OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL OF TEXAS 

1’~. 

AUSTIN 

ffooorablu T. ;I. Trlmblu, Piret naslstollt 

ijtate thiperintondcnt of Publlo Imtruotion 

Auetln, Texas 

" Deer elrr 

we are in l-co g letter from ifonorsble L. A. Wod8, requesting an opinion 

on the q.mstions et 

t Taylor deeira 

purposes end how 

x-don with refurenoe 

w. snoo I e.m lntar- 

,:\ 

ed below, I respeott ully 

sollowlc~ rpa0atloLl. 

lor bu outhorizsd b:: a ohurter 

$2.50 snd for 8OhQol purposes 

*The city attorney of Taylor has furnished me 

with the followlug information and I gfvo eade to 

you in order that you my be eb1.a to Bnswer the foregoing puelttlon. 
lionorablu ,T. i.:. ~I'rL!hlu, First iLslri5Ltuit -. ?age 2 

'\ 

a"B~i~l~: Q oity with GO~W than five thouaa~ld 

population, tilt;: of ;"aylor adopted n !IOIW :tule aharter 

Ir? thti yuar 1914, as provldwl in Motion 5, krtlole 

11, Constitution of Tuxad.~ Frlor to that tine the 

bouudaries of 'i'uylor Icdependaat Lahool Dlatrlot 

werq the aal~e UR the boundaries of City of ‘ioylor 

and the oity attorney aaaumea the school dletrlct 

MS created by genural or opeoiol lam or the Inoor~porated City of 'i'nylor constituted such saparnte aiid 

lsdepandent school dlotrlct within the provlaieha 

* ar d2ti0;: 3, iirtlclc 7, Cohstltutlon of Texas. iie 

is uoablt; to asoertaln fro= the City’s reoords just 

hove thla indepondont dlatrlct was oreeted, but he 

anauma ouah records aro available to you at Austin. 

L "Taylor's orl;-$aal liorne iiula oharter contalcod 

the follo~iln~ ~rovlslou in Article XV: 

the pub110 free sohools of the city or 

"'Al.1 luwo lu foroe, purtainlng to 

,ra,*lor arc hdraby raCslmd In full force 

and effact, and aald 8choolo shall be oontlnued, nuna,gd and controlled OS hrrretoCoru, end the truetess of the onld pub110 

.' frac echools shall ba elected aaoordlng 

to tne provision or the above nent~oned 

~.;" laws ratalned in full force end effect. 

uuai15 ror the support and malr;tenanoa of 

* .! thu pub110 frao sohoola and for the pur- 

: pose of proowing &rounds and conntruotlng and i:oprovlng bulldlnga for such pubi; '~ lie free sohools shall bo obtained moor& 

ln~g to the lawe EOIV in effjat ralatlng to 

,.’ ouoh public free schools,' 

";ztlcle .&‘J was ohcnged by duly adopted chartar 

ar.mulmnt and now reads as r0iiow5: 

"*All laws now lh foroc pertulnlng to 

the public iruu eohools OS thi: City of ‘Taylor, Texas, except ma othtirwiss in this 

Cf~mrt,sr provldoh, arc 'iereby retolncd in 

full foroe and &foot, and said school shall 

bu COXitiI:uud, nonae,cd, and oontrolled as 

hcs2tofora, and the trustees of said public 

frlc aohoolu shall be elected accmdihe to 
85 

. 

fionoroble T. b!. Trlnble, First k.asletant - Peee 3 

the provision8 or tho above mentioned lows 

eo reteln& la rull foroc end orf’aot. Meone 

ror tha support an4 maintenance 0r ttre publla fro0 schoole on4 for tho purpose or procuring groilrrds and emoting and equi ping 

buildings for suoh pub110 rree sohO f a 

shall be obtolned an provide4 under hrtiole 

XII ol this Charter.’ 

“‘The~Boer& or Comnisalonera 0r.~thc 

City or T’oylor, Texod, shell have power, 

and is hereby .euthorlzsd enmally to levy 

and oolleot, r0r general and 611 iewrul 

purp06es, anC r0r the purpo.6e or psying 

the intarast z nnd oreating e rrlnkw 

ruf.e ror 511 outstandhg and future inasbteanese Of thb city 0r Taylor, Tex66, 

and ror the purofmse or sohool grouude, 

oreotlng ar?d equipping 6ohool buildings 

and the malntehanoe or the public tree 

: 

\ 

sohoolo or aeiil city or Taylor, Texan, 

‘1. an ad valorem tax of cot to exceed Two 

.? .I and 20/100 ($2.20) Dollara on eaoh one 

hundred lollers 0r assesi3eb valuation 0r 

all roe1 and personal property within the 

City limits of asid City of Taylor, TeX86), 

not exunpt from taxation by thu Conatitution and laws ot this Stata. 

r 

. 

