OFFICE OF THE A'ITORNEY GENERAL OF TEXAS 

AUSTIN 

Bononbl~ Tr P. Tdmbl, 

.” Bet Would the faoQ that the Board 

of Bqualit3atlotl og t&B Amarillo 

Inde~enUont 8ohaolMatrlotla - 

ittmpowd Of rho mbboro Invalidate the a~tioa @ aald 

Board end rttndor void the au& 

aequent.tax rell? a&d related 

qui0tlonq. 

Ton Fabritary lB, oUr Sohool BtwU appointed 

I). II. Owen, L.'lL 41~ and &nr~ Bevimly was the 

aoeru oi’Pquallmatlon mr t~‘tuablo,y6ar 1941, 

whlbh lno ldenta lll uotlr,the ~wa tt erillrr~Boardwe 

~ wad last fear.. !&de Board ww aleo appkoved 

about the same tlme.a8 an Equallsatlon Bon@ ior 

the olty; .The Soha Beard;tho City of &u-l110 

and thg Oottn~y Oammlrri~tmr8 had pmrlowl~ entorod itit0 l 00& r a o % .tiw the i?eb t?@ fI. Ghr enb a r g 

Oompatty ior a 8ax 8upve)t. to be made during the 

wlntttr and on l @ g o uB@ t, 110 ma&r slajor ad$uetmnts 

ln+alua~iow,Zfwa8 ev$denttherewouldbe eonBderabLo aejbatloti over pFog+u?~~ Valuations whloh 

o? nese+tty had to be r&ted in order to equalim 

with other raluett, 80 8hat tha members oi the 

BquaUzation #o~~,unan5Mu8ly expre8eed a desire 

to have the Eqiml~etlon rJaard 1noraaseU to five 

.nmmber8, whi,oh requerrt r&S aooeded to by b&h the 

Qi*l OOPppi88&on anU the Board ot Truttteeo. 

- 
..- 

481 

Honorable T. M. Trlmble, Paga 8 

Tan Kay 81 the Board of Tructass passed 

an order approving the pdior of adding ,tna 

Mp);bortt to tke~Bwrd of Equalfratlon, aad without rsaoindlng their pretiow l otlon in rhioh 

the:~~tWee~member Board m8 appointad. &S&o*; 

lng 18 a oopy of the order t 

**The following ardor was introduoodt It 

le thd ioaae of the Board *hut on aoeount of 

the axtFa Ordingry taark ootUrout1n.g thd Board 

of 6quallwtlon thltt feat, that, thla, Board nbuld 

be $ttkaared to iire lnstaad of’ Umtr. 

~~otlon was made by Ls. lItant&, scroon4Mb8~ ~: '. 

Mr.. Car that the erddr be~adopted and approv?d. 

HoWm oarrled. 

. 

%otlon watt mat¶o by Kr. Rush, beaogulad bt 

Kr. Mowing that the following aen.bs waeb a6~ 

bhe' BoaM of Kqual~atlon for the Board of hua-' 

tow ott~:~l~oS~e~nb~tS~hhoolMetriot 

and the .lrplirriUo Jm.lor c0l.b~ Dbtrfab io* 1941, 

and baat tkmy wrnb in tkla aapaoity amt rmoelv~ 

ao oorpenaatlcin fzw the Board oi Trustees ai 

mid mstri0t. 

.r 

'L. Is; LYl.8 D. W. Owen 

Henry Barerlp u. M. 0llvar 

w. I. Cllrford 

%.etlon oarrled.' 

mm, one taxpayer whose prcppo*t~ had b~mu raised, 

appmed before the Board nith the threat that he 
WouZd~sontest tha lsjptlitr of the organ&satlen 

-sf ~,.Equsllsatloa Board in that the Borzd should 

be mad8 up of thsse rembus lnstsad of rive,* 

Based on theme .faoOs you: ham asked us the follwlqg qusstlont 

Q,TIOM: would tha taot tha% thw Bau%l of 

Eqwlimtlon or the &rlllo Indsp*ndsnt Sohool 

Dlstr$st is oay)ossd oi fivs ssmbars lnvalldsto 

ths aotion of said Bsard aad render t6lU ths sttbroquont. tax rdll? 

Semate BlZUtat6, 10 Chapter 8 Of khs Aots of the * 

Thirty-&rst~Le&lslatu&s, 1969, whlop pimrldCd~f?r ~the oreatlon 

';; thp&4llo Ind8pe”“” Ssheol mstF+ ~rQ01608 " Dart 

"The said hard of Tfrust6w shslL w vested 

dth the full manuaentsnd oontrolorthe r-e 

oohssls ot'sa5.d dlstrlot, and shall be mitidrlth 

all.the powbrs, rights and dutlos that am pmvldod br gsnoral law ror boards of tmuttees or 

