plan. i3emDo11mh1t. 

### O~ia~ioa No,V-230 County Attorney FaUs County Re8 Under ooaletltut Ional Warllrz, Texas ataendmentof Article
4iIS, ,Sec. 9, knowaas eal.Xooation of Cowty 

### Fun&~Aaandmitnt


### ,"may t&me warraantsbe lamed to matwe mm thaa six years from the date of realLocation election, and related quest loan.

rum sir:
Your reqmet for 

### en opialoafrom thlh Department on th6 above eubjrct matter is 618follous:

‘At ‘the reqtiet of the Commissloners~ Court of B&I.&.*

County, I reslpwtfully reqwst your‘bfPiela1 ,opinion on the quef5tiona ~#5iehare hersWafter stated.

‘Actin pursuetat to the 1944 epvlmlment to *aticm g 

### ofArtlck 

### Vlfkof the Coastitutics) of Te2a.s, an eLeot%on uas held la Falls County aa ths 5th day of November, 1946 to ree15acete county taxes autborieed bg thet section. 11~this re-allocation, the first 15p road anhiBrl&ge tax was lacreased to 354.
“Durihg tbe u&r years, the county wee unable prciporly to taaintmin ‘the county roads and.+0 makelmprooemente which are badly need&d., The aoqt ,ot laeklitg necsssmy rdpairs aad impr&*eaeots to the 6ouaty roNa la substantially more thaanthe antlclpated iaoome of the county for foad ead bridge PWposes duritkj~ the wmmt year. The Oomits-Hon. SemDollahlte - p8ge 2

sloaera’ Court, therefore, desires to Isrue time warrants for the purohase of necessary road machinery and materials and to pay labor bilLa for coastruotU&g a@ making capital repairs to various soUty reads 8nd bridges.

“The former 154 ZImItatlon on road and bridge taxes has beea removed by the reallocation election a,ndthe county has the right to levy a 354 tax for thle purpose for 8 period of six p&rs from the date of the election,

“The fIrst quest ion upam. Which Vevauld llke to hare your valued opiaioa Is: My the Cotmisslomers‘ Court of Palls County Issue road end bridge tQnewarrants under the terms of the Bondand arrant Lawof 1931 aad levy e tax of not to exceed 35# on the $100 valwtlos for a period of six years from the date of said revallocation ehctioa, provided that the remaining Income to the county for road Pndbridge purposes Vi11 be sufficient to pay other reasonably entlclpeted nornvll e%petwes of maintaining the oounty roads?

“The second question iaa My such Varrants be issued to mture beyond mid sir year period provided the total debt service requiresmnts for said Varrantr, together with debt aerVic6 requIr6matd cm411 other road and bridge Indebtedness, ~I.11 no6 be
more than can ‘be wrviced Oroara 3% tax on &ridafter the end of ruoh al%ywr perlaffl?

“If your AnsVer to the fI&st pusstion is In the negstioe, then: #iat rate of tax meybe levied Wring such six year period for the purpose of ,poyIng prinolpel end laterest on road and bridge time Verrants?”
Article VIII, Section 9, of the Constitution of the State of Texas, es emended Blovember, 1944, provides as followa r

“The State tax on property, exclualve ,f the tax necessary to pay the public debt,. . Hon. 3amDollahite - Page 3

and of the taxes provided fqr ,the.benefit of the public free schools,~ a,hall never exceed thirty-Siva (351, ce’nts,,‘on the, one‘hundred dollars valuation; and no‘oeunty, city or town sha,ll levy more than twenty-five (25) cents for city or county purposes, and not exceeding fifteen (15) cents for roads and bridges, and not exceeding fifteen (15) cents to pay jurora, on the one hundred dollars valuation, except for the payment of debts incurred prior to the adoption of the Amendment September 25, 1883; and far the erection of public buildings, streets, sewers, waterworks and other permanent improvements, not to exceed twent,y-fire (25) cents on the one hundred dollars valuation, la any one year, and except as la In this Constitution otherwise provided; provided, however, that the Commissioners Court in any county megreallocate 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 total of said foregoing county taxes exceed eighty (80) cents on the one hundred dollars valuation, In any one year; provided further, that before the said Commissioners Court nag makesuch re-allocations and changes in said county taxes that the sameshall be submitted to the qualified property tax paying voters of such county at a general or -special election, and shall be approved by a majority of the qualified property tax paying voters, votln$ in such election; and, provided fur-, ther, that if ,andwhensuch re-allocations ** and changea in the aforesaid county taxes have been approved by the qualified property tax paging voters of any county, as herein pr6vided, such re-allocat ions and changes shall r main in force and effect for a period of six ‘i6) years frora the date of the election at which the sameshall be approved, unless

af emHon. SamDollshite - Page 4

tax to be levied and collected for the further mslntenance of the pqbllo roads; provided, that a ‘km

jorltJr oe the ~quelified property taxpeying wtera of fiie obuhty toting at an election to be held for that pIlrpose shall vote such tax, not to exoeed fU’teen (15) cents on the one hundred dollars valuation of the property subject to taxation in such oounty, And the Legislature naaypass local laws for the malntensnoe of the public roads and highways, without the local notice required for special


### orlocal lava 0 This section shall not be construed as a limits..tion of powers delegated to counties, clties,~ or tovns bJrany other section 

### orsections of this Constitution.” (Estphasis onrs)
In construing the aboye constitutional amendment in connection with a similar question to the one nowbefore us, It was held in our Opinion Ho. O-6863, a copy of which Is enclosed, that the county could issue bonds to mature 

### morethan six years from the date of reallocation election provided that the bond5 could be serviced with its increase in tax assessment for such six-year period and the old constitutional limit of 15q!thereafter. Opinion NO. 6863 based Its conclusions on the fact that”gf the people of the county voted the bond Issue, the Increased tax assessment would beoome obllgated for a six-year period from the date of the reallocation election and the county would not be authorized to decrease the levy sinoe such an act would be
an infringement of the contract.

