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PRICE DANIEL 

ATTORNEY GENERAL 

September 12, 1947 

Hon. George X . 

Comptroller of 

Austin, Texas 

Elhemard Opinion X0. V-373 

Pubtic Accounts - 

Re: Whether I.4 covered 

hopper cem belonging to H~ellibu&m 

011 Well Ceaentlng 

Co. are sub cot to 

ad valorem I (ixea 

and if so, the taxable sltus under 

facts stated 

Deer Mr. Sheppard P 

You Fequest our oplnloa %.a *eferenoe to 6h* 

~~above oeptioned umtter, baaed 

“p 

on the facts 68 out& 

lined in .letters to you from 8s Liburton OL1 Well-Ccmentlng C,ompeny, whloh iacts are aa follows: 

“The Ralllburton Oil Well Cementing 

CompatUr ia primarily engaged In-the servlcing- ot oil and gas wella end In counec - 

tlon, therewlth, sells some 011 field aupplfea. One of the item8 which~ we sell is 

cement. Thla Company haa reoently purcheeed severe1 LO covered hopper cara which ere 

opeclflcally designed to haul dry bulk 

cement over or on rallroad tracks. The 

c8rs are hauled on the railroad tr@oks by 

the rellroad compaELb.# and the railroad oompsnias 

e 

ey us on a mileage barie for the 

use Or he care. The aara which we own el% 

used exclusively to heul cement for ua. 

"At the presetit time, this Compeng esslgw rellroed cards to a aertala. lwetlon 

In muoh tb a.118 saner as we eralgn our 

trualrr . As on exeII)p10, vehove a bulk see 

rdbnt abomge plant at Xwklns, !Fex86, end 

there are no%? two rlatlroad Carl aaalgned to 

that plant a By the em3 of the yee~~, however, 
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Hon. G4orge Ii. Sheppard - P4ge 2 (Ho. V-373) 

there may be uone or e4 sang 08 five or allx 

osrs ssslgned to thls pl4nt depending up&u 

the amount of business in that psrtioulsr 

ares o If the cement bualtiesa increases st 

Eavklna, It la poasfble that on4 or mom 

railroad a4ra whfah sr4 now aaaigtied to oti 

Odesss.plant may be trmuiarred to llrwkins,. 

and by the 44m4 token aue or more 02 the 

cam nov ssrigaed to the~Havklm~pl4nt rsy 

be trsiasferred to our Lev4llmd plant in 

case the aement busiaeas facreesss st Lerellrnd and decreases at Hawkfns. 

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'We use these rall~oad c,ara as storage 

bins to a 14rgge extent. I do not belleve 

that ve have 4ny, rsilrsad cam whioh sre not 

in tie unless, of eourae, they am in aeid 

of repsir. Zisllroad oars which sro ststloaed 

er hesdquartersd at Hawkins are loaded with 

oeaont at Dsllaa, Ft. Worth, Houston, Ada, 

Oklshoma, end la the State of Arkrneaa. Xn 

the paat it hss beea lmpoaaible to get emnagh 

aement at Xbllrs and Irt;~. Worth to supply QOJ? 

bulk ceaent.planta in the Dal188 and Ft; Worh 

area. Rsllroad cars saalgned to our Odessa 

plant sro leaded with cement St ltl Ps~o end 

Sm Aatonio r'hd at 40~4 loaatlona in Kswss 

and Ilebraska. A8 4 ritter of pr4atlce, the 

comeat is purahSSed et the most aontenlent 

cement ranufsaturlng plant If thst plant asa 

rupply ua. 

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"In cam4 our bualneaa should fill oii to 

ruch sn extent that prrt of our rsllraad asrs 

would beoom Idle, I bellevs It would be ssfe 

to say that the idle csrs would be kept .st the 

loostioa whe2-0 ~they are 4srignea. I aQ not belle+re.thathe7 vould be brought into our bore 

oflioe here .st Dunmn, ualesa oimmmst4~cces 

ohsage In the future. 

"When you submit this quoatiou to the Attoruq Qeaersl, ve shall appreaiate it IS you 

will sdvlse him th4t we are required to ~47 

mileage tsxos In the St&es of Konsrs, Oklshome and Hew Mexico, on cars nhich travel 

ttiough thoae atatea. These aileege taxes are 

la lieu of property taxea 4nd rpply to sll 

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Hon. George H. Sheppard - Page 3 (No. V-373) 

miles traveled regardless of the location 

to vhioh the co??8 heve been permanently or 

temporerllg aaslgned. Property taxea are 

levied In the States of Arksnsa8, Colorado, 

Loulsiene, M.fsslasippi, etc., on 8 mileage 

baaia and the permanent or temporary lcoa: 

tlon of the car Ii not taken Into conalderatian In errlvlw Bt the ad valorem tax. 

The mlles traveled in those states ELI compared with the a&lea traveled wergwhare is 

thb ordinary basis wetI for arriving at the 

valuation upon vhioh the ad velorw tax is 

levled. You will race11 our letter of August 15 in wh&ch rer stated that the cara whiah 

are esaigned to our vartoue locationa or 

let&s in Texas are used snd travel lo the 

x t&es of Arkansea, Kawaa., Oklahoma, Aebradka, LouIslens, low Mexloo end Texas." 

