OFFICE OFTHEAlTORNEY GENERALOFTEXAS **AUSTIN**

HonorableB.F. Howell **c0imy Audit02**  **I !>**  upton county Rankin, Texoe ,:. .~~. '1 --> \ OpinionNo. o-Iwe‘----... '\

We ars In reoe Ion upon the following

might be conrstrued a oommlsaioner

of **000raing CO**  the (LBar from whioh he reler The saseesadvaluetlon ior

*Will your depertment be BO kind 88 to render us an opi.nion

on above mentionedPacts in order to olearlfy the payment of ealarieeto Commlf3sionere

in this county."HonorsblrB. F. Efarrll, Psga 2

It is our opinion that drtlclas2350, 2350 (1) and 2350 (2) or Vernon's Annotated Civil Statutes provide the iamwar to your qurrtion. They road ar follows:

Artiolr 2350:
"In Countlamhaving tha followi~ aw~rr~rd valuationa,rrrpaotivol~, aa shorn by the total aarrmed raluatlonr ot all properties certified by the oountyawo8wr and approrrd by the Commisalonrrta

Court, for oountypurpoeon,forth. prwiour year, from tlw to time, the County Commiseionara

of ruch oountlrr rhall each reoaltr annual nalarirlr

not to rroaad the anwunt8harrin ~paolfird,mid ralarlrrr to ba paid in equal monthly inetallmantr,

at lrasb one-half,and not oxoseding thrrr-rourthr, out of tbs Road and Bridge Fund and thg rameindrrout Of the Oansral Fund Of the county; asid asresmd rsluationeand salari8r applloablrtheretobring as follows: Salarfroto be paid eaoh Comalsrlonrr 

# P ,000,001and 1ers than 10,000,000not to rxorad

. 10,000,001and lass than $13,000,000

not to arcrod

. $13,000,001

and laae than $g!o,oco,ooo

not to exorod

. $20,000,001

and lorr than ~p,ooo,ooo not to exo~od

. $30,000,001

and 1088 than ~78,000,000

not to rxo8a

. L 78,000,OOland lrar than 30,000,000



### not to l

xorrd. #130,000,001

and 10~8 than $150,000,000

and to axcood. ~150,000,001

end over . . . . . . l . .$1400.00

. . . . . .~1600.00

. . . . . .9laoo.o0

. . . . . .42250.00

. l . . . .82400.00

. . . . . .$3400.00

l . . . l .$~3600.00

. . . . . .$4200.00
"In oountlra having arsraaodosl.uatlnn of 1e11r than Four ~lllian Fivr Runbred ThouesndDollara ($4,500,000)

rsah oornmisrioner

shall receive BlrrIionorabls B. F. EUw811, Pago 3

Dollar8 ($5) per day for rash day rsnrd OS oommismlonrr,end a llka rmount whan aotlng as exoffioio rosd 8upmAntandsnt in him Commlsslon~r*8 Preolnot,providing in no srant rhall hi8 tots1 oompansatlon

sxoaadNlnr Hundrrd Dollar8 ($900) in sny on8 year. "In oountlssh8vlng 8s8ssssd rslustlonOS more than Fonr !Xllllon yirs Kundrrd Thourand and Ona Dollars ((6,500001) and lrss thsn Six 3llllon Doll8rr (#6,000,000~ reoh Comlsrlonrr 8hall rsarirs Firs Dollars ($5) psr 

### day ror esoh day rrnsd as oomulsslonsr,



### and 8 like amount whsbm acting as 4x-ofilolorood 8uprrintsndsnt in his Comslrrionsr*s Prrolnot. Provided In no stmt shall his tot81 mapmsstlon rxamd Tw@lvr Hundred Dollars ($l200)in any on8 ysmr.

w Artlola 2350 (1): *Ths 8alary of sash aounty oommlsslonsrsnd ~ssohCounty Jtld@I a8y bs paid wholly Out of th. County Cbnaral l?und or, at the option of the Cmmisslonm8 Court, lpay ba paid out of the County fkinrral

