### KEN PAXTON ATTORNEY GENERAL OF TEXAS
July 13, 2015

The Honorable Bob Wortham OpinionNo. KP-0028 Jefferson County Criminal DistrictAttorney 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: Onbehalfofthe mayor ofthe City ofTaylorLanding, 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 yourrequest, the mayor statesthatthe Cityhas apopulationof272 andprovides 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 inAttorney 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 ofa 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 oftheir 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-lawmunicipalities "have no · powerto levy or collect taxes upon property within their

1 SeeLetterfrom Honorable Bob Wortham, Jefferson Cnty. Crim. Dist. Att'y, to Office ofthe 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 ofTaylor Landing, to Honorable Bob Wortham (Jan. 13, 2015) ("Durkay Letter") (attached to Request Letter).

2The2010 decennial census lists thepopulation ofthe City ofTaylorLanding, Texas as 228. See U.S
.Census Bureau, U.S. Dep'tofCommerce, 2010 Census ofPopulation, http://factfinder.census
.gov.The Honorable Bob Wortham

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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 of5,000 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 TypeA andTypeB general-lawmunicipalities withoutaddressingthe authority ofType 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'TCODE ANN. § 51.051 (West 2008).3 Subsection 51.051(b) ofthe Local Government Code provides: "The governing body ofa 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 ofthe Local Government Code that relates specifically to a Type C general-law municipality conflicts withthetaxing authority that a Type C municipality maypossessunder section 302.001 ofthe Tax Code. As a revisor's note to section 302.001 ofthe Tax Code explains, it is not necessary for that section to specify the taxing powers ofType C municipalities because ofthe authority granted in the borrowing provision ofLocal Government Code section 51.051. 

### See TEX. TAX CODE ANN. § 302.001 revisor's note (West 2015). Accordingly, section 302.001 ofthe Tax Code and section 51.051 ofthe 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 ofa Type A municipality based in part on assessed valuation).The Honorable Bob Wortham

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### SUMMARY Section 302.001 ofthe Tax Code and section 51.051 ofthe 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 ofTexas

Assistant Attorney General, Opinion Committee