Woaorabiu H. A. Elodgeo, Page 2 

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9. Aftot the Taxes a?% lsvtcd by the COSYSXI~Selono71~’ Court and certifiad to the Tax A44sssorCollector of tba County doos the Tax krcemor-mllector have any loqal authority to an&e any changes 

la the retea levied aHhough u sabsoqbcat election has _ 

been htld to either dccrcase or increasa the rate I 

“I em of the oplnlon that the authority for iavyla2 

the C3hcnmosl School Ziatrictm taxas is wholly ~ulthfn 

the pawar 01 the ~ommlmiionurp’ Court, sin0 that the 

Tax ,hseesor dods not hcvc tho authority to grant MY 

changer aftor the levy Is made and cartlficd to hkn by 

tbu Gourb 

*i ~hdi be p]en6ed t0 he%% yOU76pinloa 4t &II 

very earliest eoovcnlence as an election hss been orde-d for an i~crcaee in tha taxea of a ccmmoa school 

district, if this election carries there will be a request 

for a change ia the oats levied by the Commloclorrera* 

Court, whtch was dorm at the roauiar moetiag 00 Mep 

12, 1941.* 

The mwwor to yorrr flrct quostloa 1s found in the rp&flc 

tormr end rcqulremcnts of the pertban: statutec. Article 2784, 

Re~ulsod CM1 Stalute4, provides. in perrt, as foliowot 

“The commlastonercl court for the eommoa aehool 

dlstrlctr in it’s couaty, and t-h distrtct eehool trustaes 

.for the independent school diutrlcte lacorporated for 

rchool purposar only, &all have power to levy tutd cause 

to bo collected the annual taxes and to ieaue the bonds 

hetoln authorlrad, auk&act to the followinng ptotislonst* 

Arttcle 2795, Rovlaed Civil Statutes, pz-ovides, fn part, 

RU followa: 

*The conrmbhnors coult, at the tlma of levying 

taxes for county pufpoeee, shall 01~0 levy upan ail toxable property within &ny cammoa school dlstrtct the rats 

of tan so voted if 4 specific rate ha4 been vokd; otherwltw mid court shall Icvy such a rate within tb Ihr.it 

so voted aa has been dctsrmtned by tbo board of trustees 

Of S4ld district 4nd the COUnty muper~nteodcnt and CWtifled to said court by the county super&tcr.d!ont. IL such 

tax ha8 bsea voted ailcr the levy 41 county taxas, ft ohaii 

bc levied at 8x1~ tie∈! of Raid eaart prior to t.ba dciivc7y of t.ke ocecssrr.cat rolls by the ascesser.m 
lfonarable 11. A. liodge*, Papr 3 

Under the foregoing hmlteo we answer your tir6t queutlon 

la the efftrmatlve. 

: Your second questloa findo sptciflc anmver in our oplnlm 

No. O-2364 to tfonorablo I:. L. !~v:arquess, County Auditor, ;vhrrrton 

Cmnly, Wkwton, Texas, from whtch we quote: 

The date wken such ret&r term of the Cmmlreioaers’ Court may meet for tiae purpose of levying tbo 

county tax arldo from the nbove reqzlrementr ie offected by Rrticio 6dYa-ll of Veaaoa’a Annotated Clvll 

bmute6, which provides in part as follows: 

The Caanmlsslonors Court ln each 

ceuuty sbsll each year provide far l public 

hoartna on the county bud@--which hear- 

&g shall take, place on some date to be 

named by the Commissioners’ Court subs,a umnt to hWu6t l!ith aEd prkar to t%ivy 

?iihTy-,*-~ awn .dxm-rnac ‘1 omrs r;oorl. 

* * *‘(Lnderscorlrq ours) . 

??ou are advlscd therefore thst It is necessary that 

‘the publtc hearing on the county budget 1s heid QD some 

date subsequent to Irusst 15th snd that the Commlssloners’ Court may not levy the tax until after such the. 

There is no requirement however that the CommlrslonCPS* Court must Walt tint11 SephMbOr to levy the couaty 

tar. 

*It 1s (he oplnlon of this department thet If, as you 

outltno ln your letter, the Commiosioners’ Court lo ln 

session at a ragulnar term of cald court in August on a 

dote subrcquent to tbo date on which the publlc hearbng 

ca the county budget was held that the Comudeslmers* 

#urt may on such date levy the county tax.” 

Although thls oplnlon Involve8 the levy of county tsxea, we 

have seen that the samc otatutory proccduro obtained with reference 

to common school dlstrlct taxes. Kence. It follown from thte rulinq 

that tha tax Levy mad@ by the Cfxzxs~s&b3ncr6' ‘:ourt Of your iounty 

at ita regular tneetinag on hiey 12, 13‘41. la unoutbortzeci and Invalid 

beccruw a lawslul tsx levy csnaot be n;adc until oorr:e regular term OK 

6aid Court 6ub6CqUfSt t0 .kIgU6t 15, 1911. ‘flS CUCkOW 0 COPY Of the 

oplnlon adverted to far your complete laformation. 
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Hmorabl! H. A. tfodger, Page 4 

Attowering your tbtrd question, we mfcr egoin to the 

ctetutor quoted, In part, in our dl6cu65ioa under your first question, es statutory al;thortty ior our cc~elu~lon that the AsaeseorCollector of tax66 of a county ha6 no lawful authority to mcko 

any ch~a~e6, by way of Iacrearrc o? din-~&ion, of the tax tato 

theretofore lavtad by a Commipsrkm~ra Court, raqardleao of the 

tbne such attempted action is taken aad despite the fact th a t l nubacquent election ha6 bocn held to either decrca6e or increaaa the 

rate. Such actioa would be toJItamount to a new levy, and the power 

aad duty to levy tax66 for common school diStriCt6 of a county \6 

ve6ted exclusively ln the Commtssioners’ court of the county. 

Ifowover, it i6 a corol&ny from our CoAclusi~~ and dlacuorloa under yolr sacoad qua&Ion, that the Commissioners* 

Court of .your county may. at a rtplar tarm, 6Ubs6qWAt to Augtist IS, 1941. levy a tar for common school W&lets of the county, 

ln accordance with the biercased or decreaecd rate voted at the 

contemplates election. k, thaa?eat such election Is heki on e date 

subsequent to this tar levy by the Cotnmtsslon6rs* Court, it nevertheless appeare that said Court may make another levy of taxes in 

accordnncc with the ratoa voted at such election, providing ouch 

Icvy it mad6 *at any meetinq OS raid cow1 prior to ths delivery 

of the 666666moat rolls by ths a66eise0r”. Thie 66Cm6 to be the 

bhwkncnt of article 27%. Revised Zlvll btatotcs, quoted 1~ part. 

at the outclot of thts opinion. 

Trusting th6 forego&$ fully aaawern your several lnqulrle8. 

wt arc 

voy truly Your8 

ATTORM?XGENEFIALOFTEXAS 

Et3 /S/ Rat M. Gaff, Jr. 

Aeclotaat 

APPROVED JULY 28.1941 

/S/ Orover Feller6 

FLRST ASSXSTANT 

ATTORNEY GF3CZRAl.a 

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l%!N:lh:sm 

APPROVED OPIN!C!N COMMITTEE 

RY BWB. Cb6lrmaa