The aommon low maxim of "mobilie aequinttw pepuowa” (rcmbles iollov the pereoa), that la, that perSo0rl pswpwty h*s Ita Jeaetl situ8 for taxatl,on purposes 

*t t&e p&roe of the ovaezw domicile, la the general @e 

Althou@ the Owzstitutlca of Texas (Art. !IZII, 

"012 property, uhether avned by 

pb2wbna or i3tmwretLoaa .ahaU be essesaed for taxation, 

(lnd faxes pa 

IL 

- $0’ the oount~ 

held write rfme c0urt of 

"it 'has been 

provision 

i# no i$oPs~t&~~r,ddolersthm of the oomwa lew rule in 

&hat %bUs LC h8d aef’erbwoe ta Cke tixltag power, it evl* 

dant aaent property Vhwe !!jituated for the purposss of 

~~~tia$br the geaexal gringlplba of law as then 

city of Fort. erth v. Southland Greyhound 

Warr 67 i. W. (26) 361; #, C. & 8. Fb my. CO. v. City 

rb B&r, 16 8. W. (2d) 292; Great Southern Life Ins: 

Co. v. Olty of Austin, 243,.8. W. 778; Cltr of Galvestoa0. Haden, t?lb 8. li. 7663 Fbrrls v. mable, 12 S.W. 689. 

Ibid itiwprbtetlon Is lrald rl8.0 to apply to Artiole 

‘7lS3, Xbvl8bd Cl.vLl 8t@tut'b(l of Toxaa, aa amended, earated p wr a b nt to tbb l lrovb ooartltutlonal provision (See 

OWbU rwl'b), t?i!&toh ~o*idba: 

"All pmperty, Foul and personal, except 

rush es ir ra@rbd to be listed and rasessed 

othezwlss, ahell ba llmted rid assessed In the 

ooklatg where it $9 8itUdadI sad all personal 

property, subject to taxation and temporarily 

raaovcrtl, trou the Stete OF aounty, shell be 

llutad aad asae’tmd tn &he oounty of the reair 
ez-81’8 Oplnlon Ilo. O-3702 it vsa held that where resd 

-1w. “f. alpmbat wus situ&ad la 8 aooatf other thsn that 

bf the redo, deuce of the maer on’ 8 pbmsmllt ~)Dlsls la bel8tlon to the taxing f4iar In question, it was taxable in 

tb oouatf where rotuall3 situated. 

The Sact that 

ilCtOl’8f#te 

28Ot 8ti th8t 

A- elowdo, Iti~rluslgpf~8a4 

16vied l g a inst:@a t6 hem mfl~(~o boifs dobs I& affect 

tbrir, :tUX+bility IO TbXSS. It haa 1~ be98 settled by the 
Y.. 

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BOIL oeolyp H. Bh8pp.3rd - Page 5 (Ho. v-373) 

U. S. Supreme Court that prop8rty having its sltus within the tsX%ilg 3tbt8S IS QOt 8X8Prpt fl'OtU 8 QOQdi8Ul'i3fQ8- 

toPy Property tax merely beceuse the moperty is used 1~ 

interstate commerct. Virglnle v. Imperia.1 Coal Bales Co., 

InC., 293 0. 9. 15, 55 aup. ct. 12. The supreme colmt 

of the United States in First Bank Stock Corp. v. 8tet8 

of Minnesota, 301 U. 9. 234, 57 S. Ct. 677, held that 

propelrtp owned by a Delaware corporation doing bwluesa 

in #lmesote, seld property being loceted end used in 

Hlnnesota in connection with the corporation's bueinesa 

ectlvities, acquired 8 "commercial daulclle" end tsxeble 

situa In Bbnesotr. The court further wl;d it WBB lmmeteriel thet such property was 8180 subject to taxation 

la another 3t8te. 

Based upon the f8ctaas glvea us,, it aeoma clear, 

aads* the euthorltier cited, that i%hs ~82-8 ita questlou 

l rfe rubject to ad vslomla tsxetloala Tex88, sad that they 

hav8 8 bWia888 situs for taxation p14rposes ia the county 

to which they ara raslgued. It clppetim that these car8 

Y8Pe %?cently purohesed" by Helliburton CoDp&ng, Of 

course if th8y Wp8 not Wn8d by Ihll%bUrta~8nd located 

in %x88 oa lrrt iF=uer) lat.thers vou1d.M QO CaXes due 

there& fop thicr jeer. The cbusrty to whloh the cam umg 

be esdgnwt end located on Jeaaem &, 1948, de%emiaes 

their trxeble sltaa far next ~y-eer. ~The f'sct t&& the ok 

or car8 8by be temporsrily oat of the,coantf of its aittas 

on Jehurrf lat 0% refilling or other pua?pose;r would mot 

sffeot either it8 ,texabllity or Cax6ble 8ltu8. 

I& cov8red hopper tieflroed cera owned 

by B8lliburton Oir. well COQleatl, 

7 

CO., Snd 

888lgned to varloum count188 la exaa and 

there wed 88 8tc+8gp blor SOP oeaenti, rlnbez- the facto 8trtad,, ore aubjaot to l d vrlor68 t;uetierl in Teame; ad the taxable ritlu 

of 08ob oar 18 la the county to whioh i* is 

l raigned. Art. 7153 V.C.8.3 0it.g of Ft. 

worth v. I)oathlend We@muad Llneu, 67 8. If. 
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Ron. CfeO~~ B. llheposrd - Pegs 6 MO. v-373) 

24) %36r; tiPgild@ V. 1 Ol'181 CO.1 S8188 CO., 

tic., 293 0. 8. 15; Fire ?I beak 8tcck Carp., W. 

8ttrtO oi llilrn., 301v. 8. 234. 

V8Z7t3'UlytOW 

ATTOWRY OlNBHAL OF t’BU$ 

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