January 28, 1952 

Hon. Jack Y. Hardee Oplnlon No. V-1395 

County~ Attorney 

Hehdersofi Ccunty Re: Legality of purchasing a 

Athens,-,%xas computing machine and an 

addressograph for the Tax 

Assessor-Collector's Office from the county perDear sir: manent improvement-fund. 

Your request for an opinion concerting the 

legality of purchasing a a*putlng machine and an addresfil% machine for the Taj:,Assessor-Collector's Office from the county permanent lmprovement fund, In 

part, reads as follows: 

*Hexidetison~Countg Comm%ssl&ers deslPe to purchase a Burroughs Tax Computing 

tichlne and an Address-O-Graph machine at a 

cost of.$10,000.00. These two machines are 

to be used in th@ Tax Collector's office and 

will provide a much more efficient method for 

tax,records and will also cut,down man hours. 

."There is no ~money In the General Fund, 

however thei%ls~approxlmately ~$16,000.00 in 

the P&rmanent;Imprbvement fund. The Commlssidner's Cburt wants to'purchase the two machines out of the Permanent Improvement fund. 

~*The~two machines are ,lastlng in quality 

but require service with a servicing contract 

after the first .year. 

'They are not attached to the floor or 

wall, however, they are seldom ever moved 

and will remain in one office at all times.' 

In Attorney General's Opinion No. V-808 

(1949), It is stated: 

*Section 9 of Article VIII of the Constitution of Texas provides in part as follows: 
Hon. Jack Y. Hardee, page 2 (V-1395) 

*I . e . and no county, city or town 

shall levy more than twenty-five (25) cents 

for city or county 

(15 'i 

urposes, and not exceeding fifteen cents for roads and 

bridges, and not exceeding fifteen (15) 

cents to pay jurors, on the one hundred 

dollars valuation, except for the payment 

of debts incurred prior to the adoption of 

the Amendment September 25, 1883; and for 

the erection of public buildings, streets, 

sewers, waterworks and other permanent lmnot to exceed twenty-five (25) 

e one hundred dollars valuation, 

in any one year, and except as is in this' 

Constitution otherwise provided; provided, 

however, that the Commissioners Court in 

any county may re-allocate the foregoing 

county taxes by changing the,rates provided 

for any of the foregoing purposes by either 

increasing or decreasing the same, but in 

no event shall the tot&l of said foregoing 

county taxes exceed eighty (80) cents on the 

one hundred dollars valuation, in any one 

year; . . .I 

'The moneys accruing from taxes levied 

and~collected for each of the enumerated purposes are Constitutional funds. The lmmedlate purpose of the above quoted provision 

of the Constitution is to limit the amount 

of taxes that may be raised for the several 

purposes. It is also~ intended to require 

that any and all moneys raised by taxes for 

a p&rtlcular purpose shall be applied to 

that purpose and to~no other. Ault v. Hill 

%%% ~"',T"l~;a~~~~1~~6T~~~'l~~~ ~!%"z!t. 

504 (19181." 

In order to answer your question, it is 

necessary for us to first determine whether, under 

the g:iVen facts, these machines, when obtained and 

installed by the county in the office of the Tax Assessor-Collector will become real property or retain 

their original status as personal property, for in 

Texas the law knows only these two species of propertyErwin v. Steele, 228 S.W.2d 882 (Tex. Civ. App. 1950, 

error ref. n.r.e.). In that case at page 885, the 

Court said: 
. . 

Hon. Jack Y. Bardee, page 3 (V-1395) 

'In a broad and general sense 'personal 

property' includes everything that is the 

subject of ownership not coming under the 

denomination of real estate. Black's Law 

Dictionary. 'Estate or property that is not 

real, consisting in general of things temporary or movable.' Webster's Mew International Dictionary. 

"'Tangible or corporeal property Is 

either realty or personalty, the word "real' 

descr*lblng land and that which is anrexed 

thereto, and the term "personal" having reference to chattels, evidences of debt and 

chases in action.' 33 Tex. Jur., P. 937, 

Sec. 4. 

"'Although popularly the term *personal 

property" is used in a somewhat restricted 

sense to~lnclude only goods, chattels, tangible things, the subjects of personal use, 

in its broad sense it includes everything 

which is the subject of ownership not coming 

under the denomination of real estate.' 50 

Cor. Jur., 760, sec. 36." 

In Crabb v. Keystone Pipe & Supply Co., 177 

S.W.2d 989 (Tex. Clv. App. 1944, error ref.), the Court 

said: 

"There is a well-recognized rule whereby 

personal property can lose its character as 

such and become a part of realty. Such is the 

case when it is affixed to realty in such a 

manner as to become a permanent part thereof 

and cannot be removed without materially damaging the freehold.* 

It is the established law of this State that 

all county expenditures lawfully authorized to be made 

by a county must be paid out of the county's general 

fund unless there Is some law which makes them a charge 

against a special fund. Bexar County v. Mann, 138 Tex. 

93, 157 S.W.2d 134 (1941). 

Under the facts submitted and the authorities 

heretofore cited, it is our opinion that the character 

of the machines which the county wants to buy is that 
Hon. Jack Y. Rardee, page 4 (V-1395) 

! 

of personalty 

office of the 

not be so affl 

and will so remain when Installed in the 

County Assessor-Collector, for they will 

.xed to the courthouse or freehold of the 

county as to become a permanent part thereof. Therefore, we agree with your conclusion that the permanent 

improvement fund of the county may not be legally expended for the purchase of such machines. 

SUMMARY 

Tie Permanent Improvement Fund of Renderson County may not be legally expended for the 

purchase of a tax computing machine and an addressograph machine for the use of the County 

Tax Assessor-Collector's Office when such machinps will not be affixed to the courthouse 

or freehold of the County In such a manner as 

to become a permanent part thereof. 

Yours very truly, 

APPROVED: PRICE DANIEL 

Attorney General , 

J. C. Davis, Jr. 

County Affairs Mvislon 

E. Jacobson 

Reviewing Assistant 

Charles D. Mathews 

First Assistant 

Bruce W. Bryant 

Assistant 

BWBfwb;mh