I’RE A~OR~Y GENERAL 

OP TEXAS 

PRICE DANIEL 

ATTORNEY GENERAL 

beeember 22, 1952 

Hon. Har$ison .Hall 

county .Attomey, 

Opinion NO. v-1559 

Newton County R0: 

Newton, Iha 

Authority of Klrbyvllle 

Consolidated Independent 

School District to require 

that schools taxes not be 

collected by the Tax Assessor-Collector of Newton 

County, although the Tax 

Assessor-Collector prepared 

assessments and rolls prior 

Dear Mr. Hall: to this notioe. 

YOU r6p383t.the 0pin10n 0r this 0rfm UPON 

the following question: Map the Board of Trustees of 

a consolidated independent school district. composed of 

territory in .two adjoining counties collect its t+xes 

through ‘a tax collector appointed by the Board of Trastees of the district notwithstanding the taxes may have 

theratoiore been adsessed by the assessor-collector of 

one o? the countiasl 

Your question arises from the following facts: 

“ti.Maroh 29, A.D., 1952, Kirbyville 

Ind.‘~ S. bist. No. 905’ of Jasper County, 

and Call County Line Ind. S.,Dist., involving parts of both Jasper and flewton 

Countirr, Jpspr couuty hftvinf cttE;;l 

of said County: Line Mst. 

above:date thebe two S. Dists. were coneolidated’by election, forming w’hat is 

.frd knrs; aa the Kirbyville ConsoUdated 

. . 

“In the years past, the Newton County 

Tax Collector-Assessor, by agreement, has 

bian collectiiig the taxes for the said 

Comity,, Line School Dlst . and turning, same 

ovef to the’schaol, aocbrding to the Assessments and roll& made up by the AssessorCollector of Newton County. 
. . 

Hon. Harrison Hall,, page 2 (V-1559) 

“The assessment and rolls were made 

out for this year by the Assessor-Collector 

of Newton County. Thereafter, on the 29th 

of Sept., pf this year, the Assessor-Collector of Newton County was notified by the 

newly formed school dlst. not to collect 

said taxes.” 

!qe do not find It necessary to review the 

steps leading up to the formation of the Kirbyville 

Consolidated Independent School District as it presently exists. We assume that Its formation and its 

existence Is In all respeots legal. This being true, 

it possesses all the power and authority in the matter of ~the assessment and collection of its taxes 

oonfrrred by the Legislature upon Independent school 

districts in general and this without regard to the 

prior procedure outlined In your letter aa to the 

Call County Line Independent School District which is 

now oonsolidated with the Klrbyvllle Consolidated Independant School District, 

‘Ihe XLz’b~ill~‘.CaMlldi4ted ::Wepei.~dent$k&r&l MStrlotiJ Mough St. BfXird bf ‘Trusteed, 

to;:eZi3ct_ to. izollect:~.tts3i.%ies 

collector. 

.throug 

~ssesse?::the mr 

.:lts .o3n :tax:: 

That It Is composed of territory In two 

adjoining counties does not have the effect of separating, dlmlnlshlng, or dividing the powor which the 

Board of Trustees has over the administration of the 

afXalrs of the district including the power of assessing and oolleotlng its Caxes. The power of the Board 

of Trusters is~coextenslve over all the territory of 

the dietriot. 

Since the question you present 1s oonfined 

to the authority of a colleotor of an Independent 

school dlstrlot to colleot the taxes of. the dlstrlct 

we do not Sind it necessary to deoidr the question o h 

the correlative powor of thr County Assessor4ollector 

to collect the taxes of the school district under certain oondltlons provided by statute nor do we pass upon 

the validity of the assessment. It Is sufficient to 

w that if statutory authority be found for the lndependent school district through Its Board of Trustees 

to collect It8 own taxes and proceeds under such statutory authority to appoint sudh collector, his authority 

may not be quertioned. 

IQ? We think there la. 

