I OFFICE OF THE AlTORNEY GENERAL OF TEXAS 

AUSTIN 

Q-c,- 

Hnan- 

. batlon of suoh eonsehool dlstriot with 

his depart3ont 08 to 

made of the tax naney 

OS mrtln oounty tot 

Diutrlat aubseguefit to the 

01 dlstrlat with thr Klondyh 

8 faotr la your a8430 6re as 

, ‘. I’ 

9, the Ploaasnt Valley Oomon 

uoh Js Martin County aod had on 

0 l OOBti@lOM iXldb~4Wih~t aOh 

epezdent Sohool Dlstrlot ia Pawaorr 

ry 6, 1939; tho Ootmty Botrrd o? Martin 

der oa the xiautor ot oaah Boerd purportrarutt Volley Dlrtrlot from a oonmoa 

0 ro ia6oprodoat aohool distrlot* 

6ll )rarOh la, 1939,~ tbo aounty &ago 0r Eartla County 

,*llid an rlsotion.to &strtlPirtb whether or not the Ploamit 

Fh$e ~bloyendent. Sobool~ Dirtriot ohould bs oonsolidatod with 

lib 

iJ ondyko hlndapendrnt Yahool Distriot in Dm*on CoUdY. A 

*lo o tio n for l like purpotwwnm oalled by the Oounty Judge 

Of DaWsoa Oowty on ths ama date la the Qondykb Dlutriota 

Tb hs0 Okotioas wets hold and at eaoh l lo o tldthe n, r esult .aia * iaror or oon8olidetioa. Tkb oo2ideeloners~ Oourt8 oi 
Eonorable Char148 3. .?loughtor, PO@ 2 

the respeotlys countlsr 80 deolered end o4rtlrIed the raeult8. 

The slootion *a8 48rall5d in aourt by oertaln taxpayer8 and rotor4 on th4 grounds the6 the oozwm aohool dI8- 

trlot hod previously besn, by order of the Cwntp Bomd, ahanGed 

into M Indqcndeot 4ohool dlrtrlot snd thot there ~38 AO eu- 

;i;;;iy In law to ooneolllate the two Independent sohool dlsThe 51 Pm10 Court of Cl+11 Appeals la the oa8e of 

Plea8& Valley Comon 3ohool Dlstrlot Bo. 9, et el., ~8. Jtory, 

142 3.,il. (Ed) 2C8, hold that the order of the County Board ot 

YartIn County, rhlah attdnpted to ohonge the oo;pz~on aohool dietriof Into axi Indspendezt sohool distrlot ~‘38 void end that In 

reality the elaot,Ioa on Earoh 18, 1939, wae for purpoeer of 

OonsolldiatIng a oomon eohodl dietrlot and 8 oontlguoue independsnt sohool dI8trIot. The oourt held this alootlon 

valid rind held the oonaolldvtion proper. Tim oourt utated 

B8 f 0110X8 : 

%ootlon Sb OS Art. 2742b 4othorlzo8 ths 

OOtl8Oli~3tiOll of a oozmon aohool dlatrlot in 

one oounty with 8 oontl&uoue independent dietrlot In another. The prooeduro preeorlbod by 

law 80~8 to hare been oomplled with In all 

msterlsl P36P‘JOtE. Plossant Valley ~44, betore~ 

tko elsotion, a oozuwn sob001 dlatriot oontiguous to the Xlondyke Mependent District in 

Damon County. * 

Rehenrlcg ‘);a8 d0niea In the 0540 on June 20, 1940. 

qqMoatIon ior r.rIt of error ~38 made to the 3upfam ‘Court 

and was refused on Septazber la, 1940. Ziotlon for ro.htaring 

thsreln WSE donled. 

