A&st 6, 1952

.i.opi'.R:;

~l$.~~S&&.d~r,.J& CpinioniNo. V-1494: County At+rnizy. Live oak County .F(e: A&hor4ty,of the Co&isGeorge West, Texas sioners'Court to levy and.collecta tax for the::purpose

of iuiproving afid.a.mainta$nln&Tips StatePark;::

.?Cih a..Cqmls~i~nq-8'

Court.levyand collect'a,l~@i,fti~.:the purpoiie.of':$iiiprovlng and:. maintalniqg.aYpark now.owneOby:$he .State :oP Tex@

.'Anumber of yea& ago an individuai.&nveyed.either

to the State of Texas, or the State .?arks.B~ard~.+ .tract of-..l+nd.in

Live Cg&.Coun~y,~.n~ 'the CLty .ofm.ee*Riverq,. fo~~.,p~k

.pupposesi.~

Private .donzit$oqs

.have

. . been.qbta$ned

and.the-land

ps+rti$Q! .$npro,ved apd,,,used.as

a publIc.,parki

~t-~s:%nowq.,as.-

:: 'Tips-.~Staj?e

Park. .$y ltiormat3on~3.s that,the State..~has

expended.no.money:3'~~t.he..improvemetit .or,wintenar& .df;the Pqk or .at.most

the H$ghtiay Dqparfmtint,

may. have,.made..&ome.

improvement 'I onthe. approachesfrom the highwas in and.-out ~of...the park.- Parties,ititereste+d.i,I%? the park .desire 'the Commissioners'

Court'to.call

an..' election for the purpose.ofdetermining whether
or not. to.levya.tax..for

.the purptse of lmprovlng .a+maintajning the> park;::..:

.We.,as&ume$romthe &$ovq.statement

'thattitle to then TiLps-lSt,ate..Pi&~Q~in.the St&e.of Texas rather .thEin Live O&County.

The d&islons:pfl,$he Texas: co&ts.hav& rec.. : peated~gl.hel~.;:that the .qo@.ss:io.ners:l c.ourt. is a court of limited jurisdiction and has only such powers as’ are conferredupon it, either by express terms or by neces-Hon. R. E. Schneider,Jr., page 2 (v-1494)

62G

sary impllcatlon, by the: Constltutlon~and

statutes of this State. ChlldressCounty v. State, 127'Tex.343, 92 S.W.2d 1011 (1936); Von Rosenbergv. Lovett, 173 .S.W.508 (Tex. Civ. App. 1915
. Hall, 280 s.w.289 (Tex. Civ. Koper v.

VrcrS. iprg2gy;'A$t. 2351,

Article 6078, V.C.S., authorizesthe commissloners'.court

to ezpend money for .lmprovlng 'iindoperating a Park which Is being operatedby the!State Parks Board.

. It provides in part as follows:

."Each'Commlssioners Court is authorized %o levy-and collect a tax not to exceed five .(5) .cetits'oti

each one hundred-dollarsassessed valuation of the county for the purchase and Improvementof, lands for .tise.aa

county pa&s.;-:No such tax Shall be ltivied and collected until the proposition is submitted to and ratified by the property taxpaying. voters .of thb'county'at

a general or speclal~ election caXled,:for

that puppose,provld&d,.~&two- -' thirds:-majority

of the propertytaxpaylne;. voterti of such county, at an electioriheld~.for such purpose shall determineln,favor of said tax. ;~~. .~.
!~Saction'2.

All parks acqu$red:by'aG thorit$tif'this

Act ~.+iall

.be under‘ the-coritfiol and management of .the cbuntg iicqulring-the: 'same,, provided~

that the Commissioners Court may by ,,agreement

with the Stiate

Parks Board thin the land :over.tia the State Park&Boa?d 'to be .operated

Eis a public park; the expenses of the Improvement and operatlofi.of-such~park to~be,paldby the c‘ountg and/ol(,coopez?ative‘ ~Federal-.agencies

accordingto the agreement to be.made between such'county and the.S$ate Parks .Board:"

It is .our

opinion-that

Section 2 of this act contemplatesthe expenditure of coiznty

funds on parks which are owned by the countiesbut which have been turned over‘to~theState .Parks Board to be~operated by it. The .statute

does not-authorize a ~county

to .transfer

ownership to the State Parks B.oard, nor does It authotiise , county to expend county monies on parks which 8re ?wned,by the' Boara, hitmerely authorizestransfeFof pqssesslon to the Board 'and

permits the,courity to prov'ide

:~ftidti,jfoti.theHon:R. E. Schnelder,~- Jri,:,page

3..

improvementand operationof the-parkivhlle it-.&s; In the possession~of~the Board?'

Article '@Sl.e,

.V:C.S .,-'aiso.authorizescounties to.~levya~+axfor,the.lmprovement.,and operation of parks owned b.y

the counties .but

operatedby the:..State. Parks Roard..:.Y~Sec~tion.3 of this statutereads:.

"All parks acquiredby authority of this Act shall be under the control and management of,the city or c~ounty acquiring same or by the city :andLco.unty jointly,

where'theyhaveacted Jointlyiinacquirings.ame, ,provided. that the Commissioners1 Court and.the.City Commlsslon or City.Councll.may, .by agreement, with the State Parks 'Board, turn the land over to.'the State Parks.Boardto beg operated.as~

a 'publiccpark,:

the expense of the:tmprovement and .operation

of such~~~park'to

be paid~by the aounty and/or'c&ty, accordingto::th~e

agreement to beg made between such.munlc%palities Andy the State Parks.Boai?d~.

"~A11 counties and Incorporated clties'are .authorfze,d

to levjr

a,tax of not:'exceedlng:,five (5) 'cents:on

~the,-Cne

Hundred ($1C0~00)~~Doll~s property ;v+.u&+on to,create.afund, for $he ~ improvement

Andy operationof such parks.

Here again, It is OX& opinion that the statute does not authorizea county to,expend:lts funds for'

the improvement Andy

operatlon.of

a park which 'isowned by the, State. Parks Board.

., We have been unable to find any statute which would authorize a countyto'expend Its funds for the improvement

and operationof'a park which is owned by the State of Texas or by the State Parks Board. Therefore, we agree with you that the Commissioners' Court' of Live Oak County Is not authorizedto, levy and collect a tax for the purpose of improvingand malntainlng~Tlps State Park.

SUMMARY

Commissioners'

courts may not levy and collect taxes for the purpose of'improving and maintainingparks which are owned by theHon. R. E. Schneider,Jr., page 4

State of.Texas or ,theState Parks Board. Articles 6078 and 6081.:e, V.C.S., authorizing counties to levy a tax for the Improvement and maintenanceof county-owned parks which

are being operated, by the State Parks Board under agreementsbetween the countiesand the Board, does not apply to parks owned by the State or by the Board.

APPROVED:

J. C. Davis, Jr. County.

.Affalr,s

Division

.ery g. Wall. RevIewIngAssIstant

Charles D. Mathews First Assistant Yours very truly,

PRICE DANIEL Attorney.General

BA:am