THEATTORNEY GENERAL 

Honorable T.H. Trlmble 

First hesat State Superintendent 

Departmemt of Education 

Au&in, Texas Oplnlon No. O-7042 

Ret Under the provisions or Senate 

Bill 167 Sea. 2, Aeto 1945, 

49th Legislature, Reguler Seselon, 

would a uorimton eohool district be 

eligible for aid ii the valuation ot the property located 

therein for the school year 19&j46 was set at a flgure leswthan 

that of the previous ysar? 

Pour letter of reoent date requestIn& an opinion on the above 

eubJeaC has been received and given care?Cul conelderation. we are Quoting 

below the body of the letter you received fWun Hr. H.C, Hinton, ae well 

as the seaond paragraph al' your letter. 

"Article 1, Se&ion 2, Paragraph 2 of the 

Eguallzatlon Aid Law reads ‘no. sahool dlatrlat will 

be eligible fop aid under ihe provi&ma of this Act 

which hats reduced its tax valuation in order 

icad& budgetary need." 

%dgetary need 1s defined in Artlale 1, Se+ 

tlon 5, Paragr- 1, as 'the diirerenee between the 

total of all revenue6 or the dfstrlet and the tot81 

of EU operating expense if such expenses me greater 

than tha revenucs.t 

"Please ask the Attornay ffenerelto give us an 

opinion on the following question. 

"Would a saho@Z dietrict that show8 budgetary 

need using 1944-45 amessed valuation be ineligible 

for ald If the valuation of the dlstrlat Xor the school 

yeer 195-46 ia lesa than that of the pretious yew?" 

The second paragraph of sour letter Is as follows: 

t, 

. . . . . . 

"Thio que&lon ia brought about because the Cmmlsslonors~ Court of El Paso County requested the Counts 

Assessor to lower county valuatluna ln view of the f ct 

that it wa* nnt necessary to maintain last year e va B ua- 
Honorable T.W..Trlmble, Page 2 O-7042 

tlons la order to 8eauns enough aounty taxes to operate 

tti.county governmant, When the aouhty valuations were 

raduoed, of oourse the valuations for sohool purposea 

la cumon S&a01 dstriots were likewise reduced. 

" " 

. . . . . 

Seation 2 of Senate Bill No. 167, a6 passed by the 49th 

Legialatur$, Regular Seasion, 1945, read8 in part a8 follower 

"sec. 2. Tax levy. No eohool district shall be 

eligible to receive any type of sZd authorleed under 

the provisiona of this Aot unless it shall be providing 

for the annual rmpport of its achoola by voting, levying, 

axul aolleatlng for the CuITent school year a loaal 

ten&me sohool tax of no 

t 

less t an Fifty Cents (50# oh 

r 

T”- 

the One lhmdred Dollars ~lOO.O# of property valuation 

in the entire dlgtrlat. The property valuations mhalf 

not be less than said property is valued for state and 

county puqwnea. The lnuome from such a malntenaaae tax 

la exuem of the requ%red Fifty Centa ($50#) maintenance 

tax mw6t first be used to retire lndebtedmes, ii any, la 

tha k&al and l@ualiaatioh (Rural Aid) sohoolfunds. After 

th6 indebtedness In these funds, if any, haa been retired 

the inaome frcm this malntenanaetax in exaeas of the 

requlmd Fifty Cantn (504) malntenaace tar may be used 

at ~the dlsoretlon of the local sahool authorities of the 

dlrtricrt for any lawful sciwol purpoee exaept increastng 

or supplementing any tcaahcr’s or admlnlstratlve salaries. 

Any ur all malntenancetax above Fifty Cents (504) racy not 

be lmluded in the calculation of need for aM but shall 

be reported in the budget with an ltemleed stabstent of 

its etxpenditure. If t e lntwm Prom the tnslntenenae tax 

above %i+ty Cents (!5C$ f ls not spent amprescribed hereln, 

it shall be lnoluded a8 reae~pta in the budget. In order 

to oomply with the terms of this aectlon, it shall be 

neeeamry far suoh aahool diutriota apply%ng ?or any type of 

ald authortaed under the temaa of thle Aat, to report 

all valuations w;fth%n suoh dlstriata, Smluding al.1 aonsolidated distrIcta and aunexed dirtricta, and failura to 

report all. muh valuations &all prevent sucPh dZatx?lat from 

retmlving 6ny type of aid authoricaa under this Act. 

