~THEA'rroIRNEY GENERAL 

PRICE DANIl$L 

AT,ORNBY GENERAL . 

Hon. Robert S. Calvert 

.Gomptroller of Publlo Aooounts 

At.18 tin, Texas Opinion No. V-1273 

Dear Sir: 

Your 

as follows: 

OP .TExAs 

September 10, 1951 

Re: Applloablilty of tax. 

-authorized by Section 

1-a of Article VIII 

of the Constitution 

to University of Texas 

endowment lands.. 

request for an opinion reads in part 

’ 

“In.1930 the people amendea Sec. 16 

of Artlole VII. of the’.State Constitution 

authorizing counties ln’whloh University 

of Texas endowment ima9 ‘were located to 

levy a tax for oounty purposesagainst 

such lands ,equal .to the tax imposed upon 

&rlvately owneg lands for county purP 

oses...,-The,oounty of Wlnkler has within 

ts boundary quite a large aoreage of the. 

endowed University lands. The Tax Assessor-Collector of Wlnkler County has 

asked this department whether the Unlverslty of Texas endowment lanas located 

within Wlnkler County are subject to the 

306 tax authorized by Sec. l-a of Article 

VIII of the Constitution of Texas from 

and after January 1, 1951. I shall thank 

you to advise this department the correct 

answer to the question submitted by,,,.the 

Assesebr-Collector of Wlnkler oounty. 

. 

“The 52nd Legislature, Regular Session, made an appropriation to pay taxes 

on these University owned lands but apparently did not take into account the 

tax authorized under Sec. l-a of Article 

VIII of the Constitution, and the approprlutlon dO6s not Include sufficient 

money to pay the tax levied under this 

section of the oonstltutlon.n 
. 

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‘< 

Hon. &b&t S. Caivert, 

Section i6( al 

Congtitutlon p$0via6b: 

. . . . ..~ 

p&e 2 (V- 1273) 

_. 

of .btiole VII, the Texas 

( 

“All land’ nent’lonsd in Sections’ 11, 

12, and 15 of Article VII, of the Constltutlon of the State of Texas, now belonging to the Universlt of Texas shall be 

subject to the taxat f on for county pur- 

. . .,_ 

.poses to the sane extent as lands prlvately pwnea; . . ,fl 

vLleotlons :lJ., 12,. fd’15 of Article VII all relate to 

lands that’are a part’ of the permanent University 

fund of the Unlver%ity,of Texa%. r; 

Sect&o l*a*o$ Artlole VIII of the Texas. ’ 

Constltutfon provide% in part<, 

“From and ‘sitei- Sama& 1, 1951 

xho Pltate aa ti%oreti tmt-.abi$ll be levied 1 ,, 

up&i.any Property &thin .thl% State for .. 

eneral r;evetiue pu!%po%ibI ~. srom a& afer January 1 1951; the :sdveral~ oou& 

.tlea of .the -S&6, are acithorlzea to’l6vy 

baa valorem; t.aXs% upon. @I’ property with-’ 

. 

ln.thelr reap’ectlve:‘boun&rle% for .ooun-’ 

ty purpo%e%, exoept .thq flr%t Thre&.Thou- 

..., ‘_ 

sand Dollar% ($3,000)~ ‘value of re%ldentlaI 

hornsstead, not to exoee$‘thlrty.oents (306) 

on each One Hundred Dollar% ($100) vz&a- 

’ tlon,’ In .addltlon to al& Other ad .valorem 

tties authorized by the Constitution of 

this State, provided th6 rsvenue derivea 

therefrom shall be uSed for Construction 

and malntenanae of Farm to Eark6t Roads 

or for Flood Control, exoept as herein 

otherwise provided.* 

’ Z&6 Unlv6ralty~land% in Wlnklsr County are 

a portion ‘of the p6rmanent.Unl+er%lty f&d, and have 

beep in such funa sin06 Zi384. Ssetlon I-a of ArtieIe.VIII authorizes the sevsr%I oountle% of the 

State to. levy aa tioxeq taxee upon all property 

within ~thelr respe@tfve boundarl68, except th6 first 

Three Thou%and Dollars ($3,00~.00) Valuation of resldentlal~hom6stead%, .not te exceed thirty cents 

(30$) on each One Hunarea Dollars ($I~O,OO) valuation, In’ addition to all other ad valoren taxes authorized by the State, Cons.tltution. Thst portion of . 

. 

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Bon, Robert 5. Calvert, page 3 (V- 1273) 

Section 1.6 [a!, au ra 

-+-* 

which states “that Unlverslty of Texas lan s shall be subject to the taxation for county purposes to the same extent as 

lands privately OWned” Is pros 

t 

ectlve In nature 

In that new, as well as presen county taxes are 

to be assessed agalnat the taxable University 

lands in the same manner as against privately 

owned lande. 

In view of the clear and unambiguous 

language In the above oonstltutlcnal amendments, 

it la our opinion that the University of Texas 

permanent endovvnent lands looated in Wnkler 

County are subject to the thirty cents (30$) tax 

provided In Section 1-a of Article VIII of the 

Texas Constitution, 

SUNMARY 

The University of Texae permanent 

endowment lands located in 3lnkler 

County are subject to’the thirty oerite 

(30$) tax authorized by Section l-a, 

Article VIII, Constitution of Texas. 

APPROVED : 

J. C, Davis Jr. 

County Affairs Division 

Very truly yours, 

PRICE DANIEL 

Attorney General 

Jesse P, Luton, Jr, 

Reviewing Assistant 

Everatt Hutchinson 

EX6cutiV6 Assistant 

BA: jnc : awo 

By &&p-L.% 

Assistant