DAN MORALES 

ATTORNEY GENERAL 

&Win of tfy Bttornep Qikneral 

$Wate of Qexae 

January 281993 

Honorable Eddie Cavazos 

ChGlWl 

committee on Insurance 

Texas House of Representatives 

P. 0. Box 2910 

Austin, Texas 78768-2910 

Opiion No. DM-199 

Re: Whether the additional money generated 

from the increase in the motor vehicle 

registration fee authorized by section 4.202(a), 

article 6702.1, V.T.C. S., as amended by House 

Bill 2 of the 72d Legislature, must be 

distributed to the Cameron Countv Tax 

Assessor-Collector or to the 

general tbnd (RQ-2 14) 

Dear Representative Cavaaos: 

You request this office’s opinion concerning the disposition 

Cameron County 

of fees collected 

pursuant to section 4.202(a) of the County Road and Bridge Act, V.T.C.S. article 6702-l. 

Section 4.202(a) was amended by House Bill 2, the omnibus insurance reform bill passed 

by the 72d Legislature. Acts 1991, 72d Leg., ch. 242, 8 10.07, at 1033. Among its 

myriad provisions, House Bill 2 added article 6675a-2a, V.T.C.S., which requires the 

owner of a motor vehicle to submit valid evidence of financial responsibility to a county 

tax assessor-collector at the time the owner seeks to register the vehicle. Jfthe owner fails 

to present satisfactory evidence of Snancial responsibility, the tax assessor-collector may 

not register the motor vehicle. V.T.C.S. art. 6675a-2a(b). As amended by House Bill 2, 

section 4.202(a) of the County Road and Bridge Act provides the following: 

As compensation for services under the laws relating to the 

registration of vehicles, each county tax assessor-collector shall 

receive a uniform fee of $1.90 for each of the receipts issued each 

year pursuant to those laws. The compensation shall be deducted 

weekly by each county tax assessor-collector from the gross 

collection made pursuant to this Act and other laws relating to 

registration of vehicles. 

Prior to its amendment, section 4.202(a) authorized collection of a fee of $1.50. 

You state that the Cameron County Commissioners Court has advised the 

Cameron County Tax Assessor-Collector that the additional forty cents authorized by 

House Bill 2 should be credited to the county’s general find, rather than the tax assessorp. 1052 
Honorable Eddie Cavazos - Page 2 (DM- 19 9 ) 

collectoh office. As a result, you state that the tax assessor-collector does not have 

suflicient funds to hire the additional staff needed to enforce the linancial responsibiity 

provisions of House Bill 2. 

Your inquiry raises two questions. Fi, you wish to know whether the additional 

forty-cent fee authorized by House Bii 2 must be deposited in the general iimd of the 

county. Second, we understand you to ask whether the additional amounts must be used 

to de6ay the expenses of the county tax assessor-collector in discharging the duties 

imposed by V.T.C.S. article 6675a-2a We conclude that the entire fee, including the 

additional forty-cent amount, must be deposited in the general timd of the county. We 

also conclude that the fee collected pursuant to V.T.C.S. article 6702-1, section 4.202 

must be appropriated by the commissioners court to de6ay the county tax assessorcollector’s expenses in administering V.T.C.S. article 6675a-2a. 

Although section 4.202(a) states that the $1.50 fee is intended to serve “[a]s 

compensation for [the county tax assessor-collector’s] services under the laws relating to 

the registration of vehicles,” the fees so collected are neither compensation for the officer 

per se nor subject to his personal control. Article XVI, section 61 of the Texas 

Constitution requires tdl county officers in counties having a population of 20,000 or 

more, according to the most recent federal census, to be compensated on a salary basis 

rather than a fee basis.’ W~tb exceptions not relevant here, a county officer paid on a 

salary basis receives the salary in lieu of fees, commissions and other compensation the 

officer would otherwise be entitled to keep. Local Gov’t Code 6 154.002. A county is 

prohibited from paying a salaried officer a fee for the performance of any service by the 

officer. Id. 8 154.004(b). 

Article XVI, section 61 of the Texas Constitution also provides in part that all fees 

earned by district, county and precinct officers “shsll be paid into the county treasury 

where earned for the account of the proper tbnd.” Section 4.202 of the County Road and 

Bridge Act does not designate a special fund for the deposit of fees collected thereunder. 

