OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL OFTEXAS 

AUSTIN 

Honoreble I. Fredecki 

County xus itor 

Galveston, Terns 

Dear Sir: 

tion has been r4 

on OS the above quostially ail roll 

lstter an mbstan9 there were eatabllrhd tbma 

1 thly of mhloh 

44n r4iie4mNJ ana Qamsing areae at this tims ta abolfah those 

4 Comalasionera* Chart la oonneatlon 

a4ring county-lid8 dr~hag4 aae mii~t4- 

been proposed to levy a tax Sor aonstmstlen 

f dralnags dltahea. 

It Is a basis prinaiple of any kinI of texatlon, whethe 

general or by means ot spedal asstmtwsnt, that those 6boulb 

psy who are beneritee..IAssordlngly, the aosts mat be borne 

by those who are beneritee. &$Kcl’Ctl t8X4tiOll Of ~thOS8 WhO 1iYC 

r%thln the tlistriot my be resorted to, or, as is frequently 
Honorable I. Predecki, LZay 8, 1939, pega $2 

done, assessnant of benefits to r,artlcular tracts of land 

my be laid upon an acreage basis, and constituted a tlrst 

lien upon the lands subject only to stete and county taxes. 

We are of the opinion that a tax levy.can not properly be made against the permanent inprovment fund for this 

purpose. Under the rule or statutory and constitutional OOIIatruotloa, known aa the dootrine or ejurdem generia, general 

rorde following an enumeration of partloular or qteolfia 

thing@ will be ooatlaml to thin&a oi the aaxie klndi SO Tex. 

~Zfurls Pnmn44, 8081 R or u Oil-Gomp+ay va. olaaya oity 

0..0 & Y. Qaoqmay, 106 Tex. 94. Uneer Article 8, Seotioa 

9, of the Cohatltutfon, taxes for the permanent irrpromnt 

l?md oi Qalveaton Oounty, aa well aa all other oountii8 in 

this atate, are levlea~and oolleoted for the pukpore *oreoI 

ting antl oon8tmotlng bulldlnga, atreet8, mewem, ntermrka 

and other permanent lmprovdpontaa, and we are or the opinion 

tbet the purpoe44 of a drainage rryrtem a0 not ooma ethln 

the above enumerated reatrlotiom. 

The @amral iopd, In our oplnlon, Is the only fund. 

again06 whloh a tax ior that purpose ooul& poerlblj be lerisa 

and then only after the purpose haa been detexmiued to bo me 

of benefit g4n4rally to the oourkty aa a whole,.and under tlm 

llaats stated in your latter '10 oonstrue the benefit of l uoh 

a tax to be in rarer ot only those who re&l4 or own P-Y 

in the area oontigubpr to the drainage w&em. Aoao r ln&y, 

ander the olrmnstanoes, ~4 do not think a lety O(UL prop4rly 

be slade agslmt this funfl for auah a pm-pow. 

Renoe, t&l8 department~e opinion lrr that the Od8- 

slonera* Court 1s without authority to 14vy a tax Sor ths 

conatruotion and malntenanoe of a drainage system for reelamtlon purposes in any rmannar other than that ‘prorided In Qhapta 

40, page 78 of the &ta of 1907, Thirtieth LsgirhtUre, and 

Chaptsrll8, page 245 of the r\ats of 1911, Thirty-aeaon+ Legislature, Rggular Session, oarrlsd forward into Veraon*e Ann@- 

tated Statutea as Arttale 8097, et seq. These laws oontsmplated the need ror prdper drainage for reolaaation purpo8e8 

such as are now being 00nsieeroe by your oounty aad reaognix~
Honorcble I. Predecki, ILay 8, 1939, page #3 

the inadquacy of the than existing laws for such purposer. 

?he emr&enoy clause of each of the above cited laws indioated that because of the inadequaoy of the law at that 

tine, the msaage of said Acts constituted an energenoy end 

an imperative necessity that said Lets be effective from 

and after their passage. 

In our opinion, these lewe were lnteaded to apply 

the aeflolenoy under the old law and now protide,the only. 

method by ahleh a county ooula undertake oounty-wldo dmlnage and maintenanoe. 

Very truly youre 

cm-s 

ATTORUE!C C-b- OF TRXAS 

FJy- d. .Q5- 

Clerenoe E. Crcme 

Aaslrtant 

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