Prior to ??aroh 13, 1939, the date of the oonaolidetion, tho County Ooznlnslonc!r’3 cf Xartln Oount 

the taoa rot the PlB48ant Valley cO!mOn Sohoo 

the year 1059. Port or the taxe8 areuseod were r0r tho purPose of paying tho intoreet and 8iIlking hid of 8 $!,600.00 

bond Issue. The rout -ma ror mintsnenae. During the nonths 

of Ootobor to Sanutq 1940, the taxes whloh b6d been assessed 

Prior to the oousolld4tIon elootlon wme oollaoted by the 

County T3r Colleotor ot Yartla County end 4uoh aoaop 1s now 

IQ tke hands of 3516 aounty tax oolleotor. Also on January 

1, 1940, like so!1001 taxen in the Pleasant Vrllay Cozcnon 

sohool DIstriot of Eartin bunty were levied but uuoh tax88 

have a8 pet not been oollaoted due to the Saot that the 

-%Qellate Court8 held the oonsolldatlon of &roh 18, 1939, to 

bQ valid. 
Eonqrabla Char108 R, 3leu4htar, paga 3 

In your letter you ask two quaatiorlar 

1. Vhat dlapoaltloo should be med. oi the 

money oolleoted during Ootober, Morezhar an4 

Deoember, 1939, aa taxer nhloh ?.aro aaasaae4 prior 

to tha aonaolIdatlon l leotlon? 

In raspeot to this question, you l 4vleo that tha 

~onsolIdatad fndspendent Sahool Dlstrlct baa held no aleotion 

to aaaum tha bonded lndobtedneaa of thm Ploaaant Valley OOW 

mea 3ohool Dlatrlot aa4 haa al80 not bald aa l laatioa tar pur- 

~osrr of lrrylng a new tax of auoh don6olIUatad Indrpendent 

3ohool Dlatrlot. 

Aa atated by the El Pa80 Oourt of Olvil Appeal8 ln 

the Pleasant Valley Comoa Sohool Diatrlot Case, l apra the aoaaolldatlon wa8 authorized under the terra of Seotloa 86 of 

Artiole 2742b, rblob read8 aa iollowa~ 

*Ia the mannor Prssoiibsd by general law, 

Artiole 2806, Rsvlsed Statutea, 1925, provldla~ 

for’tne oonaoll4atI~a of sohool diatriotr bf 

sleotion, Comon 3ohool an4 Cozxxon Oouat]r-l.ine 

Dlatrlots nay be oonaolldated, and Coxcon 5ohool 

an4 Oomoa County-llze Sohool DlstrTots 3~a 

oonsolidated with a oontimous Indepsnden -+A%- 

trlot in tha aaxe or la an adjolnina Count 

144 b h tha proposition ia to aorta 

iIa&&i”h%f territory In two or MM a4joining Counties, tie patltloas and elaotioa ozdera 

presorlbeb In Artlele e806, Revised Statutea, 

3925, shall be addroased to an4 188ue4 by the 

Sounty Judga of eaoh County iOr and lo bahali of 

ssoh dlatriat w.?olly In hIa County or over whfoh 

hla County hsa jurlsdlotloa ror admIiiatrstlv8 

purposes, sad the County ComlaaIonerr~ Oourt of 

eaoh County shall oanvaaa the return8 of the elaotion in rrroh dlatrlot 17lng wholly wlthin the 

Couatp or under It8 jurl8dlotloa for admlaistratire gurpoaea, and deolarr tha resulta, as in tha 

oaaa of the oonaolldatioa of dlatrlota lying wholly 

wlthia one Coucty 

1 

and &tea the raaulta Bra a0 daolared tha oonsol datlon of the diatrlots ShpLl 

thereby beoone ofieotfve.w ( Undoraoorlng OUra) 

Yeotfoa 11 of said Artiola rsada aa iollowa1 

*Ia oaaiw *hers o!isn@a are mada an4 diatriota 

having outstanding bonded indebtodnaaa and rhera 

tha neoeaaary roruadiac: boa48 are v,oO@d down or rhare 

YO 
Bonorcrbla Chorlca El 3laueht#r, pergo w 

the oounty Boor4 of Truatoea are othowIae unabla to. . 

