Honorable H. D. Glover 

County Attorney 

Reeves County 

Pecos, Texas 

Dear Mr. Glover: 

Opinion No. ~~-675 

Re: Disposition of fees 

received by County Tax' 

Assessor-Collector for 

performing assigned 

duties and for assessing 

and collecting taxes for 

Independent School District. 

Your letter of May 22,,1959, requesting an opinion 

on the above.subject, reads in.part as follows: 

"Please advise me whether or not the L. 

Tax Assessor-Collector in a county with a 

population of less than 20,000 who is compensated on a salary basis in the amount of 

$6,215.00 and who acts,as Tax Assessor-Collector for two Independent School Districts 

within the County is allowed to retain as 

fees of office an additional amount of 15 

of currentcollections, l$ of<assessments 

, 

and 5% of redemptions.from.the Independent 

School Districts. Also whether or not the. 

Tax Assessor and Collector would be allowed' 

to retain either $1.00 per line or 109 whichever is lesser, from the State and 'County 

redemption payments. 

"The facts briefly are as follows: The Tax 

Assessor and Collector is a separate office 

in this county and handles the assessment and 

collection of taxes for two separate Independent 

School Districts within the county. She deposits all of the tax money for the two Inde- j I 

pendent School Districts and the State and 

County in one bank account and then periodically 

takes from the cash drawer, in cash, whatever 

the above figures or percentage would amount 

to, making rio entry at any~place as .to the 

money that she takes. 

"It is my opinion that she is not entitled 

to retain any of the above-mentioned moneys but 
. 

Honorable H. D. Glover, page 2 Opinion No. w-675 : 

that they should all be reported and turned 

over to the County. . . .' 

On June 18, 1959, we received an additional letter 

from you, as foi:ows: 

"This is a supplemental request to the 

above numbered~file. Please advlse me whether 

or not the Tax-Assessor and Collector can retain 

as her own personal funds the $1.00 that is 

charged for issu-ing Taw Certificates. 

%y opinion is that she cannot based upon 

the reasons as stated in my letter of May 22nd 

and under your file number above mentioned." 

The fees which may be, collected by a County, Tax 

Assessor-Collector in performance of his duties are set ,forth 

in various Articles of Vernon's Civil Statutes, among which 

are the foilowing~which we assume to be those you inquire 

about: 

(1) Article 7258, as amended, reading in part 

as follows: 

"Section 1. On and after October 1, 1953,'the 

Tax Collector or his deputy of any county in 

this State, or any city or political subdivision 

or tax assessing district within any such county 

shall, upon request, issue a certificate showing the.~amount of taxes, interest, penalty and 

costs' due, if any, on the property described 

in said certificate. A charge of not to exceed 

One Dollar ($1) may be made for each such certificate issued." 

(2) Article 7331, as amended, reading as follows: 

"For calculating and preparing redemption 

certificates and receipts, reporting and 

crediting redemptions, posting Comptroller's ' 

redemption numbers on the delinquent tax record 

or annual delinquent list', mailing certificates 

of redemption to taxpayers after approval by the 

Comptroller, and for issuing receipts or certificates of redemption for property. shown on the 

annual delinquent list, the tax collector shall 

be entitled to a fee of One Dollar ($1) for each 

correct assessment of Land to be sold, except 

that if the total amount of said costs so per- 
Honorable H. D. Glover, page 3 Opinion No. ~~-675 

mitted exceeds ten per cent (10%) of the 

total amount of the taxes, interest and 

penalties due before assessing any such 

costs, then the total cost allowable shall 

be limited to ten per cent (10%) of such 

total amount.o~f the taxes,, interest and 

penalties, or One Dollar ($1) whichever 

is the larger, said fee to be taxed as 

costs against the delinquent. . .' 

Article 2792, V.C.S., as amended in 1945, provides 

that the Board of Trustees of an Independent School District, 

by majority vote, may require the County Tax Assessor-Collector to assess and collect, or to collect, only, its taxes. 

It also states "When the county assessor and collector is 

required to assess and collect the taxes on independent 

school districts they shall respectively rece.ive ona (1) 

per cent f;r assessing.and one (1) per cent for collecting 

same;. . . This is the only compensation currently pro,- 

vided a County Assessor-Collector who aqsesses and collects 

independent school district taxes. 

We are enclosing a copy of ,Attorney General's 

Opinion No..s-76, holding that the fees collected by the 

Tax Assessor-Collector, who is on a salary basis, for the 

issuance of tax certificates under Article 7258a, V.C.S., 

should be deposited in the Officers' Salary Fund. . 

The fees collected under Article 7331 should likewise be paid into the Salary Fund. Article 3912e, V.C.S., 

Section 5, provides as follows: 

"Sea.. 5. It shall be the duty of all 

officers to charge and collect in the manner 

ailfhorized by law all fees and commissions 

which are permitted by law to be assessed, and 

collected for all official service performed 

by them, As and when such fees are collected 

they shall be deposited in the Officers' Salary 

Fund, or funds provided in this Act. . .' 

