C0
P
Y Gerald C. Mann Attorney General The State o? Texas OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL. OF TEXA!l Austin

Honorable H. B. Virgil Crawford County Attorney Terry County BrovJnfleld,

Texas Dear Sir: CpinionNo. O-3616 Re: When will the County CommIssloners of Terry County be entitledto start receiving oompensationat the inoreased rate?
Your recent request for an opinion of this Department on the above stated questionhas been received.
We quote from your letter as follows: "1 sm writing this letter for an opinion as to when our Commissioners wIl1 be entitled to reoelve additionaloompensatlon. I am sure that Article 2350 will be the statutewhloh will oontrol. Terry County has a total pupulatlon of 11,1&j aooordlngto the oensus count last year. Our raluatlon for 19&l Is well over **6** million dollars, and aCOOrdhtg to the law as I see It the oommlsslonersare entitled to reoelre $l,&OO.OOper year, The question in my mind Is when will the commissioners be entitledto start receiving oompensation

at the Increased rate? The statute states that when the assessedvsluatlon for the previous year, iron time to time, shall be a certain amount then the compensationshallbe suoh etc.

._-. "Also I should like to know If the period of In- -orea‘s%d

compensation

vi111 beGIn with the fiscal year or 'thecurrentyear? I think that our fiscal year starts In October ot each year. I will greatly appreciate your ,advice

In this matter."Hon. H. 8. Virgil Crawford,page 2

Article 2350, Vernon'sAnnotated Civil Statutes,reads in part as roiiows:

"In countieshaving the following assessed valuations,respectively,as shown by the total assessedvaluationsof all properties certified by the county assessorand approved by the CommissionersCourt, for oounty purposes, ror the previousyear, from time to time, the County Commissioners of such oountles shall each reoelve annual salariesnot to exoeed the amountsherein specified,said salaries to be paid In equalmonthly Installments,

at least one-half,and not exceed1nC three-fourths, out of the Road and Bridge Fund of the General Fund of the and the remainderout county; said assessed llcable theretobeing valuationsand salariesappas follows: Salaries to be paid each Commissioner "Assessed

Valuations 6,000,OOland less than

not to-exceed

. . . . . . $lLOO.OO

. . . "In countieshaving assessedvaluation of more than Four MIllion Five Hundred Thousand and One Dollars ($&,500,001) and less than Six **Million** Dollars ($6,000,000)

each commissionershell receive Five Dollars ($5) pel, day for eaoh day served ias commissioner,

and a like amountvhen acting as exofficioroad superintendent In his CommIssloner~s Precinct,provided In no event shalPhIs total oompensatlonexceed Twelve Hundred Dollars ($1200) in any one year. . ." Article 2350 (1) and Article 2350 (2) read as follows: --,"The salary of each County Commissioner and each County Judge may be paid wholly out of' the County GeneralFund or, at the option of the ConmissionersCourt,may be paid out of the County GeneralFund.and out of the Road and Bridge Fund in the followingprcportlons: County Judge not toHon. H. B. Virgil Crawford,page 3

exoeed seventy-tireper oent (755) of suoh salaries may be paid out of the Road 

# end Bridge Fund, and the remainder out OS the General Fund of the County, and eaoh County CommIssloner's salary may, at the dlsoretlonof the Commissioners Court, all be paid out OS the Road and Bridge Fund1 provided this Seotlon shall not apply except in counties where the constitutional

limit or twenty-fivecents (256) on the @ne Hundred Dollars ($100) 1s levied for generalpurpOses.W
"Art. 2350 (2). The CommissionersCourt at its first regular meeting each year shall, by order duly made and entered upon the Minutes of same Court, fix the salaries of the County Commissionersfor such year, within the limits as provided for In this Act.- It will be noted that Article 2350 (21, supra, requires the commissioners'court to fix the salaries ol' the county oommIssloners for the year, wlthln the limits as providedfor In Article 2350, supra, at its first regular meetlnc each year. Article 235C, supra, provides In efreot that the county commissioners shall each receive annual salariesnot to exoeed the amounts specified therein tobe paid in equallylhonthly Installmentsbased on the total assessed valuationsof all property certifiedby the county assessor and approvedby the oommlssloners~oourt ror countypurposes for the previous year. For the year 194Og Terry County had a total assessedvaluation or all properties of $5,807,775.00. The ealarles of the member0 of the oommlssloners' oourt of Terry County must be based on the 1940 assessedvaluationsand the salary to which each la entitled to is as provided In the last paragraph of Artlole 2350, supra, whloh Is quoted above, provided In no eeent shall the total oompensationof each commissionerexceed :51200.00

for the year 1941. ._- 9ou u$ate in your letter that the total assessedvaluation for 1943.

Is well over $6,000,000.00. This being true and provided the assessedvaluationsdo not exceed !j10,000,000.00 ror the year 1911, the oommlssloners~ court may at its first regular

.Honorable H. B. Virgil Crawford,page 4

meeting In January, 1942, fix the salary of each county oommissioner ror wuoh year at a sum not exoeedlng$1400.00. The oounty oommlsslonersoennot increasetheir ealary for the year 1941 based on the assessed valuation for said year, but ' as above stated the salary for the year 1942 must be based on the 1941 assessedvaluation. Trusting that the foregoing fully answersyour Inquiry, we are Yours Very truly ATTORNEY GENERAL OF TEXAS 

# BY /s/ Ardell Wllllams

Asalstent AW:N

APPROVED J-UN

7, 194l /s/ Grover Sellers FIRST ASSISTAIJT ATTOFNEY GEXERAL

APPROVED OPINION CObMITTZE By BWB Chairman