-RICE DANIEL 

u7ounsY GENERAL February 20, 1948 

. 

. 

Ron,-Jill1 R. WSlson 

District attorney 

opinion NO. v-508 . . . 

Dallas County 

Dallas, Texas 

Re: The proper fund from which 

\ to pag.the matdhlng contribution of the County 

for; County Rmployee Retirement System. 

Dear Sir: 

Reference-is made to your re&nt.reque& for 

an opinFbn from this Department relative to theabove 

captioned matter.~ It reads, in part, as follows: 

"Dhllas County is-settliig QiLa'.Couhty .

Rmployee Retl.rement.System as prescribed in 

Section 62-b of Article 16‘of the-Constitutlon of the State of Texas. In view'of the 

fact that some employees of Dallas ~County .' ~ _ 

are paid out of funds other than the“generaI fund, for example, the Road and Bridge 

Fi+d,.the question is presented as to vhether the five percent to be paitd‘bg.the County under the provision of the constitutional 

amendment, to match'the~deduction iuade:from 

the employees' salaries, must be paid out t 

'of-the General Fund~or may the County pay - 

such five percent out of the fund from which 

the employee is paid . . . . 

"It is, therefore, requested that you 

furnish this offiqe ,with an oplx+on on the 

question above presented, . . z 

So far as is pertinent to your-inqudry, Section 9, Article VIII, of the State Constitution provides: . 

II 

. . . . and no count 

more than twenty-five (25 

7 . Llali.1ei-y 

ieAts for . . . 

county purposes .'. . on the one hundred 

dollars valuation, . . . provided, however, 

that the Commissioners Court in any county 

. 

- 
- 

202 Hon. Will R. Wilson, page 2 (V-508) 

may re-alldcate the foregoLug county 

taxes by changing the rates provided for 

any of the foregoing purposes by either 

tincreasing or decreasing the same, . . .a 

Subdivision (b) of Section 62 of Artii%e XVI, 

of the State Constitution is, In part, as follows: 

"(b) Each county shall have th& right 

to provlde for and adminlstel' a Retirement, 

Disability and Death Compensation Fund for 

_ 

the appolntlve officers and employees of 

the county; provided same-la authorized by 

a majority vote of the qualified voters of 

such county and after such election has 

been advertlsed.by being publlshed'in at 

least one newspaper of general circulation 

In said counti once~each week for four consecutive weeks; provided that the amount 

contributed by the county to such Fund shall, 

equal the'amount paid for the same purpose 

from the Income of e&&such person, and 

shall not exceed at any time five per centum (5%) of the compensation paid to each 

.such person by the county, and shall in iio 

6ne gear'exceed the sum'of Cne'&uidHd &id 

Eighty Dollars ($180) for any such person,' 

We believe that provldlng fiinds by'the' county 

for such Retirement Dlsabillty Lnd Death CompBnss'tion 

Fu.ucl~ls a county purpose wit&n $hfimeanTng of'AHi%iile 

~II,~S~ctio~'~9,'suplis: -The Supreme~ Cotit'ln-tti 'case 

df Be&-County v.. Maxi&-157 S:'W. (26) 1;34,"in,deter; 

mXning?whetheti the CoMtisloners ( Cotit was ~authorised 

to pu5chase'voting machines and pag .for same out of the 

General +nd of t&e county, had this to say: 

I) .The ptatute does not in express. 

w&&*provlde that th6 bonds iSsu&d.the&evinclbr sEall,be.z~ aharge against the general fund; .but,'in-our opinion, .lt; doea so 

provide by necessary %mpllc&tldni~ 'this 

isust be trrie because the.Leglsl;&ture by' 

6nactlhg the stitute'here involved has provided for the expendltme of county funds 

for a.county purpose. Such expendLiz&e 

does not oome or ,fall under any purpose 

for which a specisl fund has b&&n providled. All oounty expenditures layfully : 
i.. 

autho+zed to be:inade.bg aoountji must :..I~ 

be.:paid &t-of t,ha eounty!rj gbneral. fund 

~es~~'thez+is.sdme'l~w which makes'$hem 

a charge against a.spedal-fundi.. . 

We belleve~that the same rule-of latr Invoked 

in the;above case is appll&able'to the question present- 

-. . . ed here. Therefore, you'are respectfxilly advlped that 

if ls.~.our cipl.n.lon t& five-per cent to.be 

County undid the provisions-‘of Bubiie&loxi r b), Sebtlon 

id by-the 

62.of $rtlOle ~'of~tfie'State.Constltuti~~ to'm&tch 

.the.dedu&t;lon made from oounty employetis' salaries, 

must be paid out of the General Fund of the Couuty. 

f 

. . 

:a. 

SUMMARY - 

- Th6 five pez iiefit'~to be~pai~~by~t~ 

couutg‘~.er the provision of Subsection 

.(bJ; Seatibii 62-of~Brtible‘XVI:..of~.thE,‘--. 

.State~Dbnstltiitlti~'to niatch-the adhc- -- 

ti0n~maae from'cpunty employees salaries, 

must be n&id out of-the General Fund of 

the qou&y. _ 

Yours. very trply, , 

ATTORFJEP td?ZRAi OF 'TE#lS . 

. 

BHice JIllen 

Assistant 

: