Honorable G. Dixon Mahon Opinion No. C-775

District Attorney County Courthouse Re: Questions relative to the Ozona, Texas use of the same assessment blanks, tax rolls, statements and receipts for both an independent school district and the county or city, when the county or city assess and collects the taxes for the Dear Mr. Mahon: school district.

You have requested the opinion of this office in regard to the captionedmatter. I quote from your lettermaking the request as follows:

'Prior to the amendment of Article 2792,

or city taxassessor, in assessing and collecting taxes for an independent school district at assessed values greater than the values assessed for city, county and statepurposes, lawfully assess and collect the district taxes by using separate columns or separateportions of the same sheets of paper which are used for the city or county assessmentblanks, tax rolls, statements and receipts, or was it mandatory prior to such amendment, and is it now mandatory, that completelyphysically separate assessment blanks, tax rolls, statements and receipts be used for such district taxes?"

We quote from the applicable statute,Article 2792, Vernon's Civil Statutes, as follows:

"When a majority of the Board of Trustees of an independent district prefer to have the

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taxes of their district assessed and collected by the county assessor and collector,or by the city assessor and collector, of an incorporated city or town in the limits of which the schooldistrict, or a part thereof is located,or collectedonlyby the county or city tax collector, samemay be assessed and collected,or collectedonly, as the case may be, by said county or city officers, as may be determinedby the Board of Trustees of said independent school district, and turned over to the treasurer of the independent schooldistrict forwhich such taxes have been collected. The property of such districtshaving their taxes assessed and collectedby the county or city assessor and collectormay be assessed at a greater value than that assessed for city, county and State purposes, and in such cases the city or county tax assessor and collectorma assess the taxes 9 for said district on separa e assessmentblanks furnishedby said district and shallprepare the rolls for said district in accordancewith the assessmentvalues which have been equalized by a Board of Equalizationappointedby t$e Board of Trustees for that purpose.
. . . (Emphasisadded)
Prior to the amendmentenactedby the 59th Legislature of the State of Texas, the applicablepart of the statute read: I,

. . . the city or county tax assessor and collector shall assess the taxes for said district on se-e assessmentblanks furnishedby said district and shallprepare the rolls for said district in accordancewith the assessmentvalueswhich have been equalizedby a Board of Equalization appointedby the Board of Trustees for that purpose.
. . .' (Bmphasisadded)

We have been advisedby the Office of the State Comptroller of PublicAccounts, the office chargedwith administering

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the tax collectionmachinery of the State of Texas, that assessmentblanks are the rendition forms or sheets for listing the inventory of taxableproperty which areprepared and rendered eitherby the individualproperty owner or the tax assessor. The assessmentblanks arephysically separate forms and not merely blank spaces on a single sheet of paper.
In considering the change of wording brought aboutby the 1965 amendment to Article 2792, the word 'shall"connotes directive,ness

or something that ismandatory or required, whereas the word 'may"has the connotation of permissiveness or some degree of discretion.

It is, therefore, the opinion of this office, that prior to the 1965 amendment, city or county tax assessors, in assessing for independent school districts, could not lawfullyuse the same assessmentblanks or property inventoryblanks as those used for assessing for city purposes or for county and statepurposes.
It Is further the opinion of this office that under the 1965 amendment to Article 2792 the use of physically separateassessmentblanks, orproperty inventory sheets in the casewhere a city or county assessor is assessing for an independent school district ispermitted but not required, and that separate columns on the same assessmentblanks may be used for assessing the different property values for each taxingunit.
The primary concern of any taxing body in preparing its taxing procedures is to insure that nothing is done to invalidate the tax levy or the assessment of the property evaluation.
The case of Miller v. Vance, 107 Tex. 485, 180 S.W. 739 (1915),held that separateproperty renditions andpreparation of separate rendition sheets did not affect the validity of the tax assessed in that manner. The case of Rhomberg v. McLaren, 21 S.W. 571, (Tex.Civ.App.1893) held th t the failure to make separate tax rolls for a school d&rict, taxes for which were being collectedby a city, would not affect the validity of the taxes. Therefore,we are of the opinion that the failure to use separate assessment blanks or property inventoryblanks prior to the 1965

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amendment to Article 2792would not invalidatethe taxes assessed.

In regard to the question as to whether separatetax rolls, statementsand receiptsmust be used, ormust have been used prior to the 1965 amendment,we again quote from Article 2792 as follows:

II

. . . If said taxes are assessedby a special assessor of the independentdistrict and are collected onlyby the city or county tax collector,the city or county tax collector in such cases shall accept the rolls prepared by the special assessor and approvedby the Board of Trustees asprovided in the preceding Article. When the county assessor and collector is required to assess and collect the taxes of independent SChOQl districts,the Board of Trustees of such schooldistrictmay contract with the CommissionersCourt of said county forpayment for such servicesas theymay see fit to allow,not to exceed the actual cost incurred in assessing and collecting said taxes; andwhen the assessor and collector of an incorporatedcity, or town, as hereinbefore provided, is required to assess and collect the taxes of independent school districts, the Board of Trustees of such schooldistrictsmay contractwith the governingbody of said city forpayment for such services as theymay,see fit to allow, not to exceed the actual cost incurred in assessing and collecting said taxes."

As the Board of Trustees of an independent schooldistrict is authorized to contractwith the county commissioners court or the governingbody of a city for assessment and collection of taxes, it would seem that the respective county and city assessors and collectors shouldbe able touse the sane tax rolls, statementsand receipts as thoseused for city and county and statepurposes. The statedpurpose of the 1965 amendment toArticle 2792 is to enable taxing authoritiesto achievemore efficiency in their operation. (See Emergency Clause,Acts 59th Leg. R. S. 1965, p. 1579, ch. 685)

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To achievemore efficiency the political subdivisionperforming the service for the school district shouldbe able to combine assessing and preparing rolls, statementsand receipts for the two bodies so long as ,theschool tax rates, assessmentsand amounts are readily distinguishable.
Where the assessed valuation for the independent schoo district is higher than the assessedvaluation for the cite or for the county and state it is advisable that provision be made on the~tax rolls, statements and receipts to show the differentvaluations and rates to avoid confusion in theminds of the taxpayingpublic.

SUMMARY ------- Prior to the 1965 amendment to Article 2792,Vernon's Civil Statutes, a city or county tax assessor, in assessing taxes for an independent school district at values higher than those assessed for city, county and statepurposes was required to assess the school district tax by using physically separate assessmentblanks, but the failure to use separateblanks did not invalidate the taxes assessed. However, the use of separate tax rolls, statements and receipts was not required. Subsequent to the 1965 amendment to Article 2792, a county or city tax assessor ispermitted,but not required, to use completely physically separate assessmentblanks in the assessment of school district taxes. A separate column on the same assessment blank may be used in assessingvalues for the different taxingunits. The use of separate tax rolls, statements, and receipts is not required.
Very truly yours,

Assistant Attorney General
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APPROVED:
OPINION COMMITTEE W. 0, Shultz, Chairman Gordon Cass Robert Flowers Pat Bailey Marietta Payne
APPROVED FOR THE ATTORNEY GENERAL BY: T. B. Wright

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