The Attorney General of Texas 

August 20, 1979 

MARK WHITE 

Attorney Geneml 

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P.O. sax 1254 

Aratl”. TX. 7e711 

512/4754501 

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L”bbock, TX. 7w61 

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4313 N. T.“th. SuiW F 

McAum TX. 73sol 

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Honorable George N. Rodriguez 

County Attorney 

El Paso county 

Bl Paso, Texas 79901 

Opinion No. MW- 4 7 

Re: The deposit by the County 

Tax Assessor-Collector of automobile License fees in a bank’s daily 

interest savings account and 

whether the interest earned by that 

portion of the deposit b&nging to 

the state must be turned over to 

the latter. 

Dear Mr. Rodriguez: 

You have requested our cpinion concerning the collectian of interest 

on automobile license fess held by the County ‘Tax Assessor-Collector. 

These monies are paid to the Tax Assessor-Collector as is required by article 

6675a-2, V.T.C.S. It is then the duty of this officer to distribute these fees 

to the’county and state in the manner set out in article 6675a-10, V.T.C.S. 

Your request encompasses two related questions. You want to know if the 

County Tax Assessor-Collector may secure the payment of interest for the 

short period during which he retains these fees. If the above question is 

answered so that interest can be collected, you also want to know if the 

state is entitled to the interest earned by its share of the license fees. 

The answer to your first question is that the County Tax AssessorCollector is authorized by law to seek interest on the automobile 

registration fees he holds pending the distribution of these funds to the 

county and state. Article 6675a-10 provides the procedure by which the 

license fees are to be apportioned between the county depository and/or the 

State Highway Department on the Monday of each week. In American 

Surety Co. v. Waggoner Nat’L Bank, 63 P.2d 99, 101fSth Cir. 1936), the court 

observed that: 

Raving the responsibility of keeping the fees until the 

Monday ~following their receipt, the tax collector 

necessarily possessed the concomitant authority to 

choose the method of keeping them. Ci 

v. Two Republics Life Ins. Co. (Tex. 

p. 141 
Honorable George N. Rodriguez - Page Two (Nw-47) 

S.W. 231, 233. He was under no duty to deposit these funds in the 

county depository until the Monday following their collection. No 

statute forbade temporary deposit of such fees in a nondepository 

bank for the purposes stated, so that at least as to automobile 

license fees the bank violated no statute in thus accepting the 

deposits. 

This construction of the statute enables the County Tax Assessor-Collector to place these 

fees in an interest bearing account for the short period they are in his possession. 

The answer to your second question is that the county cannot retain the interest 

earned from the deposit of that portion of the license fees owed to the state. This 

interest belongs to the state. 

Where ‘the county holds money in trust for another party, the interest is an 

increment that accrues to the owner. Sellers v. Harris County, 463 S.W.2d 242 (Tex. 1972). 

See also Attorney General Opinions M-468 (1969) and C-610 (1966). In Lawson v. Baker, 

220 S.W. 260, 272 (Tex. Civ. App. - Austin 1920, writ ref’d), the court stated that: 

Interest, according to all the authorities, is an accretion to the 

principal fund earning it, and, unless lawfully separated therefrom, 

becomes a part thereof. We think it is clear that the interest 

earned by deposit of special funds is an increment that accrues to 

such special fund. . . . 

Because the money in question is collected under statutory provisions that set it apart for 

the purpose for which it was collected and require that it go to the State Highway 

Department, this is a special fund. In light of the above authorities, the interest, as well 

as the corpus, must pass: into the possession of the state. 

SUMMARY 

The County Tax Assessor-Collector can deposit automobile license 

fees in a bank’s daily interest savings account for the short period 

he is in possession of these funds. All interest earned by that 

portion of the fees that are to be paid to the State Highway 

Department becomes part of this special fund and cannot be 

retained by the county. 

MARK WHITE 

Attorney General of Texas 

p. 142 
. 

Honorable George N. Rodriguez - Page Three (m-47 ) 

JOHN W. FAINTER, JR. 

First Assiitant Attorney General 

TED L. HARTLEY 

Executive Assistant Attorney General 

Prepared by Walter Davis 

Assistant Attorney General 

APPROVED: 

OPINION COMMITTEE 

C. Robert Heath, Chairman 

Jim Allison 

David B. Brodts 

Walter Davis 

Susan Garrison 

Rick Gilpin 

William G Reid 

Bruce Youngblood 

p. 143