Honorable George’ H. Sheppard 

Comptroller’ of Public Accounts 

Austin, Texas 

Dear Sir: Opinion NO. o-4788 

Re: Authority of Comptroller to expend unused balances from preceding biennium of 2% of cigarette 

taxes set aside for enforcement 

purposes. 

Your letter of August 20, 1942, requests the opinion 

of this Department upon the following question: 

May the Comptroller expend during the current biennlum the unused balance from the previous biennium of the 2$$ 

of cigarette taxes set aside for enforcement purposes? 

The current appropriation bill (S.B. 423, Acts Reg. 

Sess . , 47th Leg .) provides : 

“Two and one haif per cent of the cigarette 

stamp tax and cigarette fees collected as provided 

by lath together with balances on hand at August 31, 

1941 and August 31, 1942, are hereby appropriated 

to the Comptroller from which the items above shall 

be paid, and for the adminlstration and enforcement 

of the cigarette and occupation tax laws,” 

Article 7047@, Sec. 30 (Chap. 241, Acts Reg. Sess, 

44th Leg, as amended) provides: 

“That two and one-half per cent (2%) of the 

gross amount of taxes p permft and license fees and 

other funds derived under the”provisions of this Act 

shall’be set aside in a special fund subject to the 

use of the Comptroller and so much of said~ fund as 

may be necessary shall be expended in the administration and enforcement of the provisions of this Act 

and so umch of the proceeds of two and one-half per 

cent (2=$$) of said t.ax and funds shall be and the 

same is hereby approprfated for said purposes, same 

to be paid monthly as needed; provided, that payment 

for the,manufactu,ring or printfng of the cigarette 
. -_ 

Honorable George H. Sheppard, page 2 O-4788 

ta'x stamps and for any expenses incurred by the 

Board incident thereto shall be made from the 

revenue derived from the cigarette tax before 

such fund'is allocated under the provisions of 

this Act and so.m.zch of~'said fund as may be necessary is hereby appropriated for such purpose; any 

unexpended portion of said funds.'so specified shall 

at the end of each biennium be paid in the proper 

proportion to the funds to which the cigarette tax 

fund shall be apportioned." 

The general'law, Art. 7047c, sec. 30, insetting aside 

2% of the cigarette taxes for enforcement--purijoses, provides 

specifically that any portion of such 2s as may not be expended 

at the end of the blennium "shall at the end of each biennTum be 

paid in the'proper proportion to the funds to~whlch the cigarette 

tax fund shall be apportioned." The currentappropriation bill, 

by the provislon above quoted, attempts to make the balance.on 

hand~at the end of the preceding biennium, towit, August 31, 

1941, available for expenditure by the Comptroller. S.B. 423 

thus conflicts with the general law, which allocates such balances to certain funds in the Treasury. 

It is apparently well settled that an appropriation 

bill cannot repeal OP amend a general law. See our opinion 

O-2573 and authorities therein cited. S.B. 423 is the general 

departmental appropriation bill for the current biennium. Therefore, the provision in S.B, 423 does not repeal the requirement 

of the general law, Art, 7047c, Sec. 30, that balances unexpended at the end of each biennium of the 2s enforcementfund 

shall be paid into certain funds. It follows that such balance 

is not available for expenditure by the Comptroller for enforcement purposes. 

The provision of Art. XX, sec. 1 of H.B. 8, Reg. Sess., 

47th Leg. quoted In your letter, towit: "All revenue, other than 

that part allocated for enforcement ouruoses, derlved and collected from the taxes levied by Chapter 241, Acts of the Regular 

Session, Forty-fourth Legislature, and any amendments thereof 

or thtreto, shall be hereafter and is hereby allocated as follows: 

does not affect this conclusion. It does not purport 

co'enlarge the amount available to the Comptroller for expenditure, so as to allocate unexpended balance at the end of a 

biennium for expenditure for enforcement during subsequent fiscal 

years. 

You ask if the conclusion expressed above applies also 

to the unused portion of allocations of one half of one per cent 

of the tax on oil. 
Honorable George Ha Sheppard, page 3 o-4788 

. . 0 Before any division or allotment of the 

occupation tax one oil collected under the provisions 

of thrs Act, Is made one-half of one per cent of the 

gross amount of said tax shall be set aside in the 

Treasury subject to the use of the Comptroller in 

the administration and enforcement of the provisions 

of this Act, and so much of the said proceeds of onehalf of one per cent of the occupation'tax on oL1 

paid monthly as may be needed in such admInistration 

and enforcement shall be expended in the amounts and 

for purposes fixed by the Legislature in the General 

Appropriation Bill. Any unexpended portion oft said 

fund so specified shall at the end of the fiscal year 

revert to the respective funds or accounts in proper 

proportions to which the occupation tax on oil Is 

proportioned at the end of the fiscal gear; . . a *" _. 

The same reasoning and authority control thIs~ sltualion. 

The general law provides for allocating the unexpended balance 

S. B. 423 contains the following rider: 

"One half of one per cent of the oil production 

tax collected; as provided bylaw together with 

balances on hand at August 31, 1941,'the August 31, 

1942, is hereby approprrated to-the Comptroller from 

which the items llsted above shall be paid, and~.for 

the administration and, enforcement of the natural resource and gross receipts tax laws." 

Article 7057a, Sec. 9 (1) provides in part: 

I, 

at the end of the fiscal year to certain funds in the Treasury. 

The appropriation bill, attempting to repeal or amend the general 

laws so as to authorize the Comptroller instead to expend such 

balances dur~ing the present fiscal biennium for enforcement purposes, Is ineffective; the Comptroller must abide the terms of 

the general law and allocate the unexpended balances in the enforcement account accordingly at the end of each fiscal year. 

Yours very truly 

ATTORNEY GENERAL OF TEXAS 

RWF:nw:wc 

APPROVED SEP 3, 1942 

s/Gerald C. Mann 

ATTORNEY GENERAL OF TEXAS 

By s/iI.W. Fairchild 

R.W. Fairchild 

Assistant 

Approved Opinion Committee By s/&Q3 Chairman