The question now,.beP ore us is whether or not the holding in Opinion lo. O-6863 IS sppliosble to the Issuance of time warmnts. Time warrents are issued by the Commissioners 1Court, whenss bonds are only issued upon a vote of the property tax paying toters of the oounty. In other words, whenbonds are issued, the increased tax assessment becomes obligated by the property tax. paying voters of the county, but when time warrants are issued, the inoreased tax assessment becomes obligated by the Commissioners I Court.

Weare therefore oonfrontkd with the case of San Seba v. MoCraw, 108 3.W. (2d) 200, wherein the SupremeCourt held 3.B. 303, Acts of the 45th Legislature (an Act authorizing the Commissioners I Court on its ownmotion andwFthout
a vote of the property tax paying voters to issue fur&ding bonds) unconstitutional. Wequote the following from theHon. Sambollahlto - Page 5

above mentioned case:

“In the'cass at, baa?ths’~u&fi6d~ taxpaying voters"of Saii Saba Counfy'voted under a law't&,t sec,ured to theaIthe right~to vote

: off'snch~.,tax,'in .two:ears, iqd, .furtheri, such

voters v*$$~,,titider.a,la'wthat guaranteed to them~that~the,,proa,~eds'of such tax could never be charged %Gth.a'bond issue. This law was psssed for:the purpose M'putting Into effect th3.oonstlfutSonal provision authorizing such tax* Acw, after such tax 13 votsd,,the Legislature, without the oonluat~ of the voters, has attempted to impair and destroy their rights existing at ths ,tbsu of the vote, To our nluds sush~a lsgisl4thve ,act .not ,oaly violates the wry omstltt~tlonal prorisioa euthorlalng the tax to bs voted, but violatee., sdction 16.of artic3m 1 of mzr ',Stats Conatl~t~utZon~‘a~ w,elY.. David vr Tinam, aupra.'! (Und&r~scoriag ours)
It will be note,&that the foreping case based its eotaolasloa ou the faot that t#mprsperty tax paying voters of &I Saba voted u#er a law'that seamad to them the right 

## to vbte off sudh tuE in two years a&d, therefore, the Legislsture aould not destroy their rights existing at the tims of ths vote. !Phsrefore, if Bsct.+ab 9 of Article VIII guaranteeis to the property tax paylag voters the righk to vote off a tax %evldQ under the realilocltion elsation within ths **sl%-year** period, the Coamibsionars* Court would not be authorized to fsstn~‘tlme warrant.5 olkaetha realJ,ocatien MS been madeunder the amsndnent

. It ,Ss our cplnioa, however, tbat voters do not have the inhsrent right to vote off the reallocation prior to the end of the s;ua-yemrterm becwse only the Cosmlssloners~ Cart “is outt&mita& to call an electlon for the re4llacatlon of fnnds under .%a$tX amendment. Oaae the ~Gomslssloaers~ Court has isstid,~.~timf warEants that are to be servloed out of the

. tal a~sses&m?tiflev:i@d ‘under,the re415ooation elsction, the Oo~iaaimlzcr~s”:~Co~~t~~could not, ca’ll fanelection within the sis-year @eriad~t~o~rlecmase such taxes, for such ae action wauLd~itm3tltqte *a’iira~inagsmat of the county's contract. Furthermore, It Qiasheld’ ‘in the cass of Patton v. Concho **Couoty,** 196 3.v. 2i¶833, the;t the iountr could purchase road machinery

**admrt l,a+%g** **ioP** bida, i?%iacsths above rantioned oaae ./”

,~ subs#qwnt to the cotmtitutib& am?ndsmt, the vto rejogaiee that the co*ty has the power to ls-

, rtint.s’,,y&r said, slacndsmtot

. TherefoBs, it is the opinion of this’ Department that._... .

the Commlssloners~ Coupt of Falls County Is authorized to issue Road and Bridge tlmt PlaW+Qts to atwe dwing a sixyear period fraa the &at,@of tha maJ&aatfon uLktioa, provided the tfae V~rrantsj slkmg with the other iabsbted**nass,** can **b4 04rvia4iU**  **nithia Its**  **‘ Sna~rsslsed** **tait aa)sm#wxmt**  far a six-year period fmm ma data as the ru44bocstm election.
Xnammr to yattr amand questiod, it ia gur opiniwa that the Gommis~iowrst’ Court is authmiled to Issue time varrantrr to m&ttee beyosd q&d six-3~s~ period provide& c#eidtL$r)iwn~ptiPt0c.8~be uemlced YIthid its itmeased tax asaessmant 

### far swabsix-par mvtab and the old ccmstitut1etmll 

### 3laait af &5#th8Peafter.

UMer the enmQfWnOto Seu. 9 of Prt. VIIX, IUWD.i%sthe “M&location of~Cousty punas **bmad afmt** 
**, ‘** **#**the Oomraissionsrs~ Goupt, of Fall3 Co~uaty ia &utbori$ed to ilksm, roaol aad bridge tim U#P* rants to ~~twirabsyand thr ,sl%-jtm period frOra tk& &tc of thS reaLb%WiaR e14ctiOI1, provided the ti43 warrant@, etosg with t&a other itwbtedubda, estabe serviced within the increarad tax assessment for a six-year’ perled from the date of the reallocation elsetim and WJ old amiatltutiotml limit of 1% the,re*fter n

ATTORIWX ~NERtit OFTX&S

**dR:&jXl** lpUClO0UFS APPROVED:

This opi~loa has been considered and apP%WWU 15 limited asafsreaoe,