HonorableMurphy Cole

CountyAuditor Liberty County Liberty,Texas

Dear Sir:
OpinionNumber o-4780 Re: Taxation of property detached from independentschool diatrict and annexed to common school district.

We have received your letter of recent date which we quote, in part, as follows:

"You are advised that the County Board of Trustees met on the night of July 11, 1942 and voted to increase the area of Connnon School DistrictNo. 15 by detaching some 3,000 acres of l,and from Hull Independent School District.

"There is no contention on the part of the Hull Independent School District of the right or authority of the County Board to take such action; however, the School Board of Hull I.S.D.maintains that the ad valorem tax on the area involved shouldnot be assessed from Common School District until January 1, 1943,while' the Trustees of C.S.D.#15 have petitioned the County Tax AssessorCollector to assess taxes for the common school district for this year, 1942.
"Will you please advise when the County Tax Assessor-Collector shouldbegin assessing and collection of taxes on property annexed by the common school district from area in the independent school districtuntil July, 1942."

The question of legality of the action of the County Board of Trustees is not before us, and we express no opinion thereon. For the purposes of this opinionwe assume the annexationwas in all respectsproper and that the requirements of lax were met. Articles 2742e, 2742f,Vernon's Annotated Civil Statutes; School Trustees of Orange County V. District Trustees of Prairie View Common School District No. 8, 137 Tex. 125, 153 S. W. (2d) 434.HonorableMurphy Cole, page #2 (O-4780)

It is our opinion that territoryvalidly detached from one school district and attached to a second district is properly taxable by the second district for the entire year in which such changewas effected.

We assume that the tax in question is the tax for the maintenance and support of the school district. We quote the following from the opinion of the court in the case of Megargel County Line IndependentSchool District et al., Y. Blewett, 278 S. W. 516:

"An examination of the cases that we have been able to considerhas convincedus that, in the absence of limitingprovisions in the law, territory annexed to an independent school districtat any time during the year, as providedby law, and thereafteran election is held for an entire districtauthorizingthe tax for that year and all subsequentyears, the schoolboard or the municipal authoritiesmay lawfullyvote the tax, make the levy and assessments in accordancewith the statute,and that a tax so assessedand levied can be collected for that year."

The Commission ofAppeals in affirming the casemade the following statement:

II* * * A fair considerationof the statutesmaking provision for the creation of independentschool districts leavesno reasonable ground to conclude that the Legislature intendedthat no liability for taxes for schoolpurposes in a school district' should arise until the year following the creation of the district;nor did the Legislature intend that~the rules of law governingtaxation for schoolpurposes, of property in newly annexed territory, shouldbe different from those which govern the taxation of property in a newly created district. * * * 94

v * * * A considerationof the above statutoryprovisions in connectionwith all otherspertaining to the subject leads to the conclusionthat all taxable property situated on January lst, of any given year, in a territorywhich is subsequently,during such year, annexed to an independent school districtunder the provisions of Article 2865 of the Statutes 1911,becomes, by such annexation, subject to the taxing powerappertaining to such district, and chargeablewith such.taxes for that year as are levied under proper authority." Blewitt V. Megargel County Line Independent School District et al., 225 S. W. 271.

And in the case of Ei Dorado IndependentSchool District et al., V. Tisdale, et al., 3 S.:W. (2d) 420, the Commission of Appeals stated the following:
"Naturally,this municipal corporation (absentexpressed declaration of authority therefor) cannot exert itspowersHonorable Murphy Cole, page #3 (O-4780)

extra-territorially, The 1925 statute (prima facie valid at least) cut off authority to make asaeesments on property beyond itm.llmltsand, in turn, to enforce the charges thus fixed."

While the cases above cited dealtwith territory annexed to an independent school districtwe are of the opinion that the principles announced apply with equal force where property is annexed to common school districts. in the first place the same statutes governboth the transfer of territory from a common school district to an independent school districtand a transfer from an independentto a common school district. Articles 2742e, 2742f, Vernon's Annotated Civil Statutes. In the secondplace, the constitutional and statutoryprovisionsauthorizing the levy and collectionof maintenance taxes apply bath to common and independent school districts. Article VII, Section 3, Constitution of Texas; Articles 2784, 2785,Vernon's Annotated Civil Statutea.

You are, therefore advised that where territory is detached from 4 independent school districtand annexed to a common school districtafter 'Januarylst, such territory is subjectto the common school districtmaintenance tax for the year inwhich the transferwas effected.

You do not statewhether the enlarged coavnon ,schooldistrict has voted a maintenance tax. Before such a tax can legallybe levied and collected, at least on the annexed territory, the enlarged districtmust vote "such tax in the way and manner providedby law and by the Constitution". Pyote IndependentSchool District v. Dyer (Corn. App.), 34 S.W. (2d) 578; Bigfoot IndependentSchool.Districtv, Genard et al., 116 S. W. (2d) 804, affirmed; 129 S. W. (2d) 1213; Crabb v. Celeste IndependentSchool District (Sup. Ct.), 146 S. W. 528;Hill v, Smithville IndependentSchool District (Corn. App.), 25.1

S. W. 209; Article VII, Section 3, Constitution of Texas.
Very tNly YOU-8

APPROVED SEP 12, 1942

ISI Gerald C. Mann

ATTORNEY GEN!+LOFTEXAS ATl!OPiNEY~GENERAL OFTRXAS

By /B/ GeorgeW. Sparks

GeorgeW. Sparks Assistant

' APPROVED , OPIRION COMMITTEE BY /s/ BWB CHAIRMAN