Section 3 of that same Act provides, that, where 

county officers are compensated on a salary basis, 

11 * . "such officers shall receive said 

salary in lieu of all other fees, commissions 

or.compensation which they would otherwise be 

authorized to retain; provided, however, that 

the assessor and collector ~of taxes shall continue to collect and retain for the benefit 
Honorable H. D. Glover, page 4 Opinion No. WW-675 

provides 

of the Officers' Salary Fund or funds hereinafter provided for all fees and commissions 

which he is authorized under law to collect; 

and it shall be his duty to account for and 

to pay all such monies received by him into 

the fund created and provided for under the 

provisions of this Act,. . ." 

Article 3883(i)(Acts 1955, 54th Leg.,p. 1137, ch.427) 

in Section 1 as follows: 

"In each county in the State of Texas having 

the population of less than twenty thousand 

(20,000) inhabitants according to the last 

preceding Federal Census where all counwand 

district officialsare compensated on a salary 

basis, the Commissioners Courts shall fix the 

salaries of the officials named in this Act 

at not more than Six Thousand, Seven Hundred 

and Fifty Dollars ($6,750.00) per annum; provided, however, that no salary shall be set 

at a figure lower than that actually paid on 

the effective date of this Act." 

(According to the 1950 Federal Census the population of. 

Reeves County was 11,745.) 

The assessor and collector of taxes is named in 

Section 6 as one of the officials to whom Section 1 applies. 

Section 14 provides that, "All of the fees and 

commissions earned and collected by the officials named in 

this Act shall be paid into the County Treasury in accordance with the provisions of Section 61 of Article XVI of 

the Constitution of Texas." 

The ci.ted Section of the Constitution provides in. 

part that "all fees earned by district, county and precinct 

officers shall be paid into the county treasury where earned 

for the account of the proper fund,. . .' 

For earlier cases dealing with the accountability 

of fees earned under this article, as fees of office under 

Maximum Fee Bill, 

(Tex 

see Burke v. Bexar County 271 S.W. 132 

1925) err ref'd. and Came&n County 

42 S:t?zdA&' affld' Com:App 

v. Fox, 

Com.App., 64 S.W.2d 140. 

61 ,S.W.2d 483 Reh.Den., 

See'Also Attorney Gineralls Letter 

Opln~ion on Request R2094, a copy of which is enclosed. 

As to fees paid under Article 2792: In Nichols v. 

Galveston County, 111 Tex. 50, 228 S.W. 547 (1921), 
. . . 

Honorable H. D. Glover, page 5 Opinion No. ~-675 

appellant County Assessor contended that fees paid him for 

assessing and collecting~independent school district taxes 

were for ex officio service and as such not accountable as 

fees of office. 

said (p.549): 

In overruling this contention, the Court 

"After the statutes were enacted providing for 

drainage districts and independent school districts, and tb.at wh.en ordered to do so by the . 

properly constituted authority the county assessor 

of taxes shall assess these taxes, the assessment 

of such taxes by him become the usual and general 

duties of his office; Andy the performance of these 

duties by him is made mandatory." 

The same reasoning would apply to the collection of these 

taxes. 

It was therefore held that such fees were accountable as fees of office. (We note in passing that officers 

receiving a salary are specifically prohibited from receiving 

any ex officio compensation by Sec. 6(b) of Art. 3912e. 

Sec. 11 of Art. 38831 provides, however, three instances in 

which extra compensa,tion may be paid, none of which-are 

material here.) 

The Nichols case was cited by the court as controlling 

authority in Ta lor v. Brewster Count , 144 S.i#.2d 314 (Tex. 

Civ. App., 194R+j+&r. 4 which held appellant County 

Tax Assessor-Collector was aA;ing-as an officer oft the, 

County in collecting taxes for independent school districts 

under Art. 2792, and therefore his fees for such service 

were accountable as official fees. The theory and intent 

of,a salary basis of compensation for county officers, as 

opposed to a fee basis, are-well expressed in Attorney General's 

Opinion No. 0-3664,'from which we quote: 

"In a salary county the fees to which the 

officer would be entitled personally if' he 

were on the fee system belong to the county. 

The officer must collect them for the county 

and place them in the Officer's Salary Fund. 

It was clearly contemplated by the Legislature 

that the salaries of county officers should 

be paid largely from fees of office deposited 

in the Officers' Salary Fund." 

SWMARY 

A County Tax Assessor-Collector who is 

compensated on a salary basis must account 
. . . 

Honorable H. D. Glover, page 6 Opinion No. ~~-675 

for and turn over to the County the fees 

collected under Articles 7258a and 7331, 

V.C.S., and also'the 15 of assessments and 

1% of collections provided by Art. 2792, 

V.C.S., for assessing and collecting independent school district taxes. 

Yours very truly, 

WILL WILSON 

Attorney General of Texas 

JRI:cm 

APPROVED: 

OPINION COMMITTEE: 

Geo. P. Blackburn, Chairman 

W. R. Scruggs 

Gordon C. Cass 

Linward Shivers 

L. P. Lollar 

REVIEWEDFOR TRE ATTORNEYGENERAL 

By: LEONARD PASSMORE 

a.,,