Acsomutic:s Conml.sa3.on is authorixcd 

to loan or grant 

funds for the.purpose of conatruct$on, 

repalr or tiproveDear sir:. : 

ment of alrporta, on 

.li?ased Jand;. ~:' . 

., Y& ?mve. r~ested.aa op%QzLon:conce&'wh&& 

the Texas Aerotiutics Couir@sskn may loan or grant 

Zunds for the purpose of constructloi?, repair or tiprovcsent of aIrport on leased land, and If so, under what 

cinditions, If any. ~QU potit out that the Texas 

lidroaautlcs Co~sslon baa ipz6.n 'authoriried -under II-B... 

12 .snd .H.&. '43 of.the 59th:~~is'a~~..to,Iq~~~~.-~~~: 

mcaey -to lbas. ~eommunltle* c for %:ij :coasl+i+orx,~~r.epaAr 

.or -improvement of airports'; '~':. 

ii. 43 (Acts 54th Leg, 19G5, 'Ch. 196; $.'3;7) 

mends Article 466-6, Vernon% Texas' Clvll Statutes, by 

add%ng a new subditisiotito read as follows: 

"Subd%vlsl& i0 1 When Lnthe'discretior~ 

of the Comission the public Interest will 

best be served; and the governmental funCtlOn 

of the State or its political subdivisions 

relattive Tao ae~onautica'kll best be discha+!d, 

it, may grant or leap fucds, appropriated.to 

..it for that purpose by the Legislature, to any 

incorporated city, town or village in.thls 

State for the establishment, coiwttictlon, : 

reconstmc~tion, enla*gemqt or repairof airports; airstripa or air navigational facilities; 

-24&L 
kg. 

Tne eneral appropr:.ation b5li (1I.a. 12, Acts 59th 

lge5 -7 .appropriated Sunds for such purposes. 

Obviouslyr Subdl,vlsion.lO contempltites that The l&M. ~: 

upon whlch~these"tistsllations are to be made.8hal.l be:,~:., 

owned. by the munlcipaUtg,&.le~ed by :lt So?? ~a mInImum_:; :.:: 

oS.twenty years: .' .: .' .,. .,.. . I .. ,' :'. 

The basic questionwhich'must be answered in . . .' 

connection with these~statutes is nhether the'.use of 

public Sunds for the improveine@t of:pr%vately owned 

'land (which is'merely leased'tc? .the.mmI.c%pa~~) :_,. 

. . 

.constitutes a grant oS~.pub&ic> 'funds.& Wed%~~%vMilxi~the'~ ,'

iaeanbg.of’Sect~ons’50; .5X or 52 or Ax+%cle III or T -'.' '. 

Section -6 of Article XVX of the..Constltutlon of Texas. 

: The pertinent portions.oS these.constitutional~provlsions 

8re as Sollows: 

"Sec. .50. The L&gislature shall.have no 

power to give or lend, 'or to authorise~the 

giving qr lendin& of the credit OS the State 

in.aid OS, or to any tierson, association or 

corporation,.,whether municipal tir:other, or' 

to p,ledge .the credit of the State in any 

manner whatsoever; for the payment of the 

liabilities, present,or prospective, of any 

indivIdua1, association of indivtduals,- 

. municipal or other corporation.whatsoever." 

"SeC . 51. The Le&slature shell have 

no -power to make any.grant or authorize the 

m&Ing of any grant of public moneys to any 

-2409- 
,- 

,,. 

ljonorable James N. L&l~:m, pkge 3 (C-5l.!L ) 

"Sec. 52. The Le$ciaturi sbz~13. have XI 

power to a~?.lhn:?be any county, city, tox;~ or 

other political oorporat%o.n or cubd:lvi::ion 

of the State to Lend l'ts cr;:G:;if; or to grant 

p?blic money or thing of value in asd of, or 

to 2ny inAlvlduzsh as!3o!dr;tir.o3 or co?'poratlo;l 

whatsoever,. . . . 

"Sec. 6. No appropr$.atzioz for private‘or 

lndP.%dual purposes shal3 be m&de. . . .(I 

The questionwhether Sectlo& 50.and 51 OS Article XII 

absolutely prohibit the gtianting.oS State Sunds to'munl-:-;: 

clpal corporations gives.us no trouble because ithas:be,en '. 

settled that said.provislbn$:,do.no~.bar the'granting o,S'~:i. 

estate Sunds.to municipal corporations for use in overn-, 

~~$%%!&@4). l+urthe-rk A +- 

Shelby County v ‘Alf;~WilS?t!Pe$~-, 

i 

'Vernonls Civil Statutes, a part of'the knicipal A&port's 

act, states. in, part:. 

