Iiq3lied 

overniled by 

Honorable L. A. Woods O-6596 and 

State Superintendent of Public Instruction v-1517 

Austin, Texas 

Dear Sir: Opinion No. O-2727 

Re: May the board of school 

trustees of an independent 

school district which assesses 

and collects its own taxes release or leave off charging the 

penalty and interest which has 

accrued on delinquent taxes. 

We are in receipt of your letter in which you request 

the opinion of this department on several questions 

concerning the authority of the board of trustees of an independent school district in tax matters. 

In your first question you inquire whether or 

not the board of trustees of an independent school district 

which assesses and collects its own taxes may release or 

leave off charging the penalty and interest which has accrued 

on delinquent taxes. The authority of a board of trustees 

of an independent school district over the collection of the 

taxes of said district is defined by Article 2701 of the Revised Civil Statutes as follows: 

"The district tax assessor and collector 

shall have the same power and shall perform the 

same duties with reference to the assessment 

and collection of taxes for free school purposes 

that are conferred by law upon the city marshal1 

of incorporated towns or villages, and he shall 

receive such compensation for his services as the 

board of trustees may allow, except in cities 

and towns provided for, not to exceed four per 

cent of the whole amount of taxes received by him. 

He shall give bond in double the estimated amount 

of taxes coming annually into his hands, payable 
Honorable L. A. Woods, Page 2 

to and to be approved by the president of the 

board, conditioned for the faithful discharge 

of his duties, and that he will pay over to 

the treasurer of the board all funds coming 

into his hands by virtue of his office as such 

assessor and collector; provided that in the enforced collection of taxes the board of trustees 

shall perform the duties which devolve in such 

cases upon the city council of an incorporated 

city or town, the president of the board of 

trustees shall perform the duties which devolve 

in such cases upon the mayor of an incorporated 

city or town, and the county attorney of the 

county in which the independent school district 

is located shall perform the duties which in 

such cases devolve upon the city attorney of an 

incorporated city or town under the provisions 

of law applicable thereto. . . ." 

As the above quoted article gives the board of 

trustees of an independent school district the same authority that the city council has over the collection of city 

taxes, it is necessary to next see what authority such city 

council has in such a matter. Article 1041 of the Revised 

Civil Statutes provides as follows: 

"The city council may provide, by ordinance, 

for the prompt collection of all taxes assessed, 

levied and imposed under this title, and is authorized to sell or cause to be sold real as well 

as personal property, and may make such rules and 

regulations, and pass all ordrnances as they 'may 

deem necessary to the levying, laying, imposing, 

assessing and collecting of any tax herern provided." (Emphasis ours) 

Under the above quoted article it may be seen that 

a broad power is placed in the board of trustees of an independent school district over the collection of its taxes. 

Based upon such statute, this department ruled in Opinion 

NO. O-1801, as follows: 

II . . . An independent school district can 

elect to assess and collect its own taxes by and 

through its duly appointed and acting district 

assessor, district board of equalization and district collector, and in such case will have the 
Honorable L. A. Woods, Page 3 

power and authority conferred by Article 2791, 

Revised Civil Statutes of Texas; Pruitt v. Glen 

Rose Ind. Sch. Dist., 84 S.W. (2d) 1004; and, 

although there is no specific statute upon the 

subject, it is our conclusion that this power 

and authority would embrace the right of the board 

of trustees to fix the time for the accrual of ad 

valorem taxes of an independent school district, 

and appropriate penalties and interest on such 

taxes as become delinquent. Under Article 2791, 

Revised Civil Statutes, the power and duty of a 

board of trustees of an independent school district in the matter of the assessment and collection of school taxes of such district, including 

the fixing of penalties and interest on delinquent 

taxes, are referable to similiar powers existing 

in the governing body of an incorporated city or 

town. Such city or town may provide, by ordinante, that municipal taxes shall become due and 

delinquent at a different time from general taxes. 

Eustis v. City of Henrietta, 37 S. W. 632. Moreover, Article 1041, Revised Civil Statutes, impliedly gives and Article 1175, Subdivision 9, 

Revised Civil Statuted, expressly vests in the 

governing body of cities and towns power to fix 

the amount of penalties and interest upon delinquest taxes. Articles 2784 and 2790, Revised 

Civil Statutes of Texas, provides that the board 

of trustees of an independent school district 

'shall have power to levy and cause to be collected the annual taxes etc.' Therefore, we submit 

zat in those'instances where an independent 

school district has elected to assess and collect 

its taxes by its own officers, the board of trustees of such district have, under the foregoing 

statutes, the power and authority to fix the time 

for the accrual of such taxes and the amount and 

manner of collection of penalties and interest 

on delinquent taxes." 

