THE 

## Amro Y GENE-L

a’ EXAS

December 21, 

## 1965

Honorable James A. Morris District Attorney Orange County Orange, Texas Oplnlon No. C-569
Re: Various questions fnvolvlng the construction

of Article 2792, V.C.S. and H.B. 243 in reference to the appraising Dear Mr. Morris: and collectingschool taxes.

You requested the opinion of this office upon the following questions : “,QUESTION

: Can the various aohool dlatricta along with the Incorporatedcities and county employ a single appraisal or appraleingfirm for the entire county and then each of the independent school districtsand cities we his,appralsal for the pUrQOSe of asaesalng taxes maa upon his evaluationassessed in their InCorpOratedlimits or school boundaries? “QUESTION

: If the incorporatedcity and

. county does not deslre to Join in thla arrangement, could the school clfstrfcts make suoh an arrangement and employ an appraiser,paging him the amount that each agrees to pay and using his evaluationfor the purpose of aaseeslng theft taxes and then for the County Tax Collectorand Assessor of Orange County collect their taxes based upon said evaluation,of course, paying the County Tax Collectorand Assearor for the aervlce. “QUESTION

P If these questionsare ansuered negatfvely,then can the several independent school districtshave their tax collectorand appraisersappraise the property and turn this appraisedvalue over to the County Tax Collector and Aaaeasor for the purpose of collectingtheir taxes at their appraised evaluationof the property.”

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Hon. James A. Morris, page 2 (C-569)

In reply to your first question,Article 2792, Vernon's Civil Statutes,was amended by House Bill No. 243, 59th Legislature of an 1965, only insofar as it allows the Board of Trustees independentschool district to Increase the amount of compensation

paid to the assessingand collectlng~~body, whether county Incorporated city, or town. Article 2792, Vernon's Civil statutes,prior to amendment read:

11 .When the county assessor and collector la reqkred to assessand collect the taxes on Independentschool districts they shall respectively receive one (1) per cent for assessing,and one (1) per cent for collectingsame; and when the assessor and colIectorof an incorporatedcity, or town, as herelnbefore provided Is required to assess and collect the taxes of Independent school districts the Board of Trustees of such school dlatrlctmay contractwith the governing body of said city for payment far such services as they may see fit to allow, not to exceed'four er cent of the whole amount of taxes collected

. . . . Ana as amended by House Bill No. 243, 59th Legislature, 1965:

11 ! .When the county assessor and collector Is required to aasess and collect the taxes of Independent school districts,the Board of Trustees of such school districtmay contractwith the Commlsaloners

Court,of said county for paymentfor such services as they may see ?lt to allow, not to exceed the actual cost Incurred In assessing and collectingsaid taxes; and when the assessor and collectorof an incorporatedcity, or town, as hereinbefore

provided,la required to assess and collect the taxes of independentschool districts, the Board of Trustees of such school districtsmay contractwith the governingbody of said city for payment for such servicesas they may see fit to allow, not to exceed the actual coat Incurred In assessing and collectingsaid taxes.‘” The independentschool district when hereafter contracting with either a county, incorporatedcley or town to assess and collect the taxes for the school dlstrl&, 1s limited to the conslderatlon

to be paid for such services only by the "actual cost Incurred In assessing and collectingsaid taxes.”. .

Hon. James A. Morris, page 3 (C-569)

However, It la now well e6tabIlshedthat a County mav emolov a orlvate aooralsal flrmto ala lta board 6f ' equalliation.'

Prltcha$h& Abbott v. McKenna, 162 Tex. 617, 350 s.w.2a 333 (1961).

.Each of the various elected officials Including the Assessor-Collector has the sphere' that Is delegated to him by law &d within which the Commissioners

Court may not InterfereOP usurp. But that Is not to say that the functions of the Board of Equalizationand those of the AssessorCollectorare so diverse that Information may not be lawfully contractedfor and obtained by the EqualizationBoard because it may likewlae be of aid to the Asseaaor In the performanceof his duties. It Is the duty of the Assessor as well to determine the value of all taxable property, in the county." PrltaharaB Abbott v. McKenna, aupra. Citing the above quotation,the case of Nelaon v.' Blanc0 IndependentSchool District 390 S.W.2d 361 (Tex.Clv. App., 1965, no history),applied the same rule to the school district. -However,the-courtheld that the tax assessorcollectorof the echo01 districtmust continue to perform hls duties and that all the taxpayers of the school district could render their property to him for assessment. This decision la In conformitywith the prior holding.

Slmlllarly,Opinion No. C-457 (1965) of this office held that wh,ere

two school districtswere consolidatedInto a new Independentschool district, the new consolidated district must assess all property throughoutthe consolidated district and was neither expllcltelynor lmpllcltelyauthorizedby either Article 279% or 2792, Vernon's Civil Statutes to accept or use one of the prior districts I renditionsand.

tax valuations. Therefore, in answer to your first question,the school districts,Incorporatedcities, and county may each employ the same private appraising firm by lndlvlduallycontractingwith that firm for Its services. The home rule cities of course are governed by their charters. However the private appraisingfirm may not assume the duties of th& office of tax assessor-collector. The firm Is restrictedto advising and aiding the tax assessor-oollector and the Board of Equallzatlon.

