MARK WHITE 

Attorney General 

The Attorney General of Texas 

August 4, 1980 

Honorable Bill D. Jackson, CPA 

County Auditor 

County of Galveston 

Galveston, Texas 77550 

Opinion No. MW-2 17 

Re: Whether a claim for dalinquent tax attorney commissions 

may be paid out of Farm-to-Market 

Lateral Tax Fund revenues 

Dear Mr. Jackson: 

You asked whether a County Auditor may approve a claim for 

delinquent tax attorney commissions out of Farm-to-Market Lateral Tax 

Fund revenue. 

The Farm-to-Market and Lateral Road Fund exists by virtue of article 

VIII, section l-a, of the Texas Constitution and article 7048a, V.T.C.S. 

Article VIII, section l-a, provides that counties may: 

. . . levy ad valorem taxes upon all property within 

their respective boundaries... provided the revenue 

derived therefrom shall be used for construction and 

maintenance of Farm-to-Market Roads or for Flood 

Control, except as herein otherwise provided. 

(Emphasis added). 

Article 7048a provides that: 

Sec. 2... [Cl aunties... are hereby authorized to... 

collect ad valorem taxes upon all property within 

their respective boundaries... provided the revenue 

therefrom shall be used... for the construction and 

maintenance of Farm-to-Market and Lateral Roads or 

for Flood Control and for these two (2) purposes only. 

sec. 3. Taxes... shall be credited... to separate 

funds known as the Farm-to-Market and Lateral Road 

Fund, to be used solely for Farm-to-Market and 

Lateral Roads within such county.. . . (Emphases 

added1 

The question is whether these provisions may be construed so as to 

permit delinquent tax revenue earmarked for the Farm-to-Market and 

Lateral Road Fund to be used to pay a delinquent tax attorney for his efforts 

p. 693 
Honorable Bill D. Jackson - Page Two (KW-217) 

in collecting that revenue. In our opinion, they may not be su construed. Article VIII, 

section l-a, and article ‘7048a clearly provide that revenue from ad valorem taxation 

shall be used solely for the construction and maintenance of Farm-to-Market Roads or 

for flood control, and we see no basis for reading into these provisions sn exemption 

which the legislature apparently did not intend. The law is well-settled that an 

unambiguous statute will ordinarily be interpreted literally and that courts may not, 

under the auise of statutorv construction, read excentions or exemntions into a 

statute, no matter how desirable they may seem. A. M: Servicirg Corp. Of Dallas v. 

e, 380 S.W. 2d 747 (Tex. Civ. App. - Dallas 1964, no writ). See also 53 Tex. Jur. 2d 

Statutes SS119, et seq. 

Commissioners’ Court v. Wallace, 15 S.W. 2d 535 (Tex. 1929), does not compel a 

different conclusion. In that case, the Texas Supreme Court upheld a contract 

between a county and an abstract company which called for the company to furnish a 

complete abstract on all county property on which ad valorem taxes had not been paid 

in exchange for a portion of the delinquent taxes paid as a result of the company’s 

efforts. However, despite language in the opinion to the effect that “a part of 

uncollected taxes (may) be used in defraying the expense of the collection...,” the case 

clearly turned on article 7335, V.T.C.S., which specifically authorized the commissioners’ court to “pay for an abstract of property assessed or unknown and 

unrendered from the taxes, interest, and penalty to be collected on such lands,” such 

payment being contingent upon collection of such taxes, interest, and penalty. 15 S.W. 

2d 535, 536-37. Hence, while there was in Wallace specific statutory authority for the 

contract and for the method of payment, neither article 7335, V.T.C.S., nor other 

statutes authorize a delinquent tax attorney’s commission to be paid out of Farm-toMarket Lateral Tax Fund revenue. 

We also direct your attention to article VIII, section 9 of the Texas Constitution, 

which establishes a general fund, a road and bridge fund, a permanent improvement 

fund, and a jury fund. A 1967 amendment to section 9 provides that “any county may 

put all tax money collected by the county into one general fund, without regard to the 

purpose or source of each tax.” However, this amendment has been held to apply only 

to these four tax levies and not to section l-a funds. Attorney General Opinion H-530 

(1975). Thus, revenue in the Farm-to-Market Lateral Tax Fund could not be 

transferred to the general fund and then be used to pay a delinquent tax attorney’s 

commission for collecting delinquent Farm-to-Market and Lateral Road Fund revenue. 

SUMMARY 

A claim for delinquent tax attorney commissions may not be 

paid out of Farm-to-Market Lateral Tax Fund revenue. 

r MARK WHI’TE 

Attorney General of Texas 

P. 694 
Honorable Bill D. Jackson - Page Three (NW-217) 

JOHN W. FAINTER, JR. 

First Assistant Attorney General 

Prepared by Jon Bible 

Assistant Attorney General 

APPROVED: 

OPINION COMMlTTEE 

C. Robert Heath, Chairman 

Jim Allison 

Jon Bible 

Walter Davis 

Susan Garrison 

Rick Gilpin 

P. 695