Honorable Wayne Lefevre

County Auditor Clay County Henrietta, Texas
Dear Sir: OpinionNo. o-5978 Re: Whether Clay County can legally expend money out of its Permanent Improvement Fund for the purpose of erecting a monument or some form ,of

memorial on the courthouseyard in honor of Clay County boys in theArmed Services.
Your letter of ,April18, 1944,requesting'the'opinion of this department on the matters stated therein read8 a8 follows:"Would it be legal for 'ClayCounty,Texas, to expend out of its Permanent ImprovementFund (BuildingFund) monies for the purpose of erecting a monument or some form ofmemorial on the Courthouseyard in honor of Clay County boys who are in the service,please advise. Or would it be necessary for public subscription?" Article 2352, ofVernon'sAnnotated Civil Statutes, provides:

“Said court shall have the power to levy and collect a tax for countypurposes, not to exceed twenty-five cents on the one hundred dollarsvaluation, and a tax not to exceed fifteen cents on the one hundred dollarsvaiuatien to supplement the jury fund of the county, and not to exceed fifteen cents for roads and bridges on the one hundred dollarsvaluation, except for the payment of debts incurredprior to the adoption of theHonorable Wayne Lef'evre, page 2 (O-5978) --.

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amendment to the Constitution,September 25, 1883, and for the erection ofpublic buildings, streets, sewers,water-works and otherpermanent improvements, not to exceed twenty-fivecent8 on the one hundred dollarsvaluation in any oneyear, and except as in the Constitution otherwiseprovided. They may levy an additional tax for road purposes not to exceed fifteen on the one hundred dollars valuation of the property subject to taxation, under the limitation8and in the mannerprovided for inArticle VIII, Section 9 of the Constitutionand pursuant to,the lawsrelating thereto." Section 9 of ArticleVIII of the State Constitution prescribes the maximum rate of taxes for generalpurposes, for roads and bridges, for juries, and for permanent improvements, respectively. The money arising from taxes levied and collected for each of the enumeratedpurpose8 are constitutional funds; and the commissioners1court has no power to transfermoney from one fund to another, nor to expend for onepurpose tax money raised ostensibly for anotherpurpose. The immediatepurpose for the provision is to limit the amount of taxes that may be raised for these severalpurposes, respectively;but it is also designed to lnhiblt excessive expenditures for any suchpurpose and to require that any and all money raised by taxation for any purpose shall be applied to that articularpurpose.~ (SeeCarroll v.Williams, 202 s. w. 5of; Commissioners1Court ofHenderson County v. Burke, 262 S. w. 9%; Tex. Jur.,Vol. 11,page 609, and authorities cited therein.)-

Generally speaking, it is well established in this State that "commissioners I oourts are courts of limited jurisdiction, in that their authority extends only to matters pertaining to the general welfare of their respective countie8 and that their power8 are only those expressly or impliedly conferred upon them by law tion and statutes of the state." (TEFJZ: ,b~~E"cli~t'",&i)

We,have failed to find any authority that permit8 the commissioners'court to expend county funds for the purpose heretoforementioned. We do net think that a "monument ormemorial" such as mentioned in your letter is a permanent improvement as contemplatedby the Constitution or statutes of this State.-

HonorableWayne Lefevre, page 3 (o-5978)

Therefore, in the absence of such authority, it is the opinion of this department that Clay County has no legal authority to expendmoney out of Its Permanent Improvement Fund or any other county fund for the purpose of erecting a monument or some form ofmemorial in honor of the citizens of said county who are in the Armed Services, although the proposed expenditure of said funds is a patriotic and commendable one.
Yours very truly
ATTORNEY GENERAL OF TEXAS

By /s/Ardell Williams

Ardell Williams Assistant.
AW:db:sc

APPROVED APR 2'7,1944 /B/George P. Blackburn Acting ATTORNEY GENERAL OF TEXAS

APPROVED Opinion Committee By BWB Chairman