OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL OF TEXAS 

.- AUSTIN 

=zzt=z 

3 yur lattt= 0 

tbt on hu&ust 29, 1938 

J&iOiljl os.striot %wt 

& 0. ;;loIlola, 0032osin 

ooz?Qosia~ the QortnerjUd@mit aZoinst the 

o;mty Tro~sur~r, County 

olleoter 0: 51~13 

cstnbliehin~ hll indabted 

t, to bo paiG out 0r 15;= 

in 6016 Oounty after ruly 1, 

ax Assessor and Colleotcr &Ad 

bruit bns18, end oonoolled all "ta ro;raluatlon oontraote* 

~E;R the County end Fmese *Ad ?:iako2c and Fri:chard ad 

. 
519 - 

. 

Eon* C&O* !!. Sheppard, Pare 2 

You also stated that unJ.er the provisions of Artiole 7336r. Vernonb3 AnAotated 31~11 Statutea, Rarrls Ocunty 

osused a Gellnquent tax reoord to be mace at the oost therein 

suthorIZ0d this being prior to the enaotment oi the herelnsft,er CWAt i OAOd SOAate Sill RO. 6 

Helther of these oblI&atloAs having been dlsoharged, 

you requested our opinion in substenor as to whether any part 

of sun8 should ba deduotad from the sums grantad to the Harris 

Oounty Flood Control Dletrlot by Senate El11 No. 6, 46th Leglslature, or whether suoh sums should be psid entirely out of 

the State's half of the ad valorem taxes oolleoted in liar&3 

COurhY 9 On June 14, 1940, you renewed your request for t5is 

opiniOA. Our delay has b0eA Oooasioned by the pendenoy IA the 

Supreme Court or the mandamus ease Involving the ooAstItutlonsilty or the Aot. The statute having been held valid we ehall 

noa attempt to answer your questlon. 

SeOtiOA'l of said Senate Bill No. 6 reads in part as 

io11av;st 

1or a period of ten (10) years, oomaenoingnith 

September lat., r0iiorpuig the adoption ot tale Aot 

there is hereby donated end granted by the State of 

Texas to the IIorrls County Flood Control Dlstriot of 

Xarris County, Texss, 6s oreated by Oha ter 360, House 

Bill Ko. 1191, Xota of the Regular Seas P OA OS the 

Forty-fifth Legislature, 1937, one-half or all the 

State ad oalorem taxes oolleoted In Harris Count for 

general revenue ourpose apoa t?se ropsrty there 

from persons, whioh taxes, when oo h 

% and 

eoted shall be 

used by the said Earrls Oounty Flood Oontrol Dlstriot 

ror the purpose8 or preventing the oontlaued pub110 

oolmlty onuaed by greet flooda, aAd to oonstruot lmprovemants to control flood watero in the said County 

ror the proteotlon or life, property, soil, forests, 

pub110 hlghways, and the Houston Ship ahannel, lying 

within~the said Count 

&en herein and In c Ii 

, and to oarry out the powers 

apter 360, Aots of the Regular 

sssslon or the Forty-fifth Legislature, 1937, orsating 

the said DIetrIot. 

*At the end of eaoh month, the Assessor and 

Colleotor or Taxes of Harris Ccunty shall make an 

itemized report under oath‘to the Oomptroller of Pub110 AOOOuAts of the State of Texas, ok forms to be 

rurnlehed by said Oomptroller, showing the amount 

of all State ad ralorem taxea oolleotsd by him for 

general revenue purposes upon property snd from persons 

within the Oounty of Harris; and he shall aooompany 
Eooe c00. n. ahe9pard. Paco 3 

the same with aa itsmixed atntement 8h0wiAU full 

d;SQOSal 0r all auoh tares 00iie0t06. The said 

Assessor CA6 oollrotor. of T&XOS shall forwcrd his 

report to the Co!aptroller, and #hell make s uka 

report to tha County Anditor, end he shall pay 

mer to the County TrOeSIWer of Barr18 Oounty, 

Texas, upon the apprOVc1 by the Oounty kUdltOC 

end Cdsalonerag Court of Barr18 County of hla 

mnthly report, one-half of all mane a oolleotrd 

by him as state ad valorem taxes a= f ng acid mont+, 

lass auoh amounts as are cllowed by law for asseas+ 

ing and oolleotlng same.* 

From a reading of the judgment, c 00 y of whloh you 

bcve handed to US, it ia thought that then llab P llty therein 

l stebllahed arose out of part performcnoe oi c oontraot made 

b 9~rauanoe of Art1010 726&i, Vernoa~r Annotated Civil Stctutea, the first two aeotloas or whloh read a8 follows: 

'580~ 1, It Is hereby deolared the P0Xl0y or 

the State t0 adjust 66lIuqUeat taxes, oorreot errors, 

to elinlnate oonrllota la aurve 

oolleot the delIn@aent, f 

s of land, and to 

oooupct on, franohlae and 

Ed Vclorem TcXe.8, in order to olecr this State of 

auoh taxes errors end oonillots at the earliest 

~date poaal&e cnd to provlda a system for aaaeaaor6, 

in order to aiimlncte the numerous error8 that now 

appear on the tax rolls ecoh raourrlng year. 