"Tne.acqul$ition:oZ;'~~~~ land:or,interest 

therein pursuant to thls ;rct,, ths ~. ; : c.onstruc-: 

tion . ~;, i .maintenance ;.-. . and policing of.~~.': 

alrports":k .~; are 'hereby~ declared to~be.publlc 

'and governmental Sun&ions, . . ..;" 

and in Attorne 

August 11, 196 1 

Qeneral!.s Opinion ko.,C-202, dated 

ti this-office held that'sectlon 51.LOS 

.Article III of the Constitution of Texas wouid not be: 

violated bye the proposed amendment.to Article 46c-6, : 

Vernon's Civil Statutes;, so as to authorize thegrant OS 

funds to fncoroorated cities Sorthe constructionof airPorts and navigational Saciiitlea. This opin&k was based 

.tipon City of Corsicana vi Wren, 159 Tex. 202, 317 S .W.2d, 

,516, 520.(1958) which sustained the constitutionality 

of Article 46d-i5, quoted in ,past above, and.held that . 

the'ovMership'~and operation of an airport is a governmental 

function. 

However% the above mentioned opinion and court 

decisions do not involve the. question presented by your 

request; that Is, the use of public funds for the lmprove- 

..ment of privately owned'land, It is.clear that Ji.B. 43 

'. '. 

-2klO- 
Ronorable 3ames N. Lundlum,~ page 4 (C-,fXl ~) 

quoted above contemplates the possible use of pub!.ic 

funds to improve land belonging to %ndividua!.s, i?:x:GcSati@~;.~ 

or corpo-,- v,.;+-lons other than niunicipai CorRorations. At 

the C.??Ld Of t.hc tW2ili’y- :J<?G?’ :crase tt,,: ~qxyQ>.!~~~~)j~~ 0:: the 

land will become the property of the ~o?:lier of t?!e fee I 

In our opilnion, the tc-:i;m of the Ic~se has nothing to do 

with the questlon'of the authority of t:hn State or 

municlpal5.ty to use I>ublic funds to improve the larld. 

The statutory provision now requiring a twenty-year lease 

may be emended at any time to rcqwire a one->:ear o:*' a 

two-year leas'. 2.X1 :in:l CVei!t, t1a-x qgest;t~n 1:; I;l:e sa:::c:. 

The clear and unambiguous lr:ngu?ze in the above 

quoted constitutional provi:3.ons, In our'opini~n, rend-ers 

.'invalld.the above.quoted statutory provIsIons to thc.extent 

that they authorize the expe~diture.of.8tate.o~. mur&cipal 

funds t6construk.t imp-rovements -on prlvat~ly.ow~ed,'lar,d,' 

.and, therefore, :t,he' Commission .is .not autho.r$z,ed,, .to Toan 

-(&.J-!;li;-.< : ~:, : ~ I ,‘... .~: :: i ;., .., ,. : :.. 1 : 

.. If.-& -icQw$lity owns ~the fee tftle.to%he .1&d, 

as distinguish& from the mere leasehold interest in 

it, the prohibitions ~of the above quoted.constitutionaX 

provisions would not apply. 

.“. .~Y. .‘~ 

~2.. 

~K~;E$ .43’ (Act+59th I&., 1$&5, $h:~:$;-'~ ; 

pi 397) and H.R. 12 The General Appropriation 

Bill- Acts 59th Leg. I are unconstitutional to 

hat they provide for the grant of ~' 

-___-, .~_ _- __ 

the extent. tl 

public money~and tom the extent.that they ap-.~. 

.propriate. Ijubl$c'money to Improve leased land, 

-and; therefore, the Texas' Aeronautics Com- 

: mission is not authorized to loan or grant 

~~ funds for the purpose.of,.tionstrutiti.on, repair 

or improvem.ent of airports on~leased land. 

.Yo&s very .truly~, . . . 

: WAGGONER CARR ,. 

. Attorney Gen,eral of Texas 

. 

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. ‘, , j..,