DAN MORALES 

ATTORNEY GENERAL 

Office of toe Plttornep @eneral 

&tate of fllexae 

May 17,1996 

Dr. Barry B. Thompson 

chanceuor 

Texas A&M Univksity System 

301 Tarrow, 7th Floor 

College Station, Texas 77843-l 122 

Opiion No. DM-394 

Re: Whether the City of College 

Station may expend iimds on behalf of 

the George Bush Library at Texas A&M 

University (RQ-849) 

Dear Dr. Thompson: 

On behrdf of the City of College Station (the “city”), you ask whether the city may 

spend public money, includmg hotel-motel occupancy taxes, on the George Bush Library 

(the “library”), now under construction on the Texas A&M University campus in College 

Station. See House Comm. on Land and Resource Management, Bill Analysis, S.B. 1018, 

74th Leg., R.S. (1995); see ako Educ. Code 5 8624(a). You state as follows: 

The George Bush Library Committee is seeking a financial 

commitment of $50,000.00 per year from the City of College Station, 

Texas. College Station is a chartered home-rule municipal corporation. The George Bush Library will be located in the corporate limits 

of College Station, Texas. In addition to being a center for research 

and scholarship, it is anticipated that the library will attract tourists to 

College Station. 

You raise the following legal issues: whether the city has a legitimate public 

purpose for spending public funds on the George Bush Library, whether a requirement 

that the library stay open in each year that is iknded constitutes adequate control to 

establish the public purpose, and whether the city is authorized to expend hotel-motel 

occupancy funds on the library.1 

Article III, section 52 of the Texas Constitution provides in part: 

Except as otherwise provided by this section, the Legislature 

shall have no power to authorize any county, city, town or other 

‘You do not inquire about legal issues raised by a city’s attempto contracto provide S50,OOO a 

year in fuhue years. See Tcx. Con% art. XI, 8 6; McNeil/ Y. CUy O/ Wcrco, 33 S.W. 322,324 (Tcx. 1895) 

(municipal obligations not payable from curtent revenues are subject to anick XI, section 5 of Texas 

Qmstitution); Ciy of Wichita F&s Y. Kemp Pub. Librmy Ed. of Trustees, 593 S.W.Zd 834, 837 (XX. 

Civ. App.-Rm Wozth 1980, writ ret-d n.r.e.) (same); see aim Clear L&e City Water Auth. v. Clear Lake 

Ori/. Co., 549 S.W.Zd 385, 390 (Tex. 1977) (amtracts that contemplate aucwsaix pcrfomlances and 

which are indcfudtc in duration can lx temhatcd a1 will ofeither party). 
Dr. Barry B. Thompson - Page 2 (DM-394) 

Except as otherwise provided by this section, the Legislature 

shah have no power to authorize any county, city, town or other 

political corporation or subdivision of the State to lend its credit to 

or grant public money or thing of value in aid of, or to any 

individual, association or corporation whatsoever, or to become a 

stockholder in any such corporation, association, or company. 

This provision does not prevent the City of College Station Tom spending its 

funds to carry out a municipal purpose, even if another entity also benefits from the 

expenditure. Barrington v. Cokinos, 338 S.W.2d 133, 140 (Tex. 1960); see State ex rel. 

Grimes County Taapqvers Ass ‘n v. Texas Mm. Power Agency, 565 S.W.Zd 258, 268 

(T’ex. Civ. App.-Houston [Ist Dist.] 1978, writ dism’d). The city must receive adequa::: 

consideration for the funds it provides the university, and con&actual or other controis 

must be in place to ensure that the public purpose will be carried out. See Attorney 

Genera) Gpinions DM-317 (1995), JM-1030 (1989), JM-324 (1985), MW-423 (1982), 

H-l 123 (1978). The governing body of the City of College Station would otdinarily have 

discretion to determine, subject to judicial review, whether the proposed expenditum 

serves a public purpose, whether the city receives adequate consideration for its 

expenditure, and whether them ate sufficient controls to ensure that the public purpose 

will be carried out. Attorney General opinions DM-317 (1995), DM-256 (1993). 