"No sahool dUtrict will be eligible for aid under 

the prevloio~ of this Act whlah has reduced its tax rate 

within the tw6 years innecdiately preceding the year for 

which aid I.8 applied for hereunder or whlah haa reduued 

It8 tar valuation in order to show budgetary med." 

a8 followai 

Article 2795, Vernon'6 Annotated Civil Stntuten; reads 

+e Caavniselonera court, at the time of levydng 

taxe6 for munty purpo6es, shall also levy upon all 

taxable property within shy mamen aahool BiatrlGt the 
. Ekonorable T.#. ‘&&able, Page 3 o-?o& 

rate of tax 80 voted ii a apealfie rate has been voted; 

otherul~ said aourt &all levy uueh a z-ate wIthIn the 

limit I)O voted ae has been detemined by the board OS 

truateee 02 raid dlstrlat and the county supeHntendent 

and aertlfled to ae.Id aouzt by th4 county supQrIntendent. 

If auab tax has been voted after the levy of aounty taxes, 

It &all be lt%vIed at any meeting of eaid court prior to 

the delivery of the a8serement rolls by the aemeecr. !l%he 

tax anaemor shall aweas Bald tax as&her taxer are 

aaseraaud and meke an abetreat 6howlng tha amount of spealal 

texes stseeeed e&%Inst e&ah school ditatriat In his aounty 

end f’uamioh the came to the aounty ruperintendent on or 

before the first day of Se- of the yeku.fOr which 

euch taxes am roeeseed. The Wxe6 levied upon the real 

property In seld dletrdata ahell be a lien thereon end 

the sem shall be sold Sor wpald taxes in the lsapner 

and at the time of sale8 for State an4 oounfy t3xm3. The 

tar collaotor shall colleat maM taxes a6 other taxee we 

collected. The tax aasetms thall receive a aomlsslon 

of one-~half of one per oent for assessing Q.&J tax and 

the tax collector a aommIasion 0r~,otwial9 oi one per tent 

r0r aolleeting the efkme. The tax collecrtor ahall pay all 

such tams to the county treasurer, en4 said tree&urer 

i&all credit eaab echool dirtrlet with the emount belonglztg to it, and pa?; out the came In acoordance with law. 

Aats 1321, p. 56. 

Ye fM no etatutory authority whloh would pezmkt a common 

eahool dirrtrlct to piece a different value on its property, that LB,, 

property located within It,6 erea from thet nkiich uould be Ipaced on It 

by the county-tex aeeessor or the Ca1~lse1cmerrs ( Court for Stale enU oounty 

tax pnpomaa. Tbecefore, when the murky aomnleelonerr elected to lower 

thevaluatlonofproperty In the aountyfor aountytexpurpoeeothere 

w an automatln reduotIon of the value for school purpoees. The common 

e&o01 di8trIat or the ccemwn aahool district: trustees had no volaa Ln 

the matter w?mtsoever and we oennet say that they %educed the tnx valuation In order to show budgetaxy needs.’ 

It 3.e our opinion, therefare, that a ccewon echo01 diatriat 

that shows a budgetary need, using either the 194445 or the 194546 

assessed veluatlon under the fact situation you presented would be entltlod to ald under the provisions ar Senete Bill Ho, 167, provId&d, of 

course, It meets the requIsItea OS other provlslons In the bill. 

Trueting the above satlefactorlly anewer your inquiry, 

weare 

Yours veqr truly 

ATJ!ORNSY QEKKRAL OF TEXAS 
ildnorable 2.H' Trimble, Page 4 1 

APPRoVED Fm 20 lg46 

e/ Cerlos C.ASl:iey 

FZRSASSASTORKEY C?- 

o-7042