THE TTORNEY GENERAI. 

EXAS 

PRICE DANIEL 

ATTORNEY GENERAL 

August 23, 1951 

Ron. D. K. Woodward, Jr., chairman 

The Board of Reg+nts 

The Univemity of Texas 

Kirby Building 

Ialla 1, Texas Optnion No. V-1252 

Ret 

Dear Sir: 

ConstitutionaX.ity of appropriating mains from the 

Available Unlverelty Fund 

to pay county taxes on endowment lands set apart 

for The Univerelty of 

Texaa , 

.Y’~ Your request relate8 to the constitutionality 

.‘~‘“: :j& ‘& eppropriation from the Available’ Univereity Fund 

to pa)l county taxo6 on endowment lands of The University 

Q? Texas. fn yo~~factual recitation you state that 

thla ID then first occasion the Legislature has seen fit 

to appropMate from the Available UnAvereity Fund for 

payment of oounty taxes., #eretofore, since the authocl* 

zatlom to levy and odlleht such tax In 1930, the Legla- 

$atum haa appropriated from the Qeneral Fund for such 

purporer. ,,_ ,, 

si3atioh’ 1O~, ;+rtlcli’ ‘VW; dpartitutlon oi Texas, 

provider : 

“The Le 

% 

irl8ture shall at3 aoon a8 praaticabli arta 2ish, w@m%te~and pra@de for 

the malntenanoa, support and dlYWlbiOn of a 

Univereity of the first ala#a, to be looated 

b a vote of the people of thie State, and 

a e yled, 3he Vnzveraity of Tmcast, for the 

promotion of literature, and the arts and 

sciences, including an AgriouZtUral, and Me& 

,. .,,A. chanlcal departmmt . * 

Seation II, &tlols VIZ, CoaWWwtlon of Texas, 

establlshlng tkc “Permnmlt Uniwercrlty mnd,” SS as Pole 

‘lows :
- ,~ ,:> 

~_ &m~~lt. K, voouward, JP., page 2 (v-1252) 

“m order to enable the Legislature to 

perform the duties ,set forth in the foregoiDg Seciklon, it 1s hereby declared all landz 

@WI other property heretofore eet apart and 

appropriated for the establishment and malnteaanae of the University of Texas, together 

w%t:h all the proceeds of sales of the same, 

%+%tofore amde or hereafter to be made, and 

,, _ .&%I ~grante, donations and appropriations that 

*ay -after be made by the Sfate of Texaz, 

“-Or from any other zource, except donations 

limited to specific purposes, shall constltute and become a Permanent Vnlverslty Rmd. 

And the same a8 realized and received Into 

the Treasury of the State (together with ranch 

~~UIWJ belonging to the Fund, a8 may nom be in 

the !Fraai!ury), ehe$l be Invested ln bonds of 

:, " -4J~llzqlted States, the State of Texas, or 

qorat%ea of said State, or in School Bonds 

~~Q1'munlclpalltlea, or ln bonds of any city 

W k&la, State, or In bonds lzeued under and 

."' +q vi+tue OS the Federal Farm Loan Act approved ,%y the President oftthe United Statea, 

&%lly~l7, 1926, and amendments thereto; and 

,,.,:'::,tIie snttrest accruing thereon shall be sub- 

;jeot to appropriation by the Legfslatnre to 

aacomplish the purpose declared in the foregoing Se&ion; provided, that the one-tenth 

,"oCthe alternate Sectlonz of the lands granted 

',,.::j,~_ ~,tsi railroads, reserved by the State, which 

were set apart and appropriated to the eatab- 

'%&ment of the University of Texas, b an Act 

,oE the~Leglalature of February 11 185 

titled, 'An Act to establish the Univeralty 

of Texas,' shall not be Included in :'c, 

stitute a part of,the Permanent UnlGerslty 

I&rid." 

The lnaome derived from~the lnveatntent bf the 

PePW&#sent Univeralty Fund 1s known and designated am 

the"'%v&ilablc Dniveraity Fun&." Att'y Gen. Op. V-&a 

(2949). 

All lands endowed to The University,of Texas 

rcwr0 erode subject to taxation for county purposes by 

Se&fen 16Qa), Article VII, Constitution of Texas 

&&@ed November 4, 1930), which provides: 
Hon. D. K. Woodward, Jr., page 3 (V-1252) 

“All land mentioned in Sections 11, 

12, and 15 of Article VII, of the Constltution of the State of Texas, now belonging to the University of Texas shall be 

subject to the taxation for county purposes to the same extent as lands prlvately owned; . e en 

Subsequently, Article 715Oc, V.C,S., was en- 

'.% -i .~ acted in 1931 (Acts 42nd Leg., R,S, 1931, ch, 93, p. 136), 

and ~~~ide*..in part -35. .follows: 

y F' ~&&&~+:'~ '"Set D Y.g.*~ .,:::z:, * 1 . All the lands set apart 

for the endowment of the Unlvepsity of 

Texas by Section 15 of Article 7 of the 

Constitution of 1876,, and by Chapter 72 

of the Acts of the Regular Session of 

the 18th Legislature, which are now unsold, are hereby declared to be subject 

to taxation for county purposes in the 

counties in which they are located, to 

the same extent as lands privately owned 

in said counties. 

“Sec. 6. It shall be the duty of 

the Comptroller of Public Accounts to 

issue warrants upon the General Fund to 

pay taxes due each county, beginning 

with taxes assessed .for the year 1931, 

and annually thereafter; said warrants 

to be Issued and mailed to the several 

counties within the time as now provided 

by law for the payment of,,county taxes 

on privately owned lands. 

