OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL OF TEXAS 

AUSTIN 

Honorabla J. Finer Pow.11 

County Attornay 

Brown County 

Br~wnwood, Texas 

Jhar sir1 

Ka are SD noalpt 

raqueatin~ the opin101~ of t 

put 88 roli0r8: 

tba ques$loq4vbetbar a bondholder for inatansa 

for the payment of whoa8 bon6 a oertati Mr. he& 

bean laviad, OOuld 00mpal th8 hUfm& authority 

to devote the lntaraat and paalty to the payment of his bond; and ir: nO;.ca8e a0 iu 88 my 

knowledge goea, was the quu,atlon inYolY6d 

whether a taxpayer could o~pal awh 65.~p0cati0~ 

of the intare& and penaltjr iund. 1 m partfeularly anxious for your opinion on tbia 8apwt 

of tbs quaatlon." 
7’42 

Eon. J. Plner 7owel1, Page 8 

The g@n@r@l rub with rarerenoe to the disposition 

Of penalties and intorest is edited in Ooolay on Taxation, 

4th Ed. Vol. 4, p. 3578, .TQO. 1821, aa &llma; 

“F’enaltlea lbr dallnquant taxma gcmarally 

follow the tax ace 80 to the dl strict sntitiea 

to the tax, unless It ir otharwiaa protIde by 

statute. Cn tbc 0tba.r hand, if tEt pbnaltIea 

are ImPosad by the Leglalatum, thaiii- dlapo~ltlon 

routs In its dlaoretlon. Money lbriY.6 from 

RMaltisa and torfeiturea where taxes are dallyquent @I%? not % part Of the tax, end tiara Irrpoaad 

by Fe Laglalatura it baa ,a rf&t to dispoaa or 

PAah runda a# It llksm, ragardlaas ot the purpose 

of the tax, as agalnat the objaotion that pub110 

money relaeb. for one purpoas cannot ba usrd for 

anothw. . .” 

p* lfN?B, 

Ths p*nera~sr~l~l~~elao stated in 61 Corpus Jurla 

S*o. 2E50) : 

*Unless otharwlsa direoted, Intaraat, panaltlaa, and coats oolleotad on dalinquant turns 

rollow tba tax, end go to the atate, oountJ 

or olty, l ooordlng a8 tta one or tha othar is 

entitled to the tax Itaolf, end, In oaa~a wham 

two or more of thee8 two Inkr4stod in the tax, 

auob Interest szib nsnaltiea should be appcmtIonad esong them In the ratio of their roapaotire 

aharea or the tax, the foragolng baing eometlmee 

provided for bg- statute. But the ~~iU~P%lPO 

map ahange thin rule and diapoas otherwiar Of 

lntarrat or penalties. A etatut. provldlng for 

the dletrlbution ot Interest end penaltl88 601- 

leoted i:1 6 Biifartnt ainner from the 6lepoaItlon 

of the taxas on wbfoh the lntareat and Renaltier 

are baaed does not umotlnt to the Sppli~@tfO~ Of 

taxga to obJaots other than for wbiob tbY were 

i~p0s.d. . .” 

Artlo 7338, Revteed (~1~11 .Ydxte@, lO25, @@ 

amsndea, *ich p0rides ror penaltlaa end Intmaat on dallnquant taxes, reads in part aa followat 
rioon. J. Finer ?awtll, 2868 $j 

*kll penalties and Intareat prov$ded~for 

1~ ti:ic .;ot stell, whtn colltotad, be ?eld m the 

state, counties, and dletriota, if any, In pro- 

.;;Ortion to the tsxas upon vb,lch the pemlty and 

inttraat arc follaotad. All aisaountc prorldad 

fOT lo thic Act shell, a-bcn allowed, be ohargatj 

to the state, counties, end dlatricts, if ay, 

in proportion to thu tare% upon which such d;acounts nrt ellmad.*~ 

You state that you haYe been unable to rind any 

statute In Texas proYidIng for the dlcpomltion or panaltiea 

end Intartat and we have bran unable to find a0y axeept that 

quoted above which epgllaa as between t!! Yarloua taxing 

authoritlba and not rrprassly to the varlout funda of the 

county. 

In tht oasa Of JOWE Ya. I'i~liaaa, 1El Tex. 94, 

46 I'. X. (R8) 150 our %xprem Court held that p&tSlti~@ arid 

intaraat l ra no part Of tht tax and tbt Le@lslatura therefore 

has autimlty to lsaka tiispoeltlon ttereaf or to raleaao such 

peoaltlea snd interest. ft is suaaastaa that this holding 

affords t&m basis for strong argunmnt that, the taxlne, authorities do not neoaasarlly booa to plaoe the interart gid 

p~naltles in #a pertioular fund far which tha dellnc;wnt 

taxaa mra levied and asaa~aad~ We do not think, however, 

met this la the netural or proper rwult of auoh holding 

ainoa it la ar, a~plioatIon of the ganaral rule that the 

Lagltlaturo amy laeka other ;xoYIslona for the biapoaltlon 

of ptnaltIra. The quaatlan here peaantad inroltaa the 

proper credltlne of penaltlas as betwten various funds whan 

the hLeglelatura has not g.lrm any 8ptolPlo alraotIon with 

refuonca thu*to. 

ft mu16 sees to rollaa, by analogy to the mneral 

rulea hereimmrt stated, that in the abaenat Of at@tUt~rV 

pr@Ylslons to the contrary, $NaSltie6 COlieOtSd fOF 88X dalinguaocy should fo31ow the prl::olpal and be prora886 among 

the Yarious fund6 ror whl0b the ttxe5 W4rt collt0tad. If 

thj.8 were not true than would be no proYiaiOn f0r the daposit and accounting rOr pesmltlos mai lnttraat. 

It is tharefore our opinion that panaltltd end 

interest, toftsn mlleotsd, &oultI be prorated and pl8Ued to 

the or&It of the various fund6 to vAii.oh the tax88 in que@- 

t;On ware due and upOn Rich the penaltime and Intares% 10 

c,uestion aocrutd. 
Eon. 3. Plaer Powell, yasrs 4 

You diaauar a further ‘question %n your letter but 

iron attached corre4pondeno4 and other data wu believe i t 

does not oonawn the aountp, but la a qu8stion affeoting a 

water lmgroventent dietclct and its bondholders, whiah it 

would hardly be groper ror UB to atteknpt to 4mw4r. 

IfIRST AC: 

fiTTORNFi --.- 

GGGIJ’M