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Hon. James A. P(Orrls,



## wee 4 

## (C-569)

Furthermore,the county could contract for the services of the private appraisingfirm and then each of the lndlvldtial school districts could In turn contractwith the county to assess and collect their respectivetaxes. The only limitationon such a contract between the Individualschool district and the county would be the actual cost of the assessmentand collection of the taxes. Cities may also contractwith the county pursuant to 'Article

1066b, Vernon's Civil Statutes,which provides In part: "Sectlon 1. Any Incorporatedcity, town, or village ~independent school district,drainage district,water control and improvement district, water Improvementdistrict,navigationdistrict, road district or any other municipality or district in t&e State of Texas, located entirely or partly within the boundariesof another municipality-or

district, 18 hereby empowered, to authorize;by ordinance or resolution the Tax ASSeSSOr,Board of Equalization and tax Collectorof the municipalityIn which It Is located entirely or partly, to act as Tax Assessor, Board o$ Equalization and Tax Collectorrespectively for the municipalityor district so availing Itself of the,servlces

of said officers and Board of Equalization."
"Sec. la. Whenever the governingbody of 'any municipalityor district takQng advantage-of this Act shall deem It necessaryor expedient said governingbody may, by ordinance or resofutlon, adopt all or any part of the laws of the State of Texas charters ordinances,liens and other provisio& appllca& to the levying, assessingand collectingof taxes by the district or municipality rendering the tax service. All said laws, charters, ordinances,liens and other provisionsare hereby conferredon and made available to any munlclpallty or district taking advantage of this Act In order that the district or municipalityrendering the service and its Tax ASStSSOr,Board of Equalization and Tax Collectormay levy, assess and collect said municipality's

or district'staxes and may assess and collect the taxes of the munlclpalltyor district for which It is renderingthe strvlces, in a uniform and economicalmanner.. .

Hon. James A. Morris, page 5 (c-569)

"Sec. 2; When the Tax A88tsso~, Board of Equalization and Tax Collectorof'any mutil~lpallty OF district have been authorizedby ordinanceor resolutionto act as and perform the duties, resptctlvtlg,

of Tax Assessor,Board of Equalization and Tax Collector of another munlclpallty or district located entirely or partly within Its boundaries such Includedmunlclpallty~or dletrlct shall pay the municipality OP district,the 8trViCt6 of whose officers and Board of Equalizationare being utilized for said services and for such other in&tntal expenses as art necessarilyIncurred In-connection with the rendering of such services,such an amount may be agreed upon by the governingbodies of said two munlclpalltles OP distPlcts."
.Countlesqualify a8 munlclpalltles, Article XI, Section 1, Constitution of Texas.
In answer to your second question, each independent school districtmay employ the same private appraisal firm. Furthermore,If they prefer they may contract jolntlJr rlth a private firm so long as each,18 liable only for that portion of the cost of the appralaal,based upon the property within Its district. However, the assessor-collector of each district must continue t0 perform hi8 Statutoryduties.

In the tvent'tht school districts contractwith the private appraisingfirm, they may thereafter contractuith the county to have the latter collect the taxes so assessed. Opinion No. V-1559 (1952)of thla office held that the county could aasess'the tax and then the school district crould collect It. That opinion reads In part:

II

. . ./Statutory

authority exists for, the collection6y an Independenttax collector, notwithstanding

the assessmentwas made by the, County Tax Assessor-CollectoP. In other words, the assessor and collectormay be different, dependingupon the election @de by the Board of Trustees as to how the matter Is to be handledA?
Moreover, APtlcle 2792, as amended by House Bill No, 243 59th Legislature 1965, permits the independentschool dls?zlct to assess th& tax and then conttict nlth the cotity to collect It. House Bill No. 243 provides:

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.. .

Hon. James A. Morris, page 6 (C-569)

"'When a majority of the Board of Trustees of an Independentdistrict prefer to have the taxes of their dlstrlct'as8e~std and,collected by the county assessor and collector,or by the city assessor and collector,of an Incorporated city or town In the limits of wNch the school district,or a part thereof Is lochted, or collectedonly by the county or city tax collector, same-may be tS§tS§ed and~colltottd, or collected
SF as-the cast may be, by said county or city lctrs, a8 may be deterrpined b the' Board of TPuStte8

. . .' (Enphasle added T
Your third c&estlon 18 answered'bythe above.

SUMMARY

Independentschool dl8triCt8, Incorporated cities, and countiesmay lndlvldually-employ the same private appraisal firm. Further, the courity may employ the private firm and then contractwith the independentschool dletrlcts and incorporated cities to 88888s and collect their taxes pursuant to Article 2792 anb 1066b, Vernon'8 Civil Statutes.
If the county and cities do not desire to employ a private appraisal firm, the Independent school districts tither lndlvlduallyor as a group may employ a private firm 80 long as each district Is liable only for the CO8t of appraising the propertywithin Its district. The districts may thereaftercontractwith the county to colltat the taxes assessed,
However, a private appraisal firm may not USUFp the statutoryduties of the Tax AssessorCollectorof the county, school district, or cities but may only act as an adviser to the Tax Assessor-Collector and Board of Equalization. It Is the duty of the Tax Assessor-Collector to assess the property and accept renditionsof value

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by the residentsof the county, cities or school districts. Very truly your8,
UAOOOHJZR

CARi Attorney Qeneral

Wade Anderson Assistant
UA:ml
APPROVED: OPIRIONCOIMITTRE
Y. V. Oeppert, Chairman Grady Chandler W. E. Allen Pat Bailey Roy Johnson
APPROVEDF9RTREA'lTO~O~RAL By: T. B. Wright

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