To provide for this tax payment to counties, 

Section 3 of Article v of House Bill 426, Acts 52nU Leg., 

1951 (General Appropriation Bill) provides in part! 

“Sec. 3. In accordance with the 

Constitutional provision that taxes for 

county purposes only be paid to counties 

In which are located endowment lands set 

aside to The University of Texas by the 

Constitution of the State of Texas md*- 

the Act of 1883, there is hereby appropriated to the State Comptroller of Public 
Hon. D. K. Woodward, 

Accounti out of 

Jr., page 4 (V-1252) 

then Available University 

Fund+~o~ the payment of taxes to such 

countt;ies for county purposes only upon 

said Uplverslty-owned land the sum of 

not te exceed One Hundred Forty-three 

Thousand and Fifty-six Dollars ($143,056) 

for I;he fiscal year endlng August 31, 

1952, and the sum of Seventy-nine Thou- ) 

sand, Two Hundred and Fifty-eight Dollars 

it;z,;:8)l;;; the fiscal year endlng AU- 

. Provided, however that 

any mongys appropriated in thfs Artfcle 

may be used for the purpose of paying 

current and delinquent taxes that have 

accrued, or may accrue, under the provisions of the above-mentioned ConstltuMona1 Amendment. It lb further provided 

that any balances remaining In the moneys 

appropriated In thla Section for the year 

ending August 31, 1952, may be carried forward and added to the appropriation for 

the second year of the biennium, that is, 

for the fiscal year ending August 31, 1953." 

It is Immediately obvious that In the foregoing ,language an attempt Is made to effect a change %n 

ArMale 7150~ (general law) by a rider to the General 

AppPoprlatlon Bill. It Is well settled that an appro- ' 

prlation bill cannot repeal or amend a general 

Moore v. Sheppard, 144 Tex. 537 192 S.W.2d 559 

73naenv.F I 92 Tex 451 fig S W 578 (1899 

St%?'57 Tex '200 [1880)% 

(1940); 6-4788 (i942); v-412 

ittO 

(1947 7; 

A general law, Article 715Oc, specfffcally 

provtdes for payment of thess taxes out of the General 

FUItd. A rider In the Oeneral Approprlatfon Bill In conflict with the general law Is a subject of general leglrlation and cannot constltutlonally appropriate money 

za; iawund different from that designated by the gew 

So long as Article 7150~ remains In effect, 

money fo; payment of county taxes must be appropriated 

from the General Fund and cannot be appropriated from 

the Available University Fund. merefore the attempted 

appropriation Inquired about in @%m? request 18 invalid. 

As hereinafter pointed out, even awn amendment of the \ 

general law to provide for payment out of the Available 

University Fund would be subject to another constltutlonal question. 
Hon. D. K. Woodward, Jr., page 5 (v-1252) 

The Available University Fund, which Is the 

income from the investment of the Permanent U&vc~r$S$:g 

Fund, was oreated for a specific purpose, that &a, #or 

the maintenance, support and direction of 8 unive siEy 

-of the first class (Tex. Const., Art. VII, Sec. L 5 ). 

Section 11 of Article VII provides that the intereat 

accruing from bonds shall be subject to approprla$ioa 

by the Legislature to accomplish the purpose deoltrrad 

in Section 10 of Article VII of the Constitution of 

Texas. Section 16(a) of Article VII of the Conrt$bution of Texas, authorizing the payment of county taxes 

on University endowment lands, was not adopted until 

the year 1930, and nothin is contained therein conflicting with the origlna f purpose of the Available VrriVerslty Fund as prescribed In Secl.Mn 10 of Article VII, 

Moreover, the Available University Fund Is a speci&l 

fund within the meanin$ of Section 7 of Article VIXI.af 

the Constitution of Texas, whioh prohibits the LegSslature from diverting any special fund from its purpose, 

~S’tate v. Hatcher, 115 Tex. 332, 281 S.W. 192 (1926). 

@&i%fore, a serious question is presented as to the 

constitutionality of this attempted appropriation. We 

need not pass upon this additional question at the present time, but It ehould be noted that the Legislature 

In 1933 was of the oplnlon that the payment of county 

taxes on the endowment lands of the University out of 

the Available University Pund wouLd require a conetitutlonal amendment. This was evidenced by the passage of 

House Joint Resolution No. 30. However, this proposed 

amendment was not adopted at the November election in 

1933. Thereafter, all appropriations Including the biennium end.lng August 31, 1951, for the payment of cowlty 

taxes on endowment lands were made from the General Fund. 

On the basis of Its oonfllct with the general 

law (Article 715Oc), we conclude that the p.epblOn of 

House Bill 426 relating to the appropriation of funds 

froul\the Available University Fund to pay county taxes 

on endowment lands of The UnZveyNity of Texas is UncOnstltutional. Article 7150~ requires that these taxes 

be paid from the General Fund. 

SUMMARY 

The “Available University .Fund, ” consisting of income derived from investment of 

the Permanent University Fund, may not be 

utilized for the payment of county taxes on 
Hon. D. K. Woodward, Jr., page 6 (V-1252) 

endowment lands of The University of Texas. 

A general law, Article 715Oc, requires that 

these taxes be paid from the General Fund, 

and this law cannot be changed or amended ' 

by the General Appropriation Bill. Tex. 

Conet., Art. VII, Sets. 10, 11; Moore v. 

, 144 Texi 537, 192 S.W.mr 

Linden v. Finley, 92 Tex. 451, 49 

APPROVED: Yours very truly, 

Bruce Allen 

County Affairs Division 

PRICE DANIEL 

Attorney General 

Everett Hutchinson 

Executive Assistant 

Prim lbniel 

Ilbtorney GDernl 

BWtjac)em