intent by 

making some provision for you to obtain that information. 

Your office has informed us that the Federal Government, 

when it pays this money to the State, allocates it as between the 

counties entitled to receive same. 

You will note that Section 2 of S.B. 343 provides that the 

tax collectors charged with the duty of collecting school and road 

district taxes shall file a report with you, showing the total number 

of acres acquired by the United States for flood control purposes 

within the boundaries of the school and road districts, and the tax 

rate for school and road purposes. Section 3 of the Act provides 

that the funds are to be prorated on the basis of the tax rate, and 

does not mention acreage. However, if the amount of acreage owned by the United States located within the various districts was not 

to be considered in the allocation of the funds to the districts, the 

provision directing the tax collectors to report the number of acres 

would be a useless requirement. It is evident that the school and 

road districts are deprived of taxable property when lands within 

such districts are acquired by the United States. This is SO, whether such property is leased by the United States or not. The purpose 

disclosed by both the Federal Act and S.B. 343 (see portion of Emergency Clause quoted above) is to reimburse the school districts and 

road districts for the loss of taxes on lands acquired by the United 

States whose property is tax exempt. 

It is therefore our opinion that the funds allotted to each 

county should be distributed to the school and road districts according to the following formula: 
Hen. Gee. H. Sheppard, Page 4 (V-543) 

A = Amount of funds to be allocated 

R = Tax rate of school or road district 

N = Number of acres acquired by United States within 

the school or road district 

R x N = School or Road District numerator 

S = Sum of the numerators of all School and Road Districts in Flood Control District 

RxN 

-s- x A ~= Amount to be distributed to each School 

and Road District 

Only the land located within the particular county should 

be considered in the above formula, although the School or Road 

District. may e.xtensL inta an_ a&** cm@ _I 

SUMMARY 

The funds allotted to each county and so paid to 

this State by the United States from monies received 

from the leasing of lands acquired by the United States 

for flood-contrel purposes should be allocated to the 

various school and road districts according to the 

following formula: 

A = Amount of funds to be allocated 

OR : Tax rate of school or road district 

N = Number of acres acquired by United States within 

the school er road district 

R X N = School or Road District numerator 

S = Sum of the numerators of all School and Road Districts in Flood Control District 

RxN --S-- x A = Amount to be distributed to each School 

and Road District 

Yours very truly 

ATTORNEY GENERAL OF TkXAS 

ATTORNEYGENERAL BY 

W. V. Geppert 

Assistant 

WVG/JCP