Rather, county officers paid on a salary basis are required to deposit all fees allowed by 

law for the officds services with the county treasurer. Id. 5s 113.021(a), 154.003; see 

Sta!e v. G@ 167 S.W.2d 296 (Tex. Civ. App.-Galveston 1942), writ refdper curiam, 

170 S.W.2d 470 (Tex. 1943); Attorney General Opinion M-624 (1970) (deposit of $1.00 

“service charge” collected by county tax assessor-collector to cover cost of motor vehicle 

registration by mail). The county treasurer, in turn, must deposit the money to the credit 

of the o5ce?s salary find, which must be kept separate from other county funds.2 Local 

lAccording to the most -1 federal cemus, Cameron county has a population of 260,120. 

U.S. Dw'? OF ChtM!iRCE, BUREAU OF THS CENSUS, I990 &KSLJS OF POPUUTION; .%f?.URY OF 

POPLLWIONAWD HOUSING Clu~acravsrrcs~ ‘l&a 199O-cPH-145 (Aug. 1991). 

%I a county with s population of more than 190,000, an offkeh salaty fund may be used to pey 

(1) the &cet’s salary, (2) the saleties of the otlicer’s deputies, es&ants, clerks, stenographers, and 

inwstigstors; and (3) “authorized and approved expenses of the oflice of the offker.” Local Gov’t Code 

p. 1053 
Honorable Eddie Cavazos - Page 3 (DM-199) 

Gov’t Code $4 113.021(b), 154.042(b)(2). However, a commissioners court may, at its 

iht regular meeting of a fiscal year, abolish officers’ salary fbnds and order that moneys 

othervke required to be deposited in an officer’s salary fund be deposited in the general 

iimd ofthe county. Id. $154.007(a). 

We are advised by the County Treasurer of Cameron County that the county 

commissioners court has consolidated officers’ salary !imds with the county general fund 

pursuant to section 154.007 of the Local Government Code. Accordingly, the entire. fee. 

collected pursuant to section 4.202 of the County Road and Bridge Act, includmg the 

additional forty-cent smount authorized by House Bill 2, must be deposited in the general 

fund of the county.3 

We next consider whether the additional forty-cent collection must be used to 

defray the expenses of the county tax assessor-collector in discharging the duties imposed 

by article 6675a-2a. Article VIII, section 7-a of the Texas Constitution provides the 

following in pertinent part: 

Subject to legislative appropriation, allocation, and direction, all 

net revenues. . derived from motor vehicle registration 

fees. . shall be used for the sole purpose of acquiring rights-of-way, 

constructing, maintaining, and policing such public roadways, and for 

the administration of such laws as may be prescribed by the 

Legislature pertaining to the supervision of trafEc and safety on such 

roads. . 

Article 6675a-2a, V.T.C.S., which relates to the registration of motor vehicles, is 

undoubtedly a law “prescribed by the Legislature pertaining to the supervision of traflic 

and safety on [public] roads” within the meaning of article VIII, section 7-a of the Texas 

Constitution. The legislature has further prescribed in section 4.202(a) of the County 

(footnote mntinoed) 

p 154.042(a). Thos, the fees collected by the county tax assessor-wllector onder section 4.202 of the 

Couoty Road and Bridge Act M not compensation for the tax asessoruwctor per SC. 

sComprising part of the oxmty’s geneml fund, rhe fees colle&d pursoant to section 4.202 may 

only be spent in strict compliance with the annual budget adopted by the commissioners court or&r the 

applicable provisions ofchapter 111 ofthe Local Government Code. See Local Go+t Code 05 111.034, 

111.039, 111.040, 111.041 (budget provisions applicsble to counties with a population of more than 

225,000). The f&a eollcctcd by tbe tax asaesor~lleotor tbcrefore are not under his direct, personal 

amtml. TIE ccahasioncra anut baa axkkrable discmtion to appropriate county timds as it deems 

proper. &C Rkcucuk Y. Shw, 628 F.2d 291(5th Cu. 1980), cert. denied, 450 U.S. 931(1981); Borne? v. 

