OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY OENERAL OF TEXAS AUSTIN

Honorable George H. Shmpprd ColPptrollsr of Publio Aoaounte AuntIn, Texas

mar sir:

delinquant fop foot of Chapkr lisfaturm, 1939, s depar8mblIt am8e U l8harlag booorsc, ualao ark thb bSAota Ofthe Mth LO6- on thi8 aubjmt. 

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re the.thirtieth day

### of mmaber d&l, the remining am-hali (*) hall be detllnquent ii not paid 

### first day 

### ofJuly of the par next rueaaedlng the year for which tha return ot the ammrammntrolls of the aount~ are madeto t& Comptroller 

### 0rPub110A000Un8~.~Iionorable GeorgeR. Sheppard, Fags 2

Evidently you are oonoerned with the problem of the date onwhioh six per oent interest begins aooruing on taxes for pears prior to 1939whloh taxes were still delinquent andunpaid aa of the effective date of Senate Bill 402. It Is to be noted in the first plaoe that Senate Bill 402doss not attempt to metupat what date taxer beoamedelinquent for prior yeara, but has provided that taxes ehall .beoome delinquent on osrtaln bates. It Is thererore unneoeeeary to dieouas the question or whether or not the Legialaturo could provide that taaes for prior years have become delinquent at a date dfftsrent than the date uponwhich said taxembeoamedelinquent under the lawa prevailing at the time of said tax.

Article 73366 or Vernon’s AMOtated Civil Statute8 was enaoted aa Chapter v, Rouee Bill rio. 7, by the Nrd Legislature in fte Fourth Called Sareion in 1834. Salit statute made in part as rollow6; I

Veo. 2. That all Interest and penaltlea that have aaarued on all advaloram and poll taxen that were delinquent on or before August 1, 1934, andnot paid under the provisions of Section 1 or this Aot, due to the St8te or any oounty, oommon sohool dietriot, roaddistrlat, levee lmprovemant dimtriat, water improvement district, water oontrol and Imrovement distriot, irrigation U&riot andother

.

. .efined aubdlvl~ions of the State (ex-x, oept suoh aitlee, towna, vlllageu, speolal school dietrlete andIndependent sahool distriots whiah donot adopt the provialons of this 8sction) shall be andthe sameare hereby released,

. . . andthe sameshall be an4 are henby relaaeed provided said advaloram and poll taxee are paid after June 30, 1935, with anadditfon of eight per oent (S$) penalty on rsaldtarosr, together with interest on amid taxes at the rate of eix p@roent (0s) per aMum, on andfrom July 1, 1935; but it is espeoially provided that the pnaltlsa herein provided for mhall not be ouf&lative.W There oan be no question but that the above-quoted article releases all interest on delinquent taxae prlor to July 1, 1936. TheForty-rourth Lsgl8laturs enaated Houee Concurrent Resolution No. 13onJanuary 22, 1935. Said R6@- olution provide8 ln part as follower:Honorable George H. Sheppard, Page 3

*RESOLVED,

That said House Dill Xo. 7including this Resolution Is anemergency measure and such eisergenay Is hereby declared for the reasons herein and in said HouaeSill 140.7stated; andon acoount of such emergenoy an Imperative publio neoeas1t.y demandsthat the Constitutional Fiulerequiring 411 bills to be read on three several days In eaoh House bs suspended, and said rule Is hereby suspended, ma 9aid House Bill No. 7and this Resolution ehall be in foroe andtake efreot from andafter the passage hereor, ma it 18SOenacted.

“%othlng herein shall be construed to remit
any costs, interest or penalty after June 30, 1935, and it ia hereby deolared to be the pbll;cy of the state and the Intent OSthe Legislature not to remit any 006ts, interest or penaltieu after June 30, 1936.v Theintention of the Legielature In the last paragraph of the above-quoted Resolution is not clear. At any rate, said provision oanhave noeffeot on the bill whloh hadbeen previously paeaad because of the holding or the SupremeCourt of Texas In the oaee of Caples v. Cole, 108 s. w. (24) 173. Theaourt 8tated that a bill could not be amendedbya resolution of both housea of the Legislature. Youare therefore advised that all interest ondelinquent taxee prior to July 1, 1935, ha8been released by the Legfalature. It is unneoasearp, therefore, to go baok of 1935 to determine the delinquent date of taxes.
iollowe : Article 7336,as eunended in 1934,reads In part as

“All advelorem andpoll taxes shall beaone delinquent ii not paid byJuly first of the year next suooeeding the year, for which the return of the assessment rolls of the county are madeto the Oomptroller of Fublic Accounts. All delinquent taxes shall bear Interest at the rate of six per oent (6%) per annumfrom the date of their delInquenoy.n you mre’therefore advised that taxes ior the ytimre 1.934through 1938 beoane delinquent on July 1~followlng the year for whiah said taxes were asseseed. This was true regardless of whether the taxes were partly paid under the split payment plan or Artiole 7336or not.Honorable George I?. Cheppard, Page 4

.senate Bill 402provide8in part as follows:

“All delinquent taxes shall at the rate of six (B$) per cent the date or their delinquenoy.” bear interest per annuuifros

In your letter you are conoerned with the question of whether or not the above provision authorizes the collection of six per cent (6%) intereat on delinquent taxes baok of 1935 deeplte the interest releasing bill discussed previously in this opinion. In this conneotlon you are advised that whlle tt Is possible for the Leglslature to enact a tax penalty or interest statute which 1s retroaotlve (aee League v. State, 57 s. Y. 55, Supreme Court of Texas, atfirmed bythe United States supreme Court in 184 U. S. 156), at111 such retroeotlve effeot will not begiven to a tax penalty statute unless it la speoliloally provided therein that the Aot should have such an eifeot. (See Conklin v. City of E. Paso, 44 S. W. 879, writ of error rerueed by the supreme Court).

Thelanguage of Senate Bill 402looks to the future andnot to the past. It Is provided that “taxes shall bear interest”

. NowhereIn the Aot is there lnolud- -any language whloh would lndloate that the Act was to be retroaotlve andthat lnterert oould be assessed rromthe date of dellnquenoy on taxes which were delinquent prior to the passage or the Aot.

It ia the opinion of this department, therefore, that Senate Rlll 402does not operate retroaotlvely **and** that Interest at mixper aent (6$) maybe oolleoted on delinquent taxes rrom July 1, 1935, or iron the date of dellnquenoy of taxes which beoamedelinquent rubetiquent to July 1, 1935. Youare also advised. that Senate Bill 402 does not Offrot the date of dellnquenhy of taxes assessed for years prior to 1939. Yours very truly ATMRNZYGZXERAL

0; TEXAS