## GENERAL AS 1.~. ,/ IA/,

HonoraM John II.

Crudgiagton Counfy Auditor **Potter County**  Amarillo,

Texan

Dear Sirs Opinion HO. O-6805 Bar uss of th. surplus in the Road and Bridge Fund.

Your requestfor an opinionfrom this depw+mmt is as follouss

"House Bill 850, listed %n Vernon'sTour Session Lam of the 49th Legisle turo, statesthat ,any county which does not l evy l road and Ekidge tax, and has a surplus

an its B. & B. Fund.may use the arurplus as it sees fit.
wArticlo66758 10 provides that all monies reaeived by the countyfromthe registration

fees on motor vehioles shall be used for the construction and maintenanos

of lateral

ma&s of the aounty.
"SincePotter Countyhrs a low mileage of lateral roads it leviesno road tax and has an 

### l

ooruing

youly surplusfrom the proceeds of fines and registration

of motor vehicles.

"Is it within the discretion of t.Wa Cmmiosioners~Court to we the surplus in its R. & B. Fund under tha prevailing statutes?"
Article 6675~4-10,

V.A.C.S.,is m follows: RApportionment

of funds. - On ?donday of eaah week each County Tax Colleotor shall depositin the County bpository of his county to the credit of the CountyRoad and Bridge F'und an amount equal to one hundred (1%) per oent of net oollectione

made hereunder

during the promding mek until the amount 80 deposited

for the currentoalendar year shall Bave reacheda total sum of Fifty Thousand (#50,000.00) Dollars
"Thereafter,

and until the amount so depotiteq for the year shall have rsached a total of One EundredSeventy-Five Thousand ($176, 000.00) Dollars,

he shall dopositto the aredit of said Pund on Monday of eaohweek an amount equal to fifty (6%) per cant of collections made hereunder

duringthe procoding week.
"Thereafter,

he shallm&a no further deposits

to the credit of said Fund duriag that oalsndar year. All collaotions made during any trek under the provisions

of thisAet (Arts. 6675a-1 to 66751-14; P.C. Art. 879a) in exoess of the amountsrequired to be deposited

to the arodit of the Rti andHon. John W. Crudgington, page 2 (O-8805)

Bridge Fund of his county shall be remitted by each County Tax Collector
on each Monday of tha succeeding weak to the State Highway Dapartmont together

with carbon oopies of each licensereceipt issuedhorounderduring the preooding

wok. Ha shall also on Monday of eachweek remit to thm Deprrimant

as now provided

by law, all transfer fers and chauffeurs' licensefees oolloctod by him duringthe pracoding week, together

with carbon copies of all receipts issued for said feea during the week.

"He shall also sccompany all remittances

to the HighwayDqarWnt with
a complete

report of such collaotions made and disposition made thereof the form and contents of the naid report to be prescribod by the State Highway

Department. None of the monies so plaoad to the creditof the Road and BridgeFund of a county shall be used to pay the salary or ooms pensation

of any County Judge or County Commissioner, but all said monies shallbe used **for** the construction and maintenance

of lataralroads in such county

under the supervision of the CountyEnginasr, if there ti one, and if there is no such enginsep# then the County Commissioners' Court shall have authority to oomnandthe sarvicoo of the Division

Engineer

of the State Highway

Dopartmant

for the purposeof supervising the construotion and surveying

of lateral

roads in their rospeotive counties. All funds alloortod

to the counties

by the provisions

of this Act (Arts. 6675~~L to 6675~~14; P. C. Art. 807%)may be used by the counties in the paymentof obligations,

if any, issued and incurred in the construotion or We improvement

of all roads; including State Highways

of euch counties

and diatriots therein;

or the improvomant

of the roads oamprising the County

Road System."

The abovementionedstatute expraesly

provides

how motor registration fees coming into the County shall b, expended. It also provides that suoh feee ba placed in the Road and BridgeFund of the County.

House Bill 850, 49th Legielaturo, providea

as followsa

"sm. 1. In all counties of this Stat0 having surplusfunds from revenues derivedfrom motor vrhiolaregistration fee8 which each said county is authorizedto retainunder the laws of the State of To-r, and whnrherm my such county or aounties

arm not levying4 tax for the building and maintenauco of roads and bridger for such countyor oounUes, the Conmisoionere' Court of said county or oounties ir helvbyauthorirod to transfersuch aurplua funds to any other countyfund or funds which ruoh Courtmay from time to time designate,

and to oxpond such surplusfunda for any otherUPO or purpose.

