.I” . 

I 

The Attorney General of Texas 

April 14, 1980 

MARK WHITE 

Attorney General 

Honorable Selden N. Snedeker 

Criminal District Attorney 

Cameron County Courthouse 

Brownsville, Texas 78520 

Opinion No. NW-169 

Re: Whether Cameron County 

may transfer funds within the 1979 

county budget after the 1979 fiscal 

year to pay a claim for county 

membership dues incurred during 

the fiscal year. 

Dear Mr. Snedeker: 

You state that Cameron County incurred an obligation for dues in a 

local area development organization prior to the end of the 1979 fiscal year 

on September 30, 1979. We assume, without deciding, that this constitutes a 

proper expenditure of public funds. See Attorney General Opinion H-397 

(1974). The invoice for the dues wasyceived after September 30, 1979. 

Upon receipt of the invoice, the 1979 Cameron County budget contained 

insufficient funds In its “dues and subscriptions” budget item to pay the 

invoice. However, sufficient unexpended 1979 budget funds are available for 

transfer from another 1979 budget item. You have requested our opinion on 

three questions. First, must the payment of the membership dues constitute 

an emergency expenditure to allow a budget amendment? Second, can the 

1979 budget be amended after September 30, l979? Third, must the budget 

amendment be requested prior to January 1,1980? 

Your first question concerns the provisions of article 689a, V.T.C.S., 

particularly article 689a-11 and article 689a-20, concerning budget 

amendments. An Rl Paso Court of Civil Appeals decision, affirmed by the 

Texas Supreme Court, defined the applicability of the emergency 

requirements of article 689&l& V.T.C.S. 

The quoted portion of Art. 689a-ll and Art. 

689a-20 Seems to be the only provisions relating to 

amendment of the budget. Art. 689~11 is very 

specific as to when the county budget may be 

amended and the steps to be taken to make the 

amendment. It is thought that the restriction as to 

amendment applies only when new or additional 

expenditures not provided for in the original budget 

are sought to be added by amendment. . . . 

,p. 538 
I 

Honorable Selden N. Snedeker - Page Two (NW-16 9 1 

(Emphasis added). Rains v. Mercantile National Bank of Dallas, 188 S.W.2d 798 (Tex. Civ. 

4~. - El Paso l945), affirmed, 191 S.W.2d 850 (19461. 

Following this interpretation, Attorney General Opinion C-499 (1965) outlined the 

procedures for transferring funds within the budget. 

(Wlhere all of the budgeted funds for a particular line item have 

been expended, but there is a surplus in other line item accounts in 

the department budget, and the Commissioners’ Court reallocates 

the funds, transferring funds from the surplus line item account to 

the depleted line item account, this would require an amendment to 

the budget as contemplated by Section 20 of Article 689a. Also, it 

is our opinion that funds may be transferred from the budget of one 

department to the bu%et of another. However, Constitutional 

funds may not be transferred in contravention of Section 9 of 

Article VIII of the Texas Constitution. The transferring of the 

funds in both instances above Q not require new expenditures not 

included in the original budget, therefore, the provisions of Section 

11 of Article 689a are not applicable. 

It is our opinion that the correct procedure in transferring the 

funds in the above two situations would be to amend the budget. 

However, this would not require the existence of an emergency as 

contemplated by Section 11 of Article 689a. An order of the 

Commissioners’ Court showing how the funds were reallocated and 

show@ that the budget was amended would, in our opinion, suffice 

to affect the amendment of the budget under the above situations. 

Therefore, in reply to your first question, a finding of an emergency Is not required 

before funds may be transferred by a budget amendment to increase the budget item for 

“dues and subscriptions” to allow payment of the membership &es. 

Your second question concerns whether the 1979 budget can be amended after 

September 30, 1979. You have indicated that, pursuant to article 1644a, V.T.C.S., 

Cameron County has adopted a fiscal year beginning on October 1 of each year. You have 

further indicated that the obligation for membership dues was incurred prior to the end of 

the fiscal year with the invoice being received after the end of the fiscal year. The 

Beaumont Court of Civil Appeals in Morrison v. Kohler, 207 S.W.2d 951 (Tex. Civ. App. - 

Beaumont 1947, writ ref’d n.r.e.), discussed the question of amending the budget to provide 

for obligations previously incurred. 

We find nothing in the budget law requiring the budget be amended 

at the time or before an obligation not included in the budget could 

be legally assumed. We feel that it would be altogether too strict a 

construction to place upon the provisions of the budget laws 

governing counties to require that the budget should be amended at 

p. 539 
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, 

Honorable Selden N. Snedeker - Page Three (NN-169) 

the time the obligation was incurred. On the contrary we believe 

that the Commissioners’ Court in amend@ any budget to cover any 

item of expense not already covered in the original budget should 

be controlled by the facts and circumstances as existed at the time 

the obligation was incurred or assumed. 

In Rains a, the court also stated that “[ulnder Art. 689a-20, subject to the 

limitatton .f o Art. 689k-11, a county budget can be amended at any time.” Id. 188 S.W.2d at 

803. Therefore the 1979 budget may be amended after September 30, lg9, to transfer 

unexpended funds for payment of claims charged to the 1979 fiscal year. 

Your third question, concerning whether the budget amendment request must be 

ma& prior to January 1, 1980, is covered in our answer to your second question. The 

budget may be amended at any time to transfer unexpended funds to existing budget 

items. 

SUMMARY 

Cameron County may transfer funds within the 1979 county budget 

after the 1979 fiscal year to pay an obligation incurred during the 

fiscal year. 

MARK WHITE 

Attorney General of Texas 

JOHN W. FAINTER, JR. 

First Assistant Attorney General 

TED L. HARTLEY 

Executive Assistant Attorney General 

Prepared by Jim Allison 

Assistant Attorney General 

APPROVED: 

OPINION COMMITTEE 

C. Robert Heath, Chairman 

Jim Allison 

Walter Davis 

Susan Garrison 

Rick Gilpin 

P- 540