E&r Colrnly Commh Court, 676 S.W.M 662 (Ten App.-El Paso 1984, tit refd n.r.e.). However, the 

cmut may be requid by the amstitution, by statute, or by contrsct to budget fends to particular activities, 

including tbe operation of another county office. See, e.g., Van@ v. Comm’rs Cow? of Uvalde Cow@, 

714 S.W.Zd 417,422 flex. App.-San Antonio 1986, wit refd n.r.e.); Comm’rs Court of Harris County 

v. Fullerton, 5% S.W.Zd 572 flex. App.-Houston [lst Dist.] 1980, tit refd n.r.e.). 

p. 1054 
Honorable Eddie Cavazos - Page 4 (DM- 199 ) 

Road and Bridge Act that the fee collected pursuant to the provision constitute 

“compensation for services [of the county tax sssessor-collector] under the laws relating 

to the registration of vehicles.” The fees collected under this section by the tax assessorcollector and deposited in the countyls general lknd are therefore dedicated, both by 

constitution and statute, to the administration of the laws governing motor vehicle 

registration, including article 6675a-2a. 

Section 154.007 of the Local Government Code, the provision that allows a 

commissioners court to consolidate 05cers’ salary 5nds with the general timd states that 

in a county where the commissioners court has consolidated these timds any reference to a 

salary fimd means the general l’hnd. Section 154.042 of the Local Government Code 

provides that in a county with a population of more than 190,000, an 05cet’s salary tknd 

may be used to pay (1) the 05cer’s salary; (2) the salaries of the 05cer’s deputies, 

assistants, clerks, stenographers, and investigators; and (3) “authorized and approved 

expemes of the office of the officer.” Local Goti Code 8 154.042(a). It is therefore clear 

that fees formerly deposited in 05~~s’ s&try 8mds sre available to timd the 05ce of the 

county officer who collected the funds even s&r their deposit in the county general Smd. 

Because motor vehicle registration fees collected by the county tax assessor-collector are 

dedicated by statute to that officer’s “compensation,” the commissioners court is not 

authorized to divert these timds to other uses. C! Attorney General Opinion JM-321 

(1985) (interest on constitutionally dedicated motor vehicle registration fees may not be 

diverted to state general revenue fund). Accordingly, we believe the commissioners court 

is required to appropriate fees collected under section 4.202 of the County Road and 

Bridge Act sole& to the purposes specifkd in section 154.042 of the Local Government 

Code. However, the commissioners court may budget only as much timds as it determines 

are reasonably necessary to “compensate” the 05ce. of the tax assessor-collector for its 

expenses in administering the motor vehicle registration laws.’ The commissioners court’s 

decision is subject to review by the courts on an abuse of discretion standard. See 

Attorney General Opinion DM-158 (1992); Letter Opinion No. 92-22 (1992) (and 

authorities cited therein). Whether a particular decision of the court constitutes an abuse 

of discretion is a question of fact that camrot be resolved in the opinion process. Id. 

‘In Glass, 167 S.W.Zd 2%. the court determined that the potion of the fee wllected by the 

cwntytaxassessor-collcctorundcrthefonncrCntificae~TiUeActaaddedicatcdbythcacttopaymnt 

of”apcnses- toetficientlypcrformthcdutiarctforthbadn’muldkuxdonlyfor~ 

fi=cxpe-aaasary incarryingout~legislatun’spuposcin~dutiaonthetlucaJsasorcellccbr. We believe a siadlar conclusion is warranted here. Tk legislature has clearly expressed its 

intent that the fee mlkcted purwant to section 4.202, if it stxictly applicable as “compensation” to the 

aunty tax z3aaewr~llcctor, be dedicated to the urpensg of the 05ce of the tax as.uasor-cdktor in 

enforeing tbe provisions of the laws relating to vehicle regishation, including V.T.C.S article 6675aA. 

p. 1055 
Honorable Eddie Cavazos - Page 5 (DM-199) 

SUMMARY 

Fees wllected by the county tax assessor-wllector pursuent to 

V.T.C.S. article 6702-1, section 4.202(a) must be deposited in the 

gened limd of the wunty. The fees so deposited are dedicated to 

the 0512 of the county tax assessor-wllector to wmpensate that 

office for eqxmses relating to the administration of the motor vehicle 

regktmtion laws. The wmmissioners court may not divert such fees 

to other purposes. The wmmissioners court must appropriate as 

much of these funds as it determines are reasonably qecesury to 

compensate the 05ce of county tax usessor-coUector for that 

05&i administration of motor vehicle m&ration laws. 

DAN MORALES 

Attorney Geoeral of Texas 

WILL PRYOR 

Fii Assistant Attorney General 

MARYKELLER 

Deputy Assistant Attorney General 

RENEAHICKS 

Special Assistant Attorney General 

MADELEINE B. JOHNSON 

Chair, Opiion Committee 

prepared by Steve Arag6n 

Assistsnt Attorney General 

p. 1056