arrange an adjurtmont or aottlesent of ruoh bonded ladebtedneaa, it shall br the duty o? tha trustees to 

oertify the ?aOt an4 tbo tarrltorlea l ffeoted b y l uoh 

ohangea, to the Ooamlaaloaen" Court and tbarupoa it 

shall beooma tha dut 

theraafter aanuall~ 1 

OS the Cocrmlsaioaors~ Court to 

evy and oauao to ba aaaeaaod end 

oolloote4 ?rom the taxpayers of auoh dlatriota as thaf 

exiatod before the obangea wore made, the tax nooaaaary 

to pay tho interest, the alnklng ian4 sod dlaoharga 

the prlnolpal of auoh lndebta4aeaa aa It xmturea, And 

it shall bo the duty of oaoh lndopondent Sohool Dlatrlot 80 e??eoted, to oauae all fun48 ln its hands, 

whothor sinking ?unda or otherulao, whloh hare born 

oolleoted on aooount o? auoh bonded lndobtednaaa, to 

be transform6 to tho Gaunt 

%n whloh auoh dlatrlct is 

Trosaurar o? the County 

a I tuated aml auoh dlatrlot 

shall thereafter oehse to letf and oollrof a4 tex on 

aooount of auoh bondal and it shall ba the duty oi the 

Oouaty Treaagrgo to kaep the run48 80 transferred an& 

thosa arlain~ from taxation, la aoparata sooounta an4 

apply the aas oal 

ii 

to the Qluoharga of ruoh bonds4 

Ih4abtednoaa and t e intereat thereon, a0 the same 

raeturoa.a 

‘80 quobe the above aaotlono for the purpose of showlne that even though the oonmoa sohool dlatrlot has been ooaaolldated with a ooatiguour independent aohool diatriot ft ia 

the duty of the Oonrariaalonera * Court to sea that taxer am lerlsd 

iOr the purpose of pa 

oherglng the prinoipo f 

lag tha interest, afnklng tund, end diro? the boaded lndobtedaeaa o? the foner 

Oomoa l ohool dlatrlot, avaa thou& auob dlatrlot baa goao out 

Of l x la teno e. Suoh tax la to be larlob againat the tagr;;;y 

that was fomerlr ln auoh conmoa aohool dirtriot, 

re*pOot tho oollootlon OS the 1939 ttx es to tha portion to ba 

uaO4 to apply to tho bonded lndebtsdnesa of tho OozuuOa aohool 

Qiatriot was valid. Al80 10 may be point04 out that thlr la 

true baoausa tha sew oonaolldatad lndapandont aohool dletrlot 

has not tots4 to assume the bonded indobtsdnoaa of auoh oomon 

*ohool diatrlat, Ia line with the above, the Comalaaloa of 

~QQeala of Poxar ln tha oaae of Pyoto fndepndant Sohool Dlatrlot vs. Dyer, s4 2, 79. (213) 697, atatod 86 followat 

*Also tha looal board uaiially levlea all 

bond tares of-an ladopondmt dlatrl~t. R. 0. 3, 

of Toxaa 1925, arts. 2784 an4 2788, Thor0 la 

one exoeptlon to this rule and in our opinion 

that erooptlon la not lavo i rod here. Tho afoe 

tloa nantloned la *hero after ohsa 

Qlatrlots or the area&a of new 4 

oi the oli di#triot#, tharr bar been no prorlalon 

br aaetmptloa of tho lndobtednrar or othemiao ?Or 

tha payment ot the bonds that ara outataEdln& againat 

tbo old-Qiatriot, and auoh iaotr ~ZO oertIflo4 t0 tho 
. 

Eonorablr Chorloa I!. Slaughter, pee 6 

oo.mlaslonerr~ court by the ocuaty oohool bocrd, then 

it IS th0 duty 0r tb c0~23i~~:0n~r~~ 00u-t to (IDI 

nually levy a tax ror ,tha purpose of pa7lnF: the old 

boado lndobtodneos, 3oe ocotlca 11 oh, 04 Aotr 

First Call06 L?esslon, rortloth tsg&tu~e (19$7) 

ypp,p 2Z8 (Vernon’n km. Clv. 4% art. 874&b, 

. 