However, the agreement described in your lcttcr may be too general for the city 

govermnent to make this decision. Since the $50,000 is apparently not designated for a 

specific program or function of the library; it may bc difficult to determine whether this 

expenditure will actually benefit the city. s The “control” you describe, that the library 

will be open in each year that it is funded, does not state how may days of openness per 

year will be secured by the $50,000 or how the city will enforce the openness requirement 

attributable to its expcnditurc. Accordingly, the city council would be well advised to 

determine what city purpose or purposes will be served by the library, and lit the use of 

city funds to such purposes, subject to controls to ensure that the city purposes am carried 

out. 

We now consider whether the city may spend hotel-motel occupancy tax fimds on 

the library. Tax Code chapter 351 authorizes a municipality to adopt an ordinance 

imposing the tax. See Tax Code 4 351.002. Section 351.101(a) of the Tax Code provides 

that 

[r]evenue from the municipal hotel occupancy tax may be used 

only to promote tourism and the convention and hotel industry, and 

that use is limited to the following: 

2Attomey General opinion V-953 concluded that a county could not donate public money to an 

incotpomted public &ccc l~braty, but it could coneact for library privileges 6um a library. Attomey 

Gmaml Opinion V-953 (1949) at 4. 

p. 2160 
Dr. Barry B. Thompson - Page 3 (DM-394) 

(1) the acquisition of sites for and the consuuction, 

improvemet& enlarging, equipping, rcpabing, operation, 

and maintenance of convention center facilities or visitor 

information centers, or both; 

(2) the fimishing of facilities, personnel, and 

materials for the registration of convention delegates or 

lxqistmts; 

(3) advertising and conducting solicitations and pmmotional programs to attract tourists and convention 

delegates or registrants to the municipality or its vicinity; 

(4) the encouragement, promotion, improvement, and 

application of the arts, including instrumental and vocal 

music, dance, drama, folk art, creative writing, architecture, 

design and allied fields, painting, sculpture, photography, 

graphic and mail arts, motion pictures, radio, television, 

tape and sound recording, and other arts related to the 

presentation, performance, execution and exhibition of 

these major art forms; and 

(5) historical restoration and preservation projects or 

activities or advertising and conducting solicitations and 

promotional programs to encourage tourists and convention 

delegates to visit preserved historic sites or museums: 

(A) at or in the immediate vicinity of 

convention center facilities or visitor information 

centers; or 

(B) located elsewhere in the municipality or its 

vicinity that would be frequented by tourists and 

convention delegates. 

Section 35 1.10 1 sets out the exclusive purposes for which the tax may be spent. 

Attorney Genera) opinion M-965 (1988) at 6. You do not identify any specific function 

of the George Bush Library for which funds contributed by College Station will be used, 

and your do not explain how the expenditure of the tax funds will carry out any of the 

five specific purposes enumerated in section 351.101 of the Government Code. The 

proposed expenditurc is not within the purposes set out in section 351.101(a)(l), (2), or 

(4). Although section 35 1.101(3) might authorize expenditures for advertising tbe library 

to attract tourists to College Station, no such liitation appears to apply to the proposed 

expenditure. Finally, if the library could be characterized as a museum, section 

351 JOl(5) would authorize the expenditure of hotel tax funds to conduct “solicitations 

and promotional pmgrams to encourage tourists end convention delegates” to visit it, but 

p. 2161 
Dr. Barry B. Thompson - Page 4 (DM-394) 

again, you have not indicated that the proposed expenditure would be subject to this 

limitation. The City of College Station may spend funds raised under chapter 35 1 of the 

Tax Code on the George Bush Library only if such limitations are imposed. 

SUMMARY 

Tbe City of College Station may, witbout violating article III, 

section 52 of the Texas Constitution, spend public funds on the 

George Bush Library to be established by Texas A&M University 

only if there is a city purpose for the expenditure, if the city receives 

adequate consideration for the expenditure, and if suflicient wntrols 

are attached to the tmmaction to ensure that the public purpose will 

be carried out. Hotel-motel occupancy taxes raised by the city under 

chapter 351 of the Tax Code may be spent only for the purposes 

expressly set out.in section 351.101 of the code. No showing has 

been made that the tax funds pmposed for allocation to the George 

BushLibrarywiIlbeusedforanypurposestatedinsection351.101. 

DAN MORALES 

Attomey GeneraJ of Texas 

JORGE VEGA 

First Assistant Attorney General 

SARAH J. SHIRLEY 

Chair, Opiion Committee 

Prepared by Susan L. Garrison 

Assistant Attorney General 

p. 2162