It is evident that the Legislature has delegated 

to the board of trustees of an independent school district 

that chooses to collect its own taxes full authority over 

such assessment and collection, which we believe includes 

not only the authority to assess and collect appropriate 

penalties but also the authority to release or charge-off 

such penalties after the same have been assessed. As stated 

by the Supreme Court of Tennessee in the case of Burns v. City 

of Nashville, 221 S. W. 828, "If the board of commissioners had the 

power to affix penalties and interest, they had the power to remit 

them by ordinance." 
Honorable L. A. Woods, Page 4 

It then becomes necessary to see whether or not 

the Legislature itself could have constitutionally allowed 

the release or charging-off of the interest and penalty on 

delinquent taxes. The Supreme Court of Texas in the case 

of Jones?" Williams, 45 S. W. (2d) 130, upheld the validity 

of an act of the Legislature which released the interest and 

penalties which had accrued on certain state, county and 

district taxes. The court held that interest chargeable 

was in fact a penalty and such release was not violative 

of Article 3, Section 55, of the Constitution, which prohibits the Legislature from releasing or extinguising or 

authorizing the releasing or extinguishing in whole or in 

part the indebtedness, liability or obligation of any incorporation or individual to this State or to any county or other 

municipal corporation therein. The court held that the Legislature would have the authority to release the interest and 

penalty accrued on delinquent taxes of the State and county 

as well as of the districts and subdivisions of the State. 

It is our opinion that this broad authority has been delegated 

by the Legislature to the board of trustees of the independent school districts as well as to the city council of incorporated cities and towns. 

Your attention is called to an opinion dated September 11, 1936, written by Assistant Attorney General Clark Wren 

to Honorable Paul G. Groggan, County Attorney, Montgomery 

County, in chich it was held that the Conroe Independent School 

District could not remit penalty and interest for a period of 

ninety days in order to invite collections of taxes delinquent 

to that district. It does.not appear from the contained in that opinion whether or not the Conroe Independent 

School District assessed and collected its own taxes or whether the same were assessed and collected by the county collector and assessor. Insofar as such opinion may appear in conflict with the opinion expressed herein the same is expressly overruled. 

It is the opinion of this department that your 

first question should be answered in the affirmative and 

that the board of school trustees of an independent school 

district that assesses and collects its own taxes has the 

power to release or charge-off the interest and penalty which 

has accrued against such taxes. 

In your second question you inquire whether or not 

it is mandatory for the independent school district to collect the one dollar tax assessor-collector fee set out in 

Article 7331 of the Revised Civil Statutes. Article 7331 provides for the on dollar fee to be collected by the county 

tax assessor-collector in suits brought for the collection of 

State and county taxes 
Honorable L. A. Woods, Page 5 

Article 7337 provides as follows: 

"Any incorporated city or town or school 

district shall have the right to enforce the 

collection of delinquent taxes due it under the 

provisions of this chapter." 

Article 7343 of the Revised Civil Statutes reads 

in part as follows: 

"All laws of this State for the prupose of 

collecting delinquent State and county taxes are 

by this law made available for, and when invoked 

shall be applied to, the collection of delinquent 

taxes of cities and towns and independent school 

districts in so far as such laws are applicable." 

The Commission of Appeals of Texas in the case of 

Duclos V. Harris County, 298 S. W. 417, held that the above 

quoted articles authorize the municipal corporations named 

therein to collect the fees provided in Article 7332 of the 

Revised Civil Statutes, which article sets the fees for the 

district clerk and county and district attorney. The authority to collect such fees, however, depends under Article 

7343 upon such provisions of the tax statutes having been 

invoked by the district in question. We believe that the 

same rule of law should be applied to the fee provided in 

Article 7331. It is our opinion that such fee may be collected when such authority is invoked by the board of trustees 

of an independent school district. We are of the opinion, 

however, that it is not mandatory upon such independent 

school districts to collect said fee when it does not choose 

to invoke this provision of the statutes relating to the 

state and county taxes in the collection of the district 

taxes. 

In your third question you inquire whether or not 

the board of trustees of an independent school district may 

reduce assessments against property in the district previously made when the original assessment was made by the duly 

elected board of equalization for the particular year. 

In our Opinion No. O-930 we held an act of the 

Legislature which authorized the commissioners' court to do 

just this thing which you inquire about to be unconstitutional in that it violated several sections of the Constitution 

of Texas including Article 3, Section 55. Said Section reads 

as follows: 
. 

. 

Honorable L. A. Woods, Page 6 

"The Legislature shall have no power to 

release or extinguish, or to authorize the releasing or extinguishing, in whole or in part, 

the indebtedness, liability or obligation of any 

incorporation or individual, to this State, or 

to any county or other municipal corporation 

therein." 

As the Legislature would not have the authority 

to release such obligations to the municipal corporation in 

question it follows that the board of trustees of such district also does not have the power or authority to do the 

same. A copy of Opinion No. O-930 is enclosed for your information. 

We trust that the foregoing will be sufficient 

to enlighten you as to the authority of the board of trustees in the matters you inquire about. 

Yours very truly 

ATTORNEY GENERAL OF TEXAS 

/s/ Billy Goldberg 

Assistant 

BG:db 

Enclosure 

APPROVED OCT 2.2, 1940 

/s/ Gerald Mann 

ATTORNEY GENERAL OF TEXAS 

APPROVED OPINION COMMITTEE 

By BWB 

Chairman