Aa to tho portlo~ of tto tax levied S0.r meintonrrnoo 

purgoeer, the rollowing quotatloa from tho ‘Pyote 08~0 In dieousslnq a almlldr tax sltuatlon 23 izwortant: 

“It sloo apponro that tts tares lsrlod by the 

oo~isolonora’ oourt wore loge1 when lcvlcd, and 

thst they razaimd local throu&hout the taxgsyjn& 

period of that petmb T5la bale tks 03-o) those 

who ;ald the taxes levied by the oOmloslonerr~ 

aourt, lf onr did 80, ohould be prOt&Od ana OP?Sditod by suoh anout aa thap 80 paid on the mount they 

zay OKO OA the taxan voted snd levlcd by the iodependoat 61strIot~W 

Ih our osae the ooz!~on rohool dlstriot went out of 

eslstenoo on !Zaroh 18, 1939, or do man t!%reetter a8 the rooults 

of the ocnsolldation o1ootlon wero beolsredb Thmrore, the 

.oou.cty tsx oollsotcr hetl n3 3ut.horitp to 001100t any tares ror 

6uoh af6tri0t exoept the OAOE dkoussed ror purpoees 0r paylw 

0rr the bonded lndebtsd~aea, ft la ocr oglnion ttat tke oountg 

tax colleotor had no authority to oolleot my oi tho taxer for 

the old OOaTTOA school district eroe?t tho tar for the pWp,osO 

oi saying tte bonded Indebtedness ar.6 Interest thereon, and 

that the procsduro prescribed in the ipote 08~0 should be 

iollOwl 60 to the taxas that were aotuall 

the lndagendoat sohool dlstrlot should in t 

paid -- that is, 

ha future, orodlt 

the taxpayers with th.o pap8nt of euoh tax when suoh dlstriot 

Votes 6-d levlos II taxa I(hoJ such i.?doperAo;it school dletriot 

levlos o now tax mid ~1~s such taxpayers tho oredlt, theA this 

tax ao~ep SO oolleoted skou?d at that tlzo bo turned over to 

auoh lndo~or.derit school dlotriot. 

2. fn your second question you state that thm 

County cd59f0n0~* c0w or 26x-t in to&y, OA January 1, 

lerlcd 8 fjer far the 0-A oohool district 

1940, 

l VQA th0UF.h ouoh 

cordon oohool district oeaaed to oxlrt durIn6 ?.!aroh oi 19390 

The Coz~&sl~norn~ Court nes without authority to levy any tax 

Wi.nst tt.8 property of the old oO~~IOA~O~OO~ dietrIot 0X0@ 

the ono rop bond purpooeo aa previ@w4 dIsoussod, The eona6fJiOA 0r A 

thin oonneot s 

peal8 in the Pyot6 06oe rtatod 88 r0ii0w ln 

ona 
"#beA the oounty sohool board Or Vard Oount 

etltered its order orretlng Pyote fndopondent Sohoo I 

District out of old Oozmon Sohool Dlstrlot Bo. 4, the 

olb dletrlot atsood to sxlrt on6 all ~lntsnenoe 

texss thsretotore voted by it oeaned to br in ioror. 

Thir king ths 0880, no p o wer l xlstsd ia sky taxlevying body to levy further malntsnsnos taxss on ths 

propert oi tha dlstrlot until tho nsw distrlot should 

rota suoh tax in tbs way and mdnntr provided by law 

and br the CoArtltutloA~* 

You are sdvlssd, therefore as-to the tar lsvled by 

ths Commleslonora~ Court for tha year i94opa; m&po&t;;~ 

or lo to bs used to pa7 the interest and 8 

bomlod lAdsbtsdn8rs of ths territory of the old 0-A rohool 

district should bo oolleotsd and should bs so rppllsd. You _ 

are iurtber advised that the assessneat as to the remain&or 

or the tax ror looal maintonanoe 1s void snb the oounty tax 

oollootor lr unauthorized to oolleot Barn* 

. 

de aro rnolooln a oopy ot Otzr.Opinlon BO. 0-1638 

‘uhloh desls with the author f ty o? the newly oraatcd Independent 

oohool dlstrlot to rot0 a tax levy iOr the year 1940. 

Your very truly 

BOIEP 

MCLOSC’RB