**THE** 

## ATBTORNEY GENERAL OF-TEXAS

Honorable J. M. Williams CountyAuditor Tarrant County Fort Worth, Texas
Dear Sir: OpinionNo.

## o-7032 Re: Authority of Tarrant County to lease certainbuildings and hangers on an alrport and related questions

Your letter of March 14, 

## 1946 contains the following facts:

"Recentlythere has been a tentative offer by the Federal Government to Tarrant County of the Naval Air Base Training Station at Eagle Mountaln Lake, In Tarrant County. This tentative offer consists In an offer on the part of the Federal Government to turn this air field over to Tarrant County conditionedupon the County'smaintaining said air field or alrport and with the further proviso that the Federal Government reserves the right at all times to use said airport to the extent of twenty-fiveper cent of its capacity should it desire to do so and reserves the further right to again assume control of said airport In the event of a National emergencywhich would require the Federal Government to use the airport for defensive purposes as has heretoforebeen used.
"The CommissionersCourt does not desire to incur any expenseby reason of its taking over said air base and a private Individualhas offered to lease the airport from Tarrant County and to assume the burden of maintaining Said airport in the condition In which it will be when turned over to Tarrant County by the Federal Government. It appears from Section 1 of Article 1269h that the CommissionersCourt of any Countyhas authority to receive by gift or dedlcatlon and to thereafter maintain and operate an airport, and under subdivision (d) of Section 1 of saidArticle 1269h, It Is provided that the county is authorized to lease any airport which may be acquiredby the County to any lncorporated city or municipalitywithln sald county or to theHon. J. M. Williams, page 2 O-7032

Federal Government for the purpose of maintaining and opergtingan airport.n

Your letter of recent date requesting the opinion of this department is based on the foregoing facts. We quote from said request aa follows:

"OnMarch 14,we asked gout for~a ruling on counties securingFederalNaval Air Base Training Station at Eagle Mountain Lake, Tarrant County. On,March 15 we received copies of your opinions O-6924,

## O-6878

and O-3865.
"Conditionshave arisen thatwe are unable to determine by your opinions; could counties lease 'buildingsand hangers or a part of the buildings and hangers and also leasing a part of the farm land on this 2,400 acre tract, or would it be necessary for the county to operate this under their oomplete supervision?

"Wewould also like to know If itwould be necessary to finance this through our General Fund, and if a profltwas made, could the profit from this Air Port be applied to General Fund Expenditures of the County, orwould lt be necessary to set up an Air Port Fund?"
Article 1269h,Vernon's Annotated Civil Statutes Is inpart as follows:

"Section1. A-That the governingbody of any incorporatedcity in this State mayreoelve through gift or dedication, and is hereby empowered to acquire, by purchasewithout condemnation or by purchase through condemnationproceedings,and thereafter maintain and operate as an airport, or lease or sell, to the Federal Government, traats of land eitherwithin or without the corporate limits of such city and withln the county inwhich such city is situated,and the Commissioners'Court of any countymay likewise acquire,maintain and operate fur like purpose tracts of landwithin the limits of the county. ~+***+**

'D-Inaddition to the power herein granted, the Cornmissloners' Court of the several counties of this State are hereby authorized to lease any airport that may be acquiredby the county, as herein provided, to any incor-Hon. J. Ed. Williams, page 3 O-7032

porated city or municipalitywithin such county or to the Federal Government, for the purpose o maintaining and operatingan airport; and provided further that any incorporatedcity having acquired land for an airport, or an airport, under the authority of this Act, shall have the right to lease said land or saidairport to the county inwhich sald incorporatedcity Is locat L. "*++**++

"Sea.

## 3. Any airport acquiredunder and -y virtue of the terms of this Act shallbe under 2e management and control of the governing body.0: the city or the Commissioners'Court of the county cquiring the same,which is hereby expresslyau orized and empowered to improve,maintain and conduct the same as an airport, and for that purpose to make and provide therein all necessary or fit improvements and facilitiesand to fix reasonable charges for the use thereof as such governingbody or Commissioners' Court shalldeem fit, and to make rules and regulationsgoverning the use thereof. &Q& proceeds from such charges shallbe devoted excluelvelg to the maintenance.uokeep. imorovementand operation of such airport and the facilities. structures.and,- imorovementstherein.

. .'I
We lnfer from the above quoted parts of your letters that the Federal Government has proposed 'toturn this airport over to Tarrant County" conditionedupon the county'smaintalning and operating said airfield or airport, subject to certain reservations. If the County so contractswith the Federal Government, It is our opinion that the County could not use the property or any portion thereof for any purpose other than airport purposes. See Moore v. Gordon(dismissed) I22 S.W. 2d 239, 243. Since the Countywould be obligated to maintain and operate said airfield or airport, itnecessarily follows that the Commissioners'Court would be without authority to lease the whole or any part of said airfield or airport. On the other hand, should the contract permit the County to lease said airfield or airport, the Commissloners' courtwould be bound by the provisions of Article 1269h, and could only lease the same "toany Incorporatedcity or munlclpalitywithin such County, or to theFederal Government, for the purposes of maintaining and operatingan **airport ”**  and for no otherpurpose.

As to your secondquestion concerning the use Of any profitmade by the county through the operation Of theHon. J. M. Williams, p g a e ~4 O-7032

airport, we call specialattention to the underlinedportion of Section 3 of Article 1269h supra. In order "todevote exclusively to the maintenance, upkeep, improvementand operation of such airport and the facilities, structures,and improvementstherein" all the proceeds derived from charges for the use of said airport, it becomes necessary to set up an AirportFund. However, if it Is necessary to use any tax money in the operation of said airport, such expenditures shouldbe paid out of the General Fund. If it is necessary to use tax money to make permanent improvementsto the alrport, such expenditures shouldbe paid out of the Permanent ImprovementFund. We are sendingyou a copy of our Opinion NO. o-6762which fully discusses this matter.

Trustingwe have satisfactorilyanswered your lnqulry,we remain

Yours very truly
ATTORNEYGENERAL OF TEXAS

JR:djm:wc By s/J.C.Davis, Jr. J.C.Davis, Jr. Assistant By s/JohnReeves John Reeves

APPROVED MAY 23, I946 s/GroverSellers ATTORNEY GENERAL OF TEXAS Approved Opinion CommitteeBy s/BWB Chairman