*sso. 3. coot of oolleotlng aaiD uent taxes 

shall not exoeed the smount 0r the pena e ty md intereat, or ca amount equal to auoh'penclty.and late-rest of all delinquent taxes oolleoted. my oounty 

desiring to Install a tax or plat. system end blear. 

th? ocunty of errors, oonfllota end unkmwn owners, 

may do so by paying not to sxoeed lS$ of the delinquent taxes oolleoted, whloh payment shall oover 

the oost of reoorda and InstallIng acme.' 

'In the first 91~06, we dlreot attention to the ra0t 

that under the express ternn of tie Aot the Asaeaaor-Colleotor 

1s mqulred to deduot iron the amas delivered to the County 

treasurer *auOh amounts as cre allowed by lcw ror aaeessln 

It ls~lnalrted by the 

for caaeaslng 

OAtrol Dlatrlot that only the *oommiaalo~a~ 

and 0olleOtlng taxes cre meant to be in0iuded in 

the hIIt quoted II!k!iOdict8ly CbOY8, Mid that the gZcSLt Of Se&&e 

Sill MO. 6 should aufrer no deduotIon:on cooount or either OS 
gono cm* z. Shepprrd, Page 4 

the Items I(! question. Suob might be true if the Aot oovered 

i. only thOS6 tares for the aas6aament an4 oolleotIon of whloh 

r;’ no cmounts were allowed by law other than auoh oomIaslons. 

gut delinquent taxes are also Inoludsd in the grant, an4 ad- 

.i 

d;tjoncl amounts cre acllowed by law* for oolleoting delln- 

: 

quent taxes. 

As we understand the prlnoiples aMounOed by the 

Supreme Court fn Cofmaiaalonera ( Oourt ma Wcllaoe 15 s, W. 

(&I) 535, and Cherokee Oounty Pa. Odom, 15 S. v. (24) 538, the 

oODStitntionality or Art1016 7264a, Vernon*8 mnotnted 01~11 

statutes, could hcrdly be austclned sxoept as co. authorization 

?or the use 0r 6 port or unoolleoted taxes for defraying the 

6xpenae 0r oolleotIon. We oonatrue Art1010 7264a, es ill es 

Artiole8 7335 and 73356, Veraon~a Annotated Olvll Statutes, 

ca being aids for the oolleotlon of tcxea, and the sums therein cuthorIze6 to be emended would be sums allowed by law ror 

oolleotlng taxes* 

Furt!iierZaOr8, that Freeae tc Rlohols, prItohar4 & 

Abbott he4 parformed oertain servloes for the State and SarrIa 

Oounty had been eatablIahe4 by jud&ment, final berore the 

pcasage of Senate Bill no. 6. After the entry or that Judgnent 193 of the 69llnqueM taxes oolleoted by the Tax Oolleotor 

of Harris County belonged to Freese & l?lohola, Prltohcrd & 

Abbott, until the obligation of $87,500.00 should be dlaoharged. 

It was OOlleot86 for them, not fork general revenue purposes of 

the State. Xhen still unoolleoted auoh 15$ ha4 been used for 

asfrayIng oertain expenses or oolleoting unooll8oted taxes. 

Tho grant to the Harris Oounty Flood Control Dlatrlot must bear a proportloncte pa&o? the burden of the Juagmeat In Cause Ho. 250,605. 

. 

Seotion 2 o? Artiole 73361, Vernon~a Annotated Civil 

Statutes, reads aa followet 

“sec. 2. Any County hcving as many es two 

yecra~ taxea’delinquent whloh have not been lnoluaed iA the 4elIn uent tax reoord, the Oolleotor 

or taxes shall rlth 4 A two pears ?roa the effeotlve 

date of this Aot, oSua6 to be compiled a delinquent tax reoord of all delinquent taxes not barred 

by this Aoti the delinquent reoor4 shall be excmIned by the CommIaalonera~ Court and the Comptroller 

or roverning body, oorreotlona may be ordered mc46, 

and when found oorreot an4 approved by them, 

ment ror the oompilatlon thereof shall be t 

aycut orlaed at aotual oost to the Tax Colleotor, proportionately from eeoh the State and County tcxes, or 
~unloIpc1 taxes, rim oolleotrd rrall suoh re- - 

oofi suoh ost in no oaaa to sxoeed a sum equal 

to iire WP 

the original 

oents por itant or wr1ttsa line of 

00 y or suoh reoord and In ~0 rteat 

shall any oompl E lnr; oost be ohsrged to the taxp a w l The dslirrquantax moor6 whaa 

prism faolo erldeaoe of the 

a proved, 

8hal.l b-9 de1 P nquenoy 

shown thereon, and when there shall be as meny 

as two years of delinquaaoy asounulated whlob are 

a reoonpllatlon, or a 

reoords of taxes delinquent due 

whloh they oollaot from tax rolls 

other than the State and oountp rolls, and when 

d!strlot, {ha 008% oi same shall be 

a proved b the coveming body of the artloular 

al P owed In 

the manner herein pro~lded.~ 

Manifestly the above artlola was maoted to aid b 

t,be aolleotion ot delinquent taxes , end the ex endlture 

j,s authoriz6d 1~ One allowed by law ior the 

thsraoo P 1eotIon of suoh 

taxes* 

If the Legislature, in paSUing Senate Dill ]Os. 6 

a proportionate part of the oom&ss~ons 

eotlng taxes should ba deduoted from 

the iiarrls County Flood ControlDl8trlot lt oould have said a8 muoh in plain aad uamI8takeable lanetugs* Instaad, broader language was used and errsot must ba 

The mms dellvared the Distrlot must have 

against them a pro rata part or this expense also. 

Yours very truly 

oharged