18 therm such statutory autholc 

Articlea 2791-2792, V&S., 

prmldr in part as follarsr 
Hon. Harrison Hall, Page 3 (V-1559) 

“Art. 2791. . There Is hereby 

created the off1ce~‘o.h assessor and collector of each lnde 

i 

endent school district, 

whether &sated y ,speolal or generil law, 

who shall be appointed by the Board of 

Trustees thereof, and shall have the same 

power and shall perfora the same duties 

tilth reference to the assessment and collsotltin tif taxes for free school purposes 

that are conferred by law upon ,the assessor and collector of taxes In and for any 

Incorporated city town or village, or,upon 

the person or officer legally performlng 

the duties of such assessor and collector, 

and he shall reoelVe such compensation for 

his services ati the Board of Trustees map 

allow, ekcept ln~cltles and towhs provided : 

for not to exceed fotir (4) ppr oent of the 

wide amount of ta%lrs kecelved by him. He 

ahalL give bond In double the estllllated 

a&ount Of taxes cofaing annu;?lly’lllto his 

hand‘s ‘payable and to be approved by the 

presic!ent of the Board,. conditionad for the 

?aIithful’dlsqharge of his duties, and that 

he will pay over to the, tieasurer oi the 

B.oard all funds coming Into his hands by, 

virtue ,of his office as such assessor and 

.collqctor; , . .” 

1407 (1939,), ruled as rollowsr 

liArt. 2'792. . . . When a majority of 

the Board of Trustaes. of ati Independent dlstrlct prefer to have the taxes of their dls-‘,- 

trlct ,assessed and collected by the county 

assesSor and collaetor, or by the city assessor and oolleotor, of an Incorporated city 

or town lti the limits of which the school 

dlstrlot or & part thereof Is ,located, or 

collected only by the county or city tax* 

collector same may be assessed and collected, 

or ooJ.l’eo & ed only as the oase’map be, by 

.said county or cl?q off leers , as may, be determined by’, the Board of Trustees of said lndependent school district and turned 6ver to 

the treasurer of the Independent -school dls- 

,tryp,nfor which such teams have been collected. 

. 

.-~ ~,rhla Papartment _- has herrtorqo, in Opinion O- 
. - 

Hon. Harrison Hall, Page 4 (v-1559) 

“There can be no question but that 

an lndependant school dlatplot which has 

pro erty In two diiferent counties oould 

amp P oy one colleotor to oolleot Its tax49 

Sri .both of said aountlos.n 

We do not think that the fact that the taxes 

have heretofore been assessrd 

7 

on a roll prepared by 

the County Arsessor-Colleotor of one or both of the 

asressor-collrotors~ of the two counties In which the 

Consolidated Indepeddetit School Dlstrlat has 

‘mllltates against the oonclnslon we have 

the Kirbyvllle Consolidated Independrnt 

School Distrlot through Its Board of T 

authority to oollsat Its ow’n taxes. 

usteer, 

2 

has. the 

Statutory authorIt 

00 I leotm, 

rxists’ for the oolleotlon by an iade 

aotwlth9tandlng thi assessmen e 

endent tax 

was madr b 

the County Tax Asrersor-Colleotor, In other words, &m 

asssssor end oolleotor may be different, depending upon 

the rleotion mad@ by the Boa d of Trustees as to how 

the s@trr 19 to be handled. 3. 

In otbrr words the Kirbyvllle Consolidated 

Independent Sohool District 19 ln effrot a nbw lndepe’ndrut dlstrlct unaffected b 

lntg Its oonsolldatlon. 

thr prior diatrlots entering 

% the absenor of an eleotlon 

by ti independent sohool district to avail Itself of the 

statutory prlvllege of having Its ,tue’s ~essessed and oollooted by the County Tax Assessor-Colleotor, It possessea the power to have its own assessor and oolleotor. I~t 

appears. from the rmdisputrd fact8 dlsolosed by 

t 

our letter that the Klrbyvlllr Cdnsolldatrd Iiidmpenden Sohool 

.District desires to oolleot Its own turs whlah negatives 

lnteirt to have.them oollratrd by the Tax Assessor- 

%leotor of Mawton bounty. 

An indi~endent sohool dlrtriot has authority to designate and appoint, by approprlatr order or ordlaauoe of the Board of 

Trustees of thr dl&rlot, a tax l s9esso r ~ 

oolleator for the district or it may alact 

to have this duty performeh by the County 

Assessor-Collector. The fact that a previous 

assessment has barn madr by the Cotity Assessor-Collrotor does hot preclude suoh lndependant school dls~rlot f9o.m aolleotlng the 
‘Hon. Harrison Hall, Page 5 (V-1559) 

taxes assessed through the collector of 

the in$ependent school ‘district upon the 

roll made by the County Assessor-Collector. 

APPROVED: Yours very truly, 

W. V. Geppert PRICE DANIEL 

Taxation Division Attorney General 

E. Jacobson 

Exeautive Assistant 

Charles D, Mathews 

First Assistant 

LPLtwb 

By& . eo3i+ . 

Assistant