January 28, 1952

Hon. Jack Y. Hardee OplnlonNo. V-1395 County~

Attorney Hehdersofi

Ccunty Re: Legality of purchasing a Athens,-,%xas computingmachine and an addressograph for the Tax Assessor-Collector'sOffice from the countyperDear sir: manent improvement-fund.

Your request for an opinion concerting the legality of purchasing a a*putlng machine and an addresfil%machine for theTaj:,Assessor-Collector'sOffice from the countypermanent lmprovement fund, In part, reads as follows:

*Hexidetison~Countg Comm%ssl&ers deslPe to purchase a Burroughs Tax Computing tichlne and an Address-O-Graphmachine 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 efficientmethod for tax,recordsand will also cut,downman hours. ."Thereis no~moneyIn theGeneral Fund, however thei%ls~approxlmately ~$16,000.00in the P&rmanent;Imprbvementfund. The Commlssidner's Cburtwants to'purchase the twomachines out of the Permanent Improvement fund. ~*The~twomachines are ,lastlngin quality but require servicewith 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 ofArticle 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 levymore 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 incurredprior to the adoption of theAmendment September 25, 

### 1883;and for the erection of public buildings, streets, sewers,waterworks and otherpermanent lmnot to exceed twenty-five (25) e one hundred dollars valuation, in any one year, and except as is in this' Constitution otherwiseprovided;provided, however, that the CommissionersCourt in any countymay re-allocate the foregoing county taxesby changing the,ratesprovided 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 'Themoneys accruing from taxes levied and~collected for each of the enumeratedpurposes are Constitutional funds. The lmmedlate purpose of the above quoted provision of the Constitution is to limit the amount of taxes thatmay 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 shallbe 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 determinewhether, under the g:iVen

facts, thesemachines, when obtainedand installedby the county in the office of the Tax Assessor-Collectorwill 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 ownershipnot comingunder the denomination of real estate. Black's Law Dictionary. 'Estateorproperty that is not real, consisting in general of things temporary or movable.' Webster's Mew International Dictionary. "'Tangible or corporealproperty Is either realty or personalty, the word "real' descr*lblngland and thatwhich 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. "'Althoughpopularly the term *personal property" is used in a somewhatrestricted 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 ownershipnot 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 permanentpart 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'sgeneral fund unless there Is some law which makes them a charge against a special fund. Bexar County v. Mann, 

### 138Tex. 

### 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 countywants to buy is thatHon. Jack Y. Rardee, page 4 (V-1395) !

ofpersonalty office of the not be so affl

and will so remain when Installed in the CountyAssessor-Collector,for they will .xedto the courthouse or freehold of the countyas to become a permanent part thereof. Therefore, we agree with your conclusion that the permanent improvement fund of the countymay not be legally expended for the purchase of suchmachines.
SUMMARY Tie Permanent ImprovementFund of Renderson County may not be legally expended for the purchase of a tax computingmachine and an addressographmachine for the use of the County Tax Assessor-Collector'sOfficewhen suchmachinpswill not be affixed to the courthouse or freehold of the County In such a manner as to become a permanentpart thereof.
Yours very truly,
APPROVED: PRICE DANIEL Attorney General
, J. C. Davis, Jr. CountyAffairs Mvislon
E. Jacobson ReviewingAssistant CharlesD. Mathews First Assistant BruceW. Bryant Assistant

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