tanu~andvillagssin6orpsrrtsd for ire0 88h00x 

~~~O&nly, lnoluding ths powws and nsnner of 

bttlsls 8791 of.ths Rsvlssd Cltli %atutis of 

'hxas reada in put as follosst 

I. . . It shill be within thd lsoretlon 

or the Board of Trustees or any fsd Ii pendent 80h001 

dirtriot to mum an a8sessor of taxes who 8haU 

ass888 the tsxabls prspsrty.wlthin the limits or 

the lndopsndsnb sohosl dlstrio~rlthln ths tirae 

and in the manner provldsd by uistlnglaW, In 

so far ai they a m l pplieabls, and when said assesammnt has been ewiallso6 by a board of eausllsation apsolntsd by th board f t t r0r 

p@j#gg#~s~d&~ygg&~~$&~d 

the oouuty tax oolleotor as provldsd for in the 

suooeediqj artlols. . ."(Ugderscorlng ours) 

Artlole S791 being a gsnsreil law gvsrning the 

boards or trustee8 or aownm and village8 lnoorporated for 

J 
Honorable T. M. Triable, Page 4 

irite sohtil purposes oily it was hsld by this dspntttent 

in opinieu~%oi O-8589 that Art&ala 8791, Rirleed-Old1 stat. 

utee or lkxaa, applkss to the Lma~lllo Xndwmndsnt Sohm1 

Diatriot. 

It is our uadws.tandln6thatthO 'bmrllloIrmmpoadl nt Sohool Distrloti~aotl~ under the authorlty~grantsd usdsr 

this &tl@e, has a pi&ate _ it8 (111'0 amMaojr attd OOl.l~~r. 

This being true it s.lno~bent upon It to'appoint its ws 

Board Of BqudSSstlOn. Chspibera (I. Cook (Cl% 4~. )-:lat 8. 

Al 665; Hller v', Van08 (au&. Oh) 180 8. W.~ 759. This hie 

the oasm it '%a the oplnlon iof thla dsputment tht Artlolg 

8791 being silent ae ta tM number~to bs appointed onths 

Board of IIgualSsation~~dlreoti~d~to be appqlnted under its pro- - 

visions, the Board of Trurtses 18 at 1lbaWy to appoint any 

number that &t deems reasonably neoessar 

run&ions or3ala Board, ktlole 1048, R 

to oarry out the 

OYlaed %&l stat- 

'&tee of mxas,.whioh readit in part as tollmt 

"The olty oounolls of oltlos and towns inosrpor&od under the genera;l law8 shall annually, 

at the%& $Jrst msetlng, or a8 soon th@maiter as 

'., praoti6eBh, appoint thne o0mlsaion*ra, eaoh a 

quallfl~d voter, a rssldsnt asd propetiT owner 

.~ of the oity or town $or whloh ha is appointed who 

shall be stylsd ths board of WU%ll!4atiOh. . .-, 

1'~ 

f 

In our opinion does not applf.%O the 4uarlllo Ind6pandent 

soho Di&rlot under 'the faotual 8ltuatlon sat r0rth 8bsvs. 

Rsrarrlng to the mggsstlon oontalnsd in your l.sttsr 

that ths original board or thrss msmbsn oertffy to the tu 

roll by authority of their having been amolntad a 80~4 of 

gquallsatlon on February 18, 1941, whioh aotlon was savor 

,ngslndsd, and to rsmve all question of tin validity of tha 

tccr ra to have tha flrb member board attaoh a OOrtiftOata 

statlng'that it is made by authority of thalr aPPointseat by 

the hoard or,lmstees by Potion of &y e;L? 1941, YOU M advised that it 1s the oplnlon of thle delwr*Ont that tbe mra 

irregularity of appolntlng a thrum me&or board and l ubrc 

qtmntiy thtueo apDoint3.ng a floe member board by adding ho 

-08 to the onbtt alwady appointed Without m@Oindiagt& 

former aotlon would not invalidate the tax ~~11 of the rrp&llo 

Iudspandsnt 8ohool Dfrtrlot. me oertlfloats or th. tire 

meg&erbmrd; in the opltt%On of this depart-% -riLdbs 

aurrioient. Kate irrsgularities are insuifl0isut a8 a bati 
484 

Honorable T. Y. Trlmble, Page 5 

~ti~p~e~~~s~alldatl~ the l ota of tha Board oi EqualSinton Xndipeqdent Soh001 Dlsttiot, 218 

8. w. l&t .Blmett~r. Biohardsoh Indepndsnt SOhool Dlstriot, 

es0 S. W, 85s (Civ. App.), 840 '8. W. SSQ (Ooa. App.,). 

Ii0 express no~oplslon herein with regard to the 

gentlemen in que&&on ~slttlng ss .a Bmrd of Iquallsatlon 

for the city or Amarillo, but OPC Oplpion is OOnWmd to the 

oapaolty cif tha gentlamen 1s qgs@iion sitting as a Board of 

Bquallsation for the, &earl~lo Znd4pendent SOhool Mstriot. 

We trust thst bhO-r0MgOittg opinion fully 0ov3rs 

the matlmr lrapuilrmt ab0uO in pur letter. 

.pery twuly yours 

. 

m SEP 9,@941" ATTORWEP OXRBUi OF TBXAS 

hPPitOVU 

OPINION 0 COMMIRU 

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