lionorable D. C. Grew State Highway .Engineer Texae HighwayDepartment Auotin, Texas OpinionNo. wu 505
Re: Whether IIlghway Deportment

cnn opcnd highway funds for aeeoeements to,pavo city otroetoadjacent to building0 and oitoo owned and uocd by the HiGhway Department.
Donr Mr. Grow:
You roquect tho opinionof thic officeupon the,above captimed mattar. The 55th Legielature, 1957, passed B. B. 179, presently codified In Vernon'8Civil Statutes a8 Article 6674~. Subdivisioh 3 of this act providee in part aa'followsi

II

. . .conetructing

and operating

warehousse

and other buildinga

and facilities

used In connection with the 'construction, maintenance,

and operation of the state Bighwoys.

. . .II Prior to U&enactment of this specific legislation,

this office -haa for many yeare uniformly recognized

the authority

of the Highway Department,

in the exerciee

of the broad generalp&we conferred upon it by law to construtit..and maintaina system of highway8 in the atate, to do thoae thlnge necessary and Incidental

to that end. This is coverd'somevhatin detail in our OpinionS-105 referredto in your oplnion“request, a copy of which we assumeyou have. The HighwayDepartment doee now hev& apeciflclegislative authority to construot, operate, and maintain

warehouses

and otherbuildlnge used in the conetruction, maintenance,

and operation

of a .eyetem

,of State HJ.&W(ICyB

. The conetruction

and maintenance

of these warehouaee, eesentia1 ae they are to the efficient and economicoperation of aState :EHdghway Syetem,need not and shouldnot be considered ae isolated

from the. @.reeta

of a city upon which they are located, nor did the Leglelatqe intend that they ahouldbe. Free uee of the street upon which a warehouseis located and the right of egrees and ingreee therefromis nbcessary to the operation

and maintenance

of a warehouee. A well-paved

street adjacent

to the warehousela desirable for the convenience

of the HighwayDepartment and its employee8

operating

end using the warehouee. It ie, therefore, quite reasonable

to say thatHonorable D. C. &eer,'page 2~(WW 585)

the pro rata cost of paving the streetadjacent to a warehouse

owned and operated

by the State HighwayDepartment shouldbe borne by the Department.;

A city.and

the general

public ts under no legal obli@- tion to atikne end pay this cost for~.the State Highway

Department. The Hlghway~Departkitis, therefore, authorized

~to pay its pro rata share of thb pavlng;of the streetattributable to the warehouse frontagethereon if there~is an available~approtiriation from which it may be ~paid. We,next consider that question. The expenditure

of this motley

shal; not be coneldered as an expenditure

for highwaysdirectlycr per se. The authority for the expenditure

come8 from its capacity ae a land owner. It can spend money for a street improvement levied againsta trtict of land owned and used by the HighwayDepartment in the performan

ce of its duties just as it could repair the roof of a buildinglocatedon that lend. We understand

that this has be&your departmental construction

for may years. We are of the opinionthat this paving cost may be paid from' the appropriation

made to the State HighwayDepartment in Item No. 23 of the present biennlukappropriation, tiie for the reason that the cost of tiiis

pavia may be consid&-& as an administrativeexpense in conribotion with,theestablishing, planning,

constructing a?xl maintaining

a systti of State Highwaysas contemplated and set forth In Chapter 1, Title 116 end Chapter 186, GeneralLaws, 39th Legislature,

Regular Session,

and amendments

thereto.
SUMMARY The,State

HighwayDepartment ia..authorized

to construct

and operate

warehouses

end other buildings and.facilltiee

used in connectionwith the construction, maintenance,

end operation

of State Highways,

knd incidental

thereto to pay B pro k&e share of the coat of paving ~the

~street on which sukh a warehouseIs located, and the same may-be 'pkld from.Item

No. 23 of ~the

appropriation

to the State HighwayDepartment coveringthe presentbiennium.

. WILL WIxmN ~A!B!ORNEXGENERALQFTEXAS

: ;ifja~+ GENERAL LPL:pmHonorable D. C. Crier, p&e 3 (WW 585)

APPROVED: oPlm0N COMMITPEE: ”
J. Arthur Sandlip,Chairman
H. Grady Chandler Elmer McVey EdwardA. Cazarea REUEKEDFGR TEZATTCRNEYGEVEFU BY: W. V. Geppert