GENERAL 

Honorable Robert S. Calvert Opinion No. M-428 

Comptroller of Public Accounts 

State Capitol Re: Whether bequests under 

Austin, Texas '7871.1 a will to towns of 

Edirburg, Johnson County, 

Indiana, and Waco, 

McLennan County, Texas, 

for the purpose of maintaining cemeteries are 

exempt from inheritance 

Dear Mr. Calvert: tax. 

Your letter directed to this office requesting a 

written opinion reads, in part, as follows: 

11 necedent.7. died testate a resident 

MELennaE County; Texas, on August 16, 1967, and 

of 

all the required reports under the Inheritance 

Tax Law have been made and filed with this 

Department. 

"Under the terms of the last will and testament 

of the deceased, bequests of five per cent of 

the income from the . ,47ecedent's . 

Foundation were made to ia-& of the d 

. . 

ollowing: 

"(1) 'Town of Edinburg, Johnson County, 

Indiana, for the purpose of maintenance and upkeep of the Rest Haven 

Cemetery, Edinburg, Indiana.' 

“(2) 'City of Waco, McLennan County, Texas, 

for the purpose of maintenance and 

upkeep of Oakwood Cemetery, Waco, 

Texas. 1 

"Your Department has passed on similar questions 

in Opinions M-110 and ~-228. Therefore, we wish 

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. 

Hon. Robert S. Calvert, page 2 (M-428) 

to be advised whether or not these bequests 

are exempt as provided under Article 14.015 

of Chapter 14, Title 122A, Taxation-General." 

You have furnished us with a copy of the last will 

of Decedent, together with a letter from the Attorney 

representing his estate, which enclosed a Xerox copy of 

Article 2, Chapter 8, Title 1, of the Administrative Code 

of the City of Waco covering Municipal Cemeteries. This 

Article reads in part as follows: 

"Article 2.-Municipal Cemeteries. 

"SECTIONS l-805. LOCATIONS AND NAMES. 

There shall be four Public Cemeteries under 

the control of the City of Waco, viz: 

~* * * + 

"SECTICN l-805.3. 'OAKWOOD CEMETERY.' 

Located south of the City of Waco, at the 

terminus of South Fifth Street, about onfl 

and a half miles from the public square. 

Article 14.015, Revised Civil Statutes, Title 122A, 

Taxation-General, reads, in part, as follows: 

"Art. 14.015 Exempt Transfers 

"The inheritance tax imposed by Article 

14.01 shall not apply to the following transfers of property: 

**** 

"(3) Public Use. Property transferred to 

or for the use of thfts state or any town therein 

for public purposes. 

The Administrative Code of the City of Waco, supra, 

provided for four public cemeteries (one of which is 

Oakwood Cemetery), and places all four of them under the 

control of the City of Waco, which makes it the duty of 

the City to maintain them as public cemeteries. Maintenance of a public cemetery is certainly for a "public 

use" and "public purpose." It follows that the bequest to 

the City of Waco for the maintenance of this cemetery is 

one which comes squarely within the provisions of Article 

14.015, Section 3, supra, as being a transfer to a town 

of this State for a public purpose or public use. It 

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Hon. Robert S. Calvert, page 3 (~J.+28) 

relieves the City of Waco of a burden it would otherwise 

have to shoulder with City funds were it not for this bequest. 

We therefore hold it to be an exempt transfer. 

The transfer, on the other hand, to the Town of Edinburg, 

Johnson County, Indiana, is not an exempt transfer because 

it is not a transfer to or for the use of a town within this 

State asprovided in Article 14.015, Vernon's Civil Statutes, 

?Z?% any other exempt purpose. Article l&.015(3) expressly 

contemplates an exemption for property transfers 'for the 

use of this state or any town therein . . . (Emphasis added) 

SUMMARY 

A transfer to or for the use of a town within 

this State for public purposes is an exempt 

transfer. A transfer to or for the use of a 

town which is not a Texas town is not an exempt 

transfer. 

truly yours, 

I 

Prepared by Fisher A. Tyler 

Assistant Attorney General 

APPROVED: 

OPINION COMMITTEE 

Kerns Taylor, Chairman 

George Kelton, Vice-Chairman 

Harold Kennedy 

James McCoy 

Fielding Early 

Bob Lattimore 

Hawthorne Phillips 

Executive Assistant 

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