**OFFICE OF**  **THE ATTORNEY**  **GENERAL OF**  **TEXAS AUSTIN** 

Sonorabla Glenn Ca;ps County Attorncly, I(eson Couatp mason, Texas

S3ar sir: Gpinion No. o-6585 he: Legality of md th8 to be followed in a

‘60h,#s your l&t request an oplalon on the toll

n wsbool district 10s within ftr has been oondrtcted In a parlod of tire yeam, r rote of the reeident and over the protect of the aoutlguou8 ooniwmso-1 axuhe event of the.attaohlng of the tsrriiguous oomnouschool district to said ependerrt aohool diatriot by said oounty board would the territory and property wlthia aald uom- &onschool district attaohed **be** liable in proportion to its aseeesed value for tha outstanding ‘bondedindebtednese of the independent school district to which it is attached without a majority vote **of** the **reaidsnt** cltizenship **of** maid attoclad **cmxmn** school **d&strict** end/or the lndepeadent district ae awhole?Honorable Glenn Cagps, pa&e2

*lb. would the tax rate ror sohool purpose8 of the independent sahool diatriot apply to the territory of the attached **ocmson** 8ohool **diatrlct wcit.kmut**  **a** majority vote of the qualified reeldent oitieenship of the attached territory (preeent tax rate of 1ndepenUnt dls

### trictbeingtl.00 on om hundred dollar amessed **mlua** tion ror 8ohool **purpotia8** and 

### inoomuw eohooldi8trlot attached $.lO (lO#) on the one hundred dollar raluution)?

"lo. tiould the valuation of territory and property within attached ooaam sOhoo1 district be fixed anda8- aermedfor rohool **purpose8**at value Ilxed **and** as8888ed for 

### oountyandetate**taxe8,** 

### or

### atvaluationaufixedand a8- aessed by independent school Uistrirrt for sobDo tax **pur** pose87 "ld. WouldCounty Board of 3ohool **TrusSeer** or Tru8- tee8 of Independent Gohool District hare authority to **ap** ply valuation8 and tax zmte OSindependent eehool dlatriot to territory of attaohed 

### oommoneohool 

### dlstriot?

"E. m'ouldthe **County** Board of ;ichool Trustees of 

### teacon

Countr, 

### findingitneoe88ary ror the 

### intereetofthm a~ohoolohildron, have authority under the provirion8 ot **Art. Z9Ua**  **or** 

### Art.**89U.** 

### todetaoh**territory from** **a** 

### eontiguou8 eonumnrohool **dimtriot** add add the territory 80detaohed to **oontiguou8** independent scflool district, eald ooamn (iebool distrlot containing 1M rquare 

### milesormoreandheti~ no bonded indebtednelu'i

*eS. **Would** the oonsezt **or** approval of the mejorlty of the resident cltlzenrhlp or **tlm trusteae**  **of** said ooxtnon eohool 

### dietriot,brpetition, vote**or** otherwi8e, be **neac8-** sary before the County Board of aohool **Truetre8** ocluld legally detaoh territory from the o,mnon aohool dietriot and attaoh sake to independent sohool diezrict?

"eb. Gould territory eodetaohed from eomuin aohool dietriot audattaohed to independent aohool distriot 

### bo liable for **pro-existing** bonded indebtedness of independent school distriot without majority vote of citlwn8hlp ot tarriiory detaohed or district as whole a8 enlarged?“80. lould tax rate andralui~tioas for tax purgoeer, of iodqmndent sob001 dlstriot bo legally applicable to dataohed territory of ooamoILschool dletrict without consent of majority of oitlzenehip of detached territory byvote, petition or othmwite? -26. bould mticle 2741 or Article 2742a be ep- L plicable, or would or nhould the procedure as set iorth in ;,rtlCle 2941 or 27480 be rollouedV

**m3.%ou14 the**  **county** hoerd or tehool **Trust&err under**  the provlolons OSirtlole 2741 and 274tf, have authority, when duly petitioned, by e majority of the reeident oitizurshlp end the **majority** of the **trusbeee** of 8 **ooatlguous** oomm~naohool district to annex the territow of @id ooma08 school distriot to a aoatiguoua indegmadent eollool diatricb?

“5a. Whenannexed, rorlld the **territory** of meid OOPanonaohool dietrict **be** liable for pre-exlatiog **bowled** indebtedness OSiadependent eohool 4latrlot to whioh attaohod without avote of majority of **unnoxed**dietriot OT distriot voting aa awholo?

“3b. H’ouldtax rat6 0AdValuatiOar ot t;ixable property ror eohool pupoee 0r lndepenaent sohool dirtriot

**be applioeble**  **to** l tmmxedoomn sohool diatrlot without maJoritI vote of oitiaensh~lp ot aoaexed district or dlstrlat aa awhole?

“4. #here reoords of the rsotrrded field **note8** cod deocription of Independent and Co.mon Sohool Gietrlote of **County** have been lent or destroyed and the **County** Judge and/or the County Board of ~ohool Trustees bate been petftimed of desire to order an election to oonmolldete or amex (six) otmtiguoua uomnonschool dlstrlota to e oentral oontl&guous independent eolwol dietriot In **county,** and des%re to set forth rlelu notes anddeacriptlon or OOWIKB~ eohool distriot an4 Independent sohool dlstrlot in eleo**tion** order and natiaer, would the Comiiseionera’ Court under term of Artlele 2942 be legally authorlxed to **oauee to**  **be**cede newmete6 andbound8 of said sobool diatrlote, hollowing original boundnrioe in 80 far%A# pmatiaable andcan be ransonably aooerthined of oomwm arohooldletricte andindependent sohool dfstri& of the County and approve saul~&etrue bmnndoriea of eatd school districtaIAs&id oounty and b%veseid field notee and descriptions filed and reaorded in proper reoorde of the county.

