HE A~TOIR~TEY GENERAL 

OF TEXAS 

Honorable George H. Sheppard 

Comptrollers of Public Accounts 

Austin, Texas 

Dear Sir: Opinion No. O-3942 

Re: Cost of compilation of delinquent 

tax records. 

We have received your letter of recent date which we 

quote in full as follows: 

"As required by Article 7336F, the Tax 

Assessor-Collector of Dewitt County has compiled 

a delinquent tax record for the years 1919 to 

1935, inclusive. Two years later, he made a 

supplement to the record covering taxes delinquent for the years 1936 and 1937. At the end 

of the fiscal year 1939, he had delinquent taxes 

for the years 1938 and 1939 which had not been 

compiled into a supplement. Instead of recbmpiling the delinquent tax record for the years 

1919 to 1939, inclusive, OP making a supplement 

for the years 1938 and 1939, as authorized by 

Article 7336F, he made a supplement covering 

delinquent taxes for* the years 1936 to 1939, 

inclusive. 

"Due to the fact that the law only refers 

to the recompilation of a delinquent tax record 

or a two year supplement thereto, you will please 

advise this department whether OP not we would 

have the authority to pay a proportionate part 

of the cost for compiling the four year supplement, or should we only pay a proportionate part 

of the cost for compiling the supplement of delinquent taxes due for the years 1938 and 1939." 

Sectlon 2 of Article 7336f, Vernon's Annotated ClvLl 

Statutes, reads as follows: 

"Any County havfng as many as two years' 

taxes delinquent which have not been Included 

in the delinquent tax record, the Collector of 

taxes shall within two years from the effective 
Honorable George H. Sheppard, page 2 

date of this , 

Act, cause to be compiled a delln- ^ __ _-. 

0 -3942 

quent tax recora 0s all aellnquent taxes not 

barred by this Act; the delinquent record shall 

be examined by the Commissioners' Court and the 

Comptroller or governing body, corrections may 

be ordered made, and when found correct and approved by them, payment for the'compllation 

thereof shall be authorized, at actual cost to 

the Tax Collector, proportionately from each 

the State and County taxes, or municipal taxes, 

first collected from such record, such cost in 

no case to exceed a sum equal to five ‘(5#) cents 

per item or written line of the original copy 

of such record and in no event shaI1 any compiling cost be charged to the taxpayer. The 

delinquent tax record when approved, shall be 

prima facie evidence of the delinquency shown 

thereon, and when there shall be as many as two 

years of delinquency accumulated which are not 

shown on the record, a recomnllatlon, or a two 

year suonlement thereto shall then be made as 

herein nroviaed. Tax Collectors shall causeto 

be compiled'like records of taxes dellnqueiit due 

any district for which they collect from tax " 

rolls other than the State and county rolls, and 

when approved by the governing body of the particular district, the cost of same shall be allowed in the manner herein provided. Acts 1935 

44th Leg., pe 355, ch. 128.' (Emphasis supplledj 

We are informed,by your department that the officer 

in 

2 

uestion received the above-mentioned cost for compiling the 

193 -1937 supplement. 

As you mentioned in your letter, reference is made 

only to a recompilation and to a two year supplement after the 

original tax record is complied. This fact in itself 1s an 

implied denial of any right on the part of the tax collector to 

receive payment of his actual cost for any compilation other 

than the ones mentioned. 

The statute reads that "payment for the compilation 

thereof shall be authorized at actual cost to the Tax Collector". 

This payment is In the nature either of the payment of an expense 

necessarily incurred by the tax collector in the discharge of a 

statutory duty, or a fee or compensation' for official services 

performed by him. In either event the tax collector is not 

authorized under the statute to prepare a four year supplement'; 

embodying two years previously covered by another supplement, and 

receive the actual cost Incurred in such compilation. 
-- - 

Honorable George I-I. Sheppard, page 3 o-3942 

In Corpus Juris, Volume 46, pages 1018 and 1019, it 

is said: 

"The right of an officer to compensation for 

expenses incurred by him in the performance of an 

official duty must b'e found in a provision of the 

constitution or a statute conferring-it either 

cllrectlg or by necessary implication, and the offleer cannot recover compensation additional to 

the compevsatlon fixed by statute for such expenses 

e . . . 6 

"Statutes relating to the fees and compensation of public officers mustbe strictly construed 

in favor of the government, and such officers are 

entitled only to what is clearly given by law . 0 .'I 

We quote also from 34 Tex. Jur. 508 and 509 as follows: 

"Statutes prescribing fees for public officers 

are strictly construed and hence a right to fees may 

not rest in Implication. Where this right Is left to 

construction, the language of the lfw rrmst be construed 

in favor of the government. . . . . 

Article 7336f neither expre,ssly nor implledly authorizes the compilation of a four year supplement. Thus, It follows that whether the payment is regarded as payment of an expense, a fee, or compensation, the payment of the cost for preparlng the supplement for the entire four year period is not 

authorized. 

However, the two year period 1938-1939 is covered by 

the supplement. The tax collector is fully authorized to compile a supplement for these years and receive a payment of the 

cost 8;s provided for in the statute. Therefore, we believe that 

he may receive payment for compiling that part of the supplement 

which represents the years 1938 and 1939. 

In view of the foregoing, it Is the oplnlon of this 

department that under Article 7336f the Comptroller is authorized 

to pay a proportionate part of the cost of the compilation of 

only that part of the four year supplement to the delinquent .tax 

record which represents the years 1938 and 1939. 
Honorable George R. Sheppard, page 4 O-3942 

Very truly yours 

ATTORNEY GBNERAL OF TEXAS 

GWS:mp:wc 

By s/Glenn R. Lewis 

Glenn R.'Lewis 

Assistant 

By s/George W. Sparks 

George W. Sparks 

APPRQVXI SEP 23. 1941 

s/Gerald C. Mati 

ATTORNEY GENERAL OF TEXAS 

Approved Opinion Committee By s/BWB Chairman