~hrtiole %.I1 or the Horns rtula charter origtnally 

* provided Zor 4 tax or $2.00 on the $100.00 valuetlon, 

$1.00 for all lawful purposee othor than tor soaool 

purposes, and .l.OO ior aohool’purposea, but, by oharter anendmmt duly abopted, Article XII now raqdo ae 

roliona 8 

“‘or said total amount 0r two and 

,20/100 ($2.20) Dollar6 tax herein authorizad to bo 50 annually levied and oolleotod, 

One and 20/100 ($1.20) Dollera on ttie One 

fiundrad Dollere valuation of said real and 

peroooal property, or 6~ ltuoh thareor, ea, 

from time to tlzne mey be neoe66ary, may 

btr lovied on5 oollectud, emually for genoral on5 all 1awru.l purposes, otht;ir than 

for echo01 purposes a6 horeinaftor provided. 
86 

Eonorablo T. %. 'l'ri;;lblc, PLret Araietent - Pago 4 

sna the fjoara or Commia6iorme is hereby 

duthorl6ed to plea&e the oredlt of se14 

city ona issue bonde thoreror and uee so 

much of eali? une an4 2O/lOO ($1.20) Dollar6 

0r aald tnx so authoriesd ae it my asem 

nccceaory end propor for ths poynsnt or 

tho intc;reat on and oreats 8. elnklne fund 

to p5y err at mturitp thereor 811 outatandlng a:14 future indebtedmu or 8sia 

city. 

'war the 6814 total 0r Two and 20/100 

($2.20) Doilar6 tax here& sUthOrizc4 to 

be 60 annually levied and oolleoted On6 

Dollar, or 60 muon thoreor a6 my be neoessarg, ohall be use4 for 6OhOOl.pUrpO6e6 

on*, ae rollowe~ For the gurponsr or purchasing eohool groucae, areotlng end squipppingeohool bulldings ror 68ia pub110 free 

6ohOol6 9r 6814 city and ror the msintenence 

0r aaia publlo rr06 8Ohools, and th0 eala 

Board 0r Commi~6ioners is hereby authorizod 

to+ iaaue bonda or the es14 City or Taylor, 

Texm, and fro0 ti.zne to t&n6 levy an4 proviaa for the Oolleotion or such tax, not 

to sx0664 firty 06nt6 on the on6 tiunarea 

Dollar valuation a6 may be neoossary to 

p~ovl6a ror paying thu interest on and 

oreate a sink*, rima eurrioL6nt to pay 

0rr at meturitg, all outetaaalng and ruture ln4abteaneae or tha salC City of Teylor, 

I'srae, inourwd ror, or on behalf or said 

pub110 eOhoOl6 0r the said City or Taylor, ‘lkX6Sv 

I. 

., 

"'The i)oard or Comulssionere in horsby authorlzu9 to i66U0 bona6 or ~the es14 

City of Ta~lor,~Teroa, for the purohaee or 

aohooi grou~dn, on& urooting and equippin& 

aohool buildings. 

**The bnlanoc or said One Dollar or 

said tox to ba 80 ueed ror school purpose, 

not ueed to pay lntcrrcat On on4 orcato a 

slriiin~ fimd to ,76y 0rr the outetandlng 

end rutwe bmaca ix:4ebtdna66 or eel4 

City inourraa ror eohool purpoeca, or 50 
. 

. : 

Uonorabie T. 5.. Trlnble, First Aaeistant - Pa&e 5 

much thereof, a8 from time to tiae, may 

_ be neceseory, shall be levied end 00ueotea 

. 

annuellg, to provide a fund for tha m.inte- 

~R:AZQ of naid public free eohoola of mid 

city. 

mfto bon&s, however, ahall be issued 

by said Board of cofmieeionera for any 

puryoee whatever, without Sirat having 

been authorize& 80 to a0 by 6 czajorlty 

vote of the qualified property tax psyln~ 

votars of oald City voting et an aLeation 

oelled for that purpose.* 

*Prior to the adoption of the abqvo quoted 

amndnent of xrtiole XII, the sohool haa it.0 own 

tax aeaea8or and oollector ana board of aquallxation but slnoo said crmemlmnt was sdapted the sohool 

taxes have been levied by the Board of Commleoioners 

and assaoomenta end collectlone handled by the City’s 

tax asssaaor ana collector end bbard of equnllzation. 

