OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL OF TEXAS . 

AUSTIN 

Bon. w. x. Ncclain 

Criminal Dirtriot 

Willlameaa oountr 

Attorney 

Oeorgetown, Tern& 

your aounty 8aa three 0 

combinedto formarwal 

opinion in reaponae to t 

as pentiotled i 

Statutes aaaept 

bese8sorT 

Sahool Mstriat 

‘0 Annotated 

by the County Tax 

oaedure for the pro001 Mstriata to have 

on what lc@tallration 

tory that the mard of Tru.%teelr 

1 Mstriat ae provided for b. 

rnon@8 Anuotatod Statutes appoint 

tion for the purpose of equallring 

iat$ or, 3.8 thlr proaedure optIona 

rd where they prefer to aaaept the 

anassssent Fsade by the County Tax Atmea1)ort” 

Ax’tlcls 3mb, Revised Civil Statuteo, providea that 

“rural high ochool dlatrlata 8s pro’llded SOP ln the pnaediug 
Hon. W. JC. WoClain, Page 2 

article shall be classed a8 oomon school dlstMct2." 

Article 2795, Civil statutee, read2: 

"The oomI8alonere court, at the tlmb of lovying 

taxeo for county purposes, 8hall also levy upon all 

taxable property vithin any common school dletrlot 

the rate of tax uo voted If a specific rate has been 

voted1 othervise lrafd aourt ahall levy suah a rate 

within the limit 80 voted a8 ha3 been determlned by 

the board of trustees of said dlstriot and the county 

8uperlntendent and certified to said court by the 

aounty superintendent. If such tax has been voted 

after the levy of oountp taxes, It shall be levied 

at any meting of laid oourt prior to ths delivery 

of the assessment rolls by the assessor. The tax 

as8esmor shall ~8088 said tax as other taxer are 

assessed and make an abstract shoving the amount 

of apeolal taxes as8eased agalnat each school district 

in his county and i'urtiuh the same to the county 

auperintendont on or before the first day of' Septom- 

,~_. her of the you for vhioh 8uch taxe8 are assessed. 

The taxes levied upon the real property in erold 

distriots shall be a Men thereon and the aamc1 

oh811 be aold for unpaid taxes in the manna- and at 

the time of sales for 3tat.e and oountg toxos. The 

tax oolloctor shall oolleot 8aid taxes aa other 

tax08 an colleoted. The tax a88essor ohall ceaelve a aommis8lon oi one-half of one per cent. for 

rs8e8slng suah tax and the tax collector a aommlseion of one-h8lt of one per omit. for colleoting 

the 8ILIw. The tax collector shall pay all ruoh 

taxea to the oountytreaourer,and said treasurer 

rhall aredit eaah sahool district vith the smount 

belo 

Yiw.n 

lrrg to it, and psy out the aama In accordance 

rlth 

Artiole 2922L, Vernon's Civil Statutes, provides in 

part; 

n 

. . . The board of truetoes cf any rural hlgb 

school dlstrlot w%y appoint an assessor of taxes 

vho shall assess the taxable property within the 

linlts of said diatriot within the ti.mo provided 

by existing laws, and errld asaeslmsnt shall be 

equalized by the board of equalltation composed of 

three (3) members appointed by the board of trustees 

of eald dietriot. The said board of equallaation 

seals be composed OS legally quallf'led voters 

r@sIdIng j,n said district, and shall h~vS the SMso 
Hon. Y. X. PWlaln,~Page 3 

parer and authority, and be subjsat to the muw 

~e8tXlCtlOm that nov govern such boards in ad~pendent School districts. The t8x asaes8or herein 

provided for Shall receive such compensation for 

hf8 l O~ViCOS as the tlw8tees of said dfstriat 

8lloV, not to exoeod two (2) per cent of taxer 

my 

ae8038ed by him. The aounty tax oolleotor shall 

collaat such tax and shall moelve one-half of 

on8 per cent for hla services for coll.mt~ 8uoh 

tax. Suah tax vhen oollooted Shn11 be depoalted 

in th8 COWlty depoaltoxy to the credit of Such 

ruml high eohool district. The tax a8seasor 

herein provided for aha11 make a complete list af 

all assessments made by him, and when apprmre&hy 

the board 0s txurtoos shall be submitted to the 

county tax oalleator not titer than September 1st 

of each yem." 

Without then speoial provl8lon8 oontaimd ln Article 

29225 authorising rUz=al high sohool district8 to appoint their 

own asse8eora (and boards of equalization), such diStriat8 being 

classed us commn school districts by Artlolo 2922b would be 

governed by the lava relating to suah common rohool dlatrlots. 

We do not believe that AHiolo 2922L vas meant to Rake It 

~~&~tory upon rural hLgh school tiiatriots to appoint their 

ovn asemmora 8nd to prevent their using the a8tse8snamta 

nmde by the county tax assessor. Rather ve belleve that it 

MS lntondod to give such districts a choloe in the IIBttur, 

8imibr to the 0h0100 giWXA the b0WdS Of trUStOe5 Of' iodependent school &lstrIats with reference to t&x as5088ar8 and 

collec tom. We armwar your first question afflrzkativoly. 

Hovever, if the board of tmatees of auoh a dlstrlot 

eloota to appoint Its oun ItBsesaor It ia quite blear fYom the 

statute that the board must elao appoint a board of eqUallaatlon 

of the number of men and pOSseasln& the qUtilfiCation8 the-in 

sat out. mere the board of trustees has its own aaaeaSor, 

the statute requires that assesmi?nta shall be eqUallzed by 

the diatrlotla board of equalization thus appointed. 

The work of the various oami13s~onarBt COUftS sitting 

ILL boards or eqUaLlzation -under Artlala 7206, Revlred Civil 

Statutsrr, Is accepted by common school diStPiOt8, the ValImtiorUI 

arrlvod at belw the name for oo&?ion oohool distriot purposes 

as for State and oountg. Co-n school distrlots have no OthOP 

boards of eqUlitstion. Such ve think ia contemplated by 

hrtlcla 2735 and IS the conmon and aocoptod practioe. 
. 

. 

Ron. v. IL HcClalrl, Pa&e 4 

Rexme, if the bomd oP truatses of the rural high 

school distrlot in question desires, it may have tha taxes 

of tha dlatriot assessed by tba county txu asmosaor. But, 

in suah ovont, under ArtiaLe 292Zb, the dlotrlat mwt aaaept 

the valu8tlona arrived rt by the c~sriorrsm’ aourt rlttdng 

M a b0a-d 0r 0qwlh8tion. The langwgeofhrtial82g22L 

doem not v8rr8nt the appointment of the spoolal bomd oP 

oquallz8tlon, in our opinion, exaopt to eqwllro usesenmnts 

nade by an 88aossoz Por the dlstriot rppolnted by the bawd 

under authority of said A~tiolo 2922 L. 

We believe the above 8uPfiaiantly akuera your 

quaet1ona. 

Pours very truly 

ATTORERY -h 6l+ 9’lKAS