“4a. Kould said field notes 80madebe valid field notes of the ,netes and bound%of the school districts within oounty an4 oould samebe legzlly used wneninadeIn election order and election notices in eleotion for consolidation or annexation of oontiguous eahool distriate under the provieions of .-rtiole 2806 end hrtfcle 2922a7"

‘neahall answer your queetione in their numerical order, using the %%me deeignation a8that oontained In your letter. artiole 2742m, 1925 Revise4 Civil Statute% was passed in’& and has been supereeded **by** nrtiole 2742ez1, passed in 1939. Thle latter aot ombreoe8 the s%meoubject matter oontained in Mtiole 2942mand being the latest expreesion OSthe Leglelature, 1s oontrolllng. *e advioe you to follow the prgvIsIona ot Article 2942e-1.

la. The added territory of said contiguous oommon sohool distrlot would not be liable In proportion to l@ aseeaee4 values for the out%tanding bonded indebtedneae of the independent echo01 4istriot until aster an eleotion waeheld in the district as a whole aseumIng e,uohindebtedneu. See Crebb v. Celeete Independent Sohool District, 140 9. W. page 528, et cetera.

lb. Thetax rate for school purposes of the lndependent eohool district wouid not apply to the territory of the attached oommonschool dietrict without e majority vote of the qualified resident taxpayer% of the district a%awhole. In other words, after thie 00?8[11on school district territory has been attached to the Independent school district, it would be neoessary to have an election throughout the dietrict ae extended, on the queetion of voting a uniform tax over the entire dlstriot.

lo. If the Independent dletrict has Its ownt%l aesessor or its owntax aseessor and collector, the valuatioti of property for school purposee could be assessed at a different valuation from that assessed for state an4 oountg taxes, but If the taxes :,re assessed and colleated by the County &mes8or’- Colleotor, the valuations must be the sad* 8s those for 3tat.e an4 oounty purgouee. Of course, after the Independent district is enlarged by attachIn@, the added territory, an election .mst be held Inthe dlstriot ae enlarged before anytar maybe oollected on %Ayof the property in the district.ld. In view ot answers to your questions la andlb,

we answer this **question** lh the negative. However, if after the territory of the oomon school district Is attached to the independent sahool district, the trustaes of the independent school district would fix the tax rate within the rate authorized by the quallrled tax paying voters of the enlarged district at an election held for that purpose, unless the rate voted is a speoiric rate.

Thevaluationa will be determined 5.n**aaoordanoe** with our answer to lo,, subject to equalication by either the Board of Equalization of the district or the county according to the method of **aeaaeslng** the taxes adopted by the **truataee** of the independent school district.

2. TheCounty Board of School Trustees would have authority under Article 2742a to detach terrftory **from a**  **contiguous** oommonschool district oontaining 126 equare miles or morewhich has hobond.edindebtedness, ii necessary for the interest of the eohool ohildren, andattach saxe to a eontlguous independent school district, provided that no commonsohool dlstriat, whenso reduaed, shall contain less than nine quare miles; provided reasonable notice is giveu to the public andto the **trusteer** of the dletriote atfeoted andsufficient opportunity **ia** given **for all**  interested persons to be heard.

**ea.** The eonsent or approval oi the majority of the resident oitixenehip er the **trustees** of said eonmoneohoel district is not required, but mtiole 2748a does require that the **truateea** of the commonschool distriot and the independent school district, and the public be given notice of the hearing before the oounty board, after which hearing, the county mayproceed to enter Its order.
2b. The territory so detaohed from the oomnonsohool district andattached to independent school dlstriot would not be liable for pre-existing bonded indebtedness oi the independent sohool district without majority vote of property taxpayers at an eleotion held to determine whether the enlarged district should assumethe outstanding bonds of the Independent school district.

20. This question ie answered by **our anewer**  **to** question ld. 26. Theprocedure set **out** in 2742a should be folloWed.3. HO. Article 2742f does not authorlee the county board or school trustees to annex g of a oommonsohool dfstriot to another district. The proper procedure in such oasea would be to have an eleotion in each district to authorize the consolidation of the district, pursuant to the later statute than article 2741. govisions 0r Article 2806, a

3-a, 3b. In view 0r our answer to your queatfon 6, It lmnot neoeasary to antawertheae questions.

4. Wherethe records or the recorded field notes of 

### a oommonor independent school district has been 

### lostordertroyed, wethink the County Board of i;ohool Trustees should paae an order re-derining andre-eotabllshlng the diatrlot or dlrtrlots, rollowlng the original boundaries Insofar 

### espraotIoable, andwhenthis order has been paseed, it should be raoorded, together with the rield notes, in the proper records ot the oounty~.



### 4a. The answer to this q!~&%sU on 18yea.

weare Trusting this satis~aotorlly enawera your questlone,

Your8very truly A'lTOP3IZY

GENE&&L

OFTFXAS

C. P. Glbron Assistant