*BnaLng hirs opinion prlnoipally upon Seotione 

115 et seq. in the artlole on 3ohoole, 37 Tex. Jur., 

990, et aaq. ma authorltiea there oitsd, Lt ie the 

city ottorney’e opf.r(lon that City of TayLor nay 

adopt a ohortar anendaent authorizing a oohool tax 

:n exoec)bl oi 3.00 end 8 tax up to 82.50 for RNA- -- 

XpZITiiTgoses. 

trol, 

city 

~?~lll you kiadly &iv6 me your opinion with 

reraronce to thla queatlon at your earliest oonv0nfenoe?* 

Pie 5~sume thet the City of Tsylor has, assumed oonof the sohoole or that auoh control ~18s plaoed under the 

by a fopwr oherter 6rant?d by the ~egiolature: it i? 

imaterial either way -- tha Glty of Taylor at this t&no lo 

aotlq in a duo1 capacity, an& haa duo1 powers. It is a municipal corporation ana it la an independent echo01 dlotrlot. 

altp of ~~ockdalo v. Cureton,lll Tex. 136, 229 Y. X. 852. 

The queation of the dietinotlon between e olty 08 

an ordfnsry n~~nicipolity an& 0s a separate enC independent 

school cUetAct XRB consiber& in tho aaae of th;r City of 

Fort :Yorth v. Zane-Gctti (Con. bpp,) 278 8. :;. 183. XII that 
IIonorable T. M. 'i'rknble, Nlrst aoalutant - Pa&e 

. 

88 

4 

aaae Zane-Cottl eou&t to enjoIn the oollaotion of a tax of 

866 on eaoh one hundred dollars of taxable values "for t!ae 

melntenadoe clrid use of the public frao 'schools of the City ot 

Fort zorth for anch ctirrent year ,* on the ground that at the 

ol&tlon at whioh thu oharter amsndmsnt euthoriaing th&'tax 

uan ado ted tko voter8 ware not limited to ~~ollfied property 

-x-WY L voters a8 required ?y Soctlon 3 or .!tlcle 7 05 

t&O COIletitUtiOA. It waa bald by the Court in that oaa~e thet 

a tax ror aoh pury-rsa aa8 lMte4 to those voters authorized 

to voto SOS school taxes under eootlon 3, Article 7 of the 

Constltutlon. In an alsotlon to mend a oharter my qualIiTIod 

voter gay vote, but only c;uallfIed voters ‘who am proj?erty taxpayers may Ooto on the queatlon of authorizing a tax for school 

purpooaa. 

‘ BrorJ. the fore~olng it wl.11 be aaen thrt 8 olty of 

aora than 5,000 population any mend lta Charter bg a m&jorlty 

vote of.the qualifla;l votara ~of sual? oity to authorize the levy 

of taxes for muolciyal purpoaaa not to exoeed *2,.50 on each 

one huudrud 4oUere valuation of progmty, but thot it oan 

mt tubrid the Cherter to authorize the iovy of a sohool tax 

wlwss eel& e~en4mnt shall’provlde tta% aal aohool tax ah411 

bo submlttod to a vote of t4e property tar payoro of the.aohool 

dlstrlot. The Cqmatitution Qoas,not plaoe any l&nit on the 

rate whloh 8 altj nag levy MI an indepandent. school dlatrlot. 

Aa far ea the ConP:tltutloa is oo~oerr1%4, the city mug levy 

aohool taxes at any rate authorized by tha quallfled property 

tax-payiag votore. Artlola 7, S#i?tbA 3 of.tha COAi3titUtiOIL. 

Eowvdr, tbaro is CI iStatutory limitatlo:! on aU nchool dlatriots ot one dollar on the one hundred dollare val-uatlon or 

taxable property. nrtlole 2786 Vsrnon*a Annotate4 Stotutea. 

We oall attantlaa te Artaole 1145, Ycrnon?a Annotatad Cl011 

tltatutea, wherein Ia fwnd the tolLowIng longua~e~ 

l .:,.. . . Ilo chnrter or any ordimncea poeeed 

ueiaur acid obartsr shell oontain a5y yroulalon inoonslstant with the Conetitutlon or general lews 

0r this iito tt?; . . l .î 

Slice the general law oontaine the ebove-wentlorred 

limitation 3t mu dollar on the one hundred dollaro veluigtlon, 

we think u cbrter lirnitntlon ot one nnd one-half bollera on 

the ona hundred Collars valuation would bo lnoc~olstc~t :iith 

the general law. 

Very truly your0