Fund and out of ths Road snd Rrid68 Fund in the followingproportions1 County Jud@s not to exeord ssvsnty-rlvs par osnt (75s)or 8uoh rslarlrs may be paid out of thr Road and Brfdgs Fand, snd the rsmmindsrout of the General md oi tha County, and oaoh County C~mmlsslonor~s 

### l el8ry my, 8t the dlaorstlonof the Commlssionors Court,all br paid out of the Road and Bridge ?undi protldnd thl8 Ssotlon shall not apply sxospt in ooantls8where the oonstltutional

limit or twentpflrr usnts (2511) on thr One Kundrod Dol.lrrs ($100)~lr~larird

iOr (Ionoral purpo~os.~ Artlals 2350 (2): *The Commlsslon8r8 Court at Its first regular meeting rach year shall, by order lhtly mada and l ntsrstl upon the illnotes

of ram Court, ilx the salarlasof the County Commission8r8SCW euch year, within ths limits as **prorldsd** for in this Aot.”Honorable B.F. Howell, Page 4

It will be noted that Article 2330 provides that where oountieshave omtsin **aswesed** valuations, the County Conmissioners of these counties shall eaoh receive o salarynot to **exceed** a fixed maximum sum dependent upon the amount of **the** assssaedvaluations. The 

### crignirioant prorision

### for the purpose 

### 0s this 

### opinion ia the phraas, 

### *iortha previousymBr.* The languags of the statuteis oleer and srplioit to the effeot that the annuelma~ii~~ SolaPis Of oonuniselonera In OOuntimS arfeoted are to be based on the total eai~sassd valuations of omnty propertiesfor the year prowding the payment of the salaries.

Taking the total assessedvaluation of a oounty for the par 1939 as fallingbetween ths figures #10,000,68'andlesa than $13,000,000,it follow8 from the obvickm app~ioatlon of Article 2380 that this valustion oould,ohlybe the basis for the 1940 salariesto be paid oomml6sioners in that oounty, a6 such total amsssssd valuationin 1939 would be that of ths ysar pmYious to 1940. In this ease, tha 1940 salarywould be an amount not to exceed )1600.00. The 1939 salarywould not haste

this **figure** as a ceEllng unless the aemesssd valuation of the county for 19W wa8 betwesn $10,000.01 amI $13,000,000.

Artiolo 2330 (2) etatea that the Commlesionerr* aourt at Its first **regular** meeting aauh year shall fir the salaries of the County Commissioners*for such year, within the limita as proridsdfor in this Aot.*



### vim limits=

### referred to in Arti 2330 (21 are plainly set out in ArtiOle 2330. If the total as6ssseb valuation of a oounty for the preoedingyear felln within any of the monsterybra&eta astablfehedin the latter article, then the salary sum for that partloular bracrket

automatleally

becomes the maxiplum amount the oounty co~znissioners may reoeivs a8 annual oompensetlon ths subsequentyear.

The County Conzmissloners* Court is only authori'zced

to base the salariesof the current year upon the total aosessadvaluation of the precedingyear.HonorableB. B. BowelI., Page 3

Artiole ES50 (1.)

'indiaate the county fund6 from which the salarleao$ the County Commlseeiomrs may be paid and the proportionsin whioh euoh monier mey be used.
In enctwer to your speoiflo question,it i,a our opinion that Artiule 2330,Vernon's AnnotatedCivil Statutes,ornnotbe conetruedto mean that the salary of a County Oanmiseloner could be **fixed** by the County Commlssionars*

Court accordingto the total aaeeaeed valuationof the oounty for the year for whloh the Ccmm.iselomr'reoei~es the oompensation but on the other hand, the statuteplainly and unemb $uouslpprovide8 i that the salary of a CountyUommFesionsr, as set out In it, be paid on the bade of the tote1 aseeeeedvaluation of the county for the year previous to that year for whioh the salary 18 to be paid to the County rJom~~lssionem, Trusting that **we** have fully answeredyour inquiry, we are

Your8 very truly

**DSlOb Enolomneo**