### I’RE A~OR~Y GENERAL OP TEXAS

PRICE DANIEL ATTORNEY

GENERAL beeember 22, 

### 1952

Hon. Har$ison .Hall county .Attomey, 

### OpinionNO.v-1559 NewtonCounty 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: Mapthe 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 mayhave 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 NewtonCounty 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& madeup by the AssessorCollector of NewtonCounty.. .

Hon. Harrison Hall,, page 2 

### (V-1559)

“The assessment and rolls were made out for this year by the Assessor-Collector of NewtonCounty. Thereafter, on the 29th of Sept., pf this year, the Assessor-Collector of NewtonCounty was notified by the newly formed school dlst. not to collect said taxes.” !qedo not find It necessary to review the steps leading up to the formation of the Kirbyville Consolidated Independent School District as it presently exists. Weassume 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 ~theassessment and collection of its taxes oonfrrred by the Legislature upon Independent school districts in general andthis without regard to the prior procedure outlined In your letter aa to the Call County Line Independent School District which is nowoonsolidated with the Klrbyvllle Consolidated Independant School District,

‘Ihe XLz’b~ill~‘.CaMlldi4ted ::Wepei.~dent$k&r&lMStrlotiJ Mough St. BfXirdbf‘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 poworwhich 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 oh the correlative powor of thr County Assessor4ollector to collect the taxes of the school district under certain oondltlons provided by statute nor dowe 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 owntaxes and proceeds under such statutory authority to appoint sudh collector, his authority maynot be quertioned. IQ? Wethink there la. 18 therm such statutory autholc Articlea 2791-2792, V&S., prmldr in part as follarsrHon. Harrison Hall, Page 

### 3 (V-1559)

“Art. 2791.

. There Is hereby created the off1ce~‘o.h assessor and collector of each lndeiendent 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 sameduties 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 amountof ta%lrskecelved 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

### allfunds coming Into his hands by, virtue ,of his office as such assessor and .collqctor;
, . .”

1407 

### (1939,),

ruled as rollowsr liArt. 

### 2'792.

. . . Whena 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 maybe 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

whichsuchteamshave 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 ampoy one colleotor to oolleot Its tax49 P Sri.both of said aountlos.n Wedo 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’ntaxes. usteer, 2 has.the Statutory authorIt 00 leotm, I rxists’ 

### for the oolleotlon by an iade

aotwlth9tandlng thi assessmeneendent tax was madrb the County Tax Asrersor-Colleotor, In other words, &m asssssor end oolleotor maybe 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 nbwlndepe’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 ownassessor and oolleotor. I~t appears. from the rmdisputrd fact8 dlsolosed by tour letter that the Klrbyvlllr Cdnsolldatrd Iiidmpenden Sohool .District desires to oolleot Its ownturs whlah negatives lnteirt to have.them oollratrd by the Tax Assessor- %leotor of Mawton bounty.

Anindi~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 ls9esso r~ oolleator for the district or it mayalact 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 PRICEDANIEL Taxation Division Attorney General
E. Jacobson Exeautive Assistant Charles D, Mathews First Assistant LPLtwb 

# By&

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.. Assistant