"Sec. 2. The fact that rome oountier with large populations have only a rslaikivoly

small number of miler of oouutyroad* to maintainand are now annually

oolleoting

and retaining

motor registration foer in an aggrogato amount aaveraltimes aa large a8 Is necessary to sufficiently

maintaintb roads and bridgeein rruch countlee

orartoran anergonoy and **ma** imper6tivo publicneosrrritiy

that the Constitutional Rule reauiriag

bills to be read
on three #everal

dq,v in each Rouro k #uepondod,:and a&id Rule ir herebyHon. John PI. Crudgington,

page 3 (o-6805)

suspended,

and that this Act shall take effect and be in force from and after its passage, and it is so enacted.~ Seotjon9 of Articl* 8 of our State Constitution prescribe*

the mmxI imum rate of taxes for goneralpurposes, for road* 6nd bridges,for juries,and for permanent

improvements,

r*spcotiv*ly.Thi* department ha8 repeatedly

held that the Commissioners 1 Court has no authority to transfer

money frnm one constftutional

fund to another,

or to expend for on* purpooe, tax money raised ost@nsfbly for anotherpurpose. Suah ruling86r* brs*d on the following authorities: Carroll

v. Williams,202 S.W. 504; Ault v. Hill County,116 S.W. 359; Henderson
v. Bock, 262 S.W. 94; 11 Texas Jurisprudsnoo, p. 609-611.
'1M, quote the following language

from Carroll

v. Williams,supras “Goingto the real gist of the main issue befan us, section9 of article8 of out *tat* Constitution, *up=*, inhibits

any and all transfers of tax money from
one to anotherof the several016ssesof funds thereinauthorized, and, as a sequsnos,

the expenditure,

for one purposetherein defin*d,

of tax money raised ost*nlibly

for anothor such purpose. The inrmediat* plrpos* in so prescribing
a separate

maximum tax rat* for each of the ol*soetof purposes there enumerated is, no doubt, to limit,accordingly, the amount of taxen which may be raised from the people,

by taxation,

declaredly

for those ewsral purposes or alataes of purposes,

respectively. But that is not all. The ultimate and practical

and obvious

design and purporeand legal effect is to inhibitoxo*ssive expenditures for agy such purpos-or olass of purposes. By n*c*asaxyimplication, said provisions of section9 of article8 war* d*signed, not mer*ly to limit the tax rat* for certain th*r*in designated

purpoae8,

but to require 6hat any and all money raised by taxation for any such purpo** *hall be applied, faithfully,

to thrt particular

purpose,

as needed therefor, and not to any other purpos.or 1.181 whatsoever.

. . . "True,the Constitution does not s6y, in so may words, thatmoneyraised by 6 county,oity, or town, by taxation for one such purposeshallnwer be expended for any other purpose-- not wen for anotherof the five general olanse* of purposes

definedand approvedin said section9 -- tit that wu think, le its plain and cortrin

muning and legal effect. Th* very definitions of tIloso rworrl cl*ss*aof purpof*s, and the daclarrtion of authority

to tax th* peapl* therefor,

renpediv*ly, aoupled, 68 theyaro, in each instance, with a limitationof the tax rate for that alass, must hare ken pr*dioated upon the expectation

and intent that, a* a matter of aommonhonestyand fair d*aling, fu money taken from the p*opl* ostensibly for any such specified purpos*shall 

### b l xpandad,

as n**d*d,for that purpose *lone, a* well 6~ that th* tax rato for that particulrr olrss, in UTy one you, *hallnot oxaeed the prescribed IMdlllUUl.
WConversely,

and upon a like tours*of reasoning, it must hav* b*rn int*nd*d that *xpenditures

for my *uch d*signat*d purpose *hall nw*r inolude tax mon*y in *xc*** of the proceed*of the muimum tax rrt* pr*sorib*d by th* Conrtitution for that purpose-Eon. John vi. CFztdgington,

paga 4 {C-5805]

"Unlessour above-stabad oon~~?2usions

are &LX%%,thers ms no gcod season for making the constiixtional Stitation upon .'I:h.r~ o&id five seprratte

designated tax rates c~pmifics~ the limitation

upon t%le

taxingp+ww might as well hme been oouchedin general terms spp:Paab9.s

to all tha designated purposes

aollsotively,

although

prawzibing an uggreg&h ~?~simuui tax r&r applicable to any and al.1

such purposes

in the di~wetfon of govom-nfng body. In atbarwopds, unless said aonstitutionai prxris.ions

were designed

tr: @mit the application or expandfturs

of each such t&x fund fgl th,v iwpaifio

purposeor purposoo fox- whioh, deolaredly,

it is r+iead,as wall. ae %;o limf*. the tax rate 'therofo~~ th. sresult in the Vny of protecting the people Igainst exhor'bitant taxes couldhava been attained

more simplywd mere oonvaniently VJr making, in said section9 of artiols 8, one generalIim%tation upi,n the ta.xi,ng

powerwith referrnce to a11 five such classesof purposes, collect&sly, ,thereby leavingthe governing body frwe to apply any and aPI suoh funda n.Jro?dicg t;s iti~ G%W judgmwt, provided only that no portionthereof sha:LY br appliedto ar~r

extraneous

purposs,

not included

by the tirms of that ~e?cti~ze"