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 collecting school taxes. 

You requested the opinion of this office upon the 

following questions : 

“,QUESTION : Can the various aohool dlatricta 

along with the Incorporated cities and county 

employ a single appraisal or appraleing firm for 

the entire county and then each of the independent 

school districts and cities we his,appralsal for 

the pUrQOSe of asaesalng taxes maa upon his 

evaluation assessed in their InCorpOrated limits 

or school boundaries? 

“QUESTION : If the incorporated city 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 

evaluation for the purpose of aaseeslng theft 

taxes and then for the County Tax Collector and 

Assessor of Orange County collect their taxes 

based upon said evaluation, of course, paying 

the County Tax Collector and Assearor for the 

aervlce. 

“QUESTION P If these questions are ansuered 

negatfvely, then can the several independent 

school districts have their tax collector and 

appraisers appraise the property and turn this 

appraised value over to the County Tax Collector 

and Aaaeasor for the purpose of collecting their 

taxes at their appraised evaluation of the property.” 

-2 749- 
. r 

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 

independent school district to Increase the amount of 

compensation paid to the assessing and 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 

Independent school districts they shall respectively 

receive one (1) per cent for assessing, and one 

(1) per cent for collecting same; and when the 

assessor and colIector of an incorporated city, 

or town, as herelnbefore provided Is required 

to assess and collect the taxes of Independent 

school districts the Board of Trustees of such 

school dlatrlct may contract with 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 district may contract with 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 collecting said taxes; and when the assessor 

and collector of an incorporated city, or town, 

as hereinbefore provided, la required to assess 

and collect the taxes of independent school districts, 

the Board of Trustees of such school districts may 

contract with the governing body of said city for 

payment for such services as they may see fit to 

allow, not to exceed the actual coat Incurred In 

assessing and collecting said taxes.‘” 

The independent school district when hereafter contracting with either a county, incorporated cley 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 collecting said taxes.” 
. . 

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

However, It la now well e6tabIlshed that 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 Interfere OP usurp. 

But that Is not to say that the functions of the 

Board of Equalization and those of the AssessorCollector are so diverse that Information may not 

be lawfully contracted for and obtained by the 

Equalization Board because it may likewlae be of 

aid to the Asseaaor In the performance of his 

duties. It Is the duty of the Assessor as well 

to determine the value of all taxable property, 

in the county." Prltahara B Abbott v. McKenna, 

aupra. 

Citing the above quotation, the case of Nelaon v.' 

Blanc0 Independent School District 390 S.W.2d 361 (Tex.Clv. 

App., 1965, no history), applied the same rule to the school 

district. -However, the-court held that the tax assessorcollector of the echo01 district must 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 conformity with the prior holding. 

Slmlllarly, Opinion No. C-457 (1965) of this office 

held that wh,ere two school districts were consolidated Into 

a new Independent school district, the new consolidated district 

must assess all property throughout the consolidated district 

and was neither expllcltely nor lmpllcltely authorized by either 

Article 279% or 2792, Vernon's Civil Statutes to accept or 

use one of the prior districts I renditions and. tax valuations. 

Therefore, in answer to your first question, the 

school districts, Incorporated cities, and county may each 

employ the same private appraising firm by lndlvldually contracting with that firm for Its services. The home rule 

cities of course are governed by their charters. However 

the private appraising firm may not assume the duties of th& 

office of tax assessor-collector. The firm Is restricted to 

advising and aiding the tax assessor-oollector and the Board 

of Equallzatlon. 

-2751- 
. . 

Hon. James A. P(Orrls, wee 4 (C-569) 

Furthermore, the county could contract for the services 

of the private appraising firm and then each of the lndlvldtial 

school districts could In turn contract with the county to assess 

and collect their respective taxes. The only limitation on 

such a contract between the Individual school district and the 

county would be the actual cost of the assessment and collection 

of the taxes. Cities may also contract with the county pursuant 

to 'Article 1066b, Vernon's Civil Statutes, which provides In 

part: 

"Sectlon 1. Any Incorporated city, town, or 

village ~independent school district, drainage 

district, water control and improvement district, 

water Improvement district, navigation district, 

road district or any other municipality or 

district in t&e State of Texas, located entirely 

or partly within the boundaries of another 

municipality-or district, 18 hereby empowered, 

to authorize; by ordinance or resolution the 

Tax ASSeSSOr, Board of Equalization and tax 

Collector of the municipality In which It Is 

located entirely or partly, to act as Tax Assessor, 

Board o$ Equalization and Tax Collector respectively 

for the municipality or district so availing Itself 

of the,servlces of said officers and Board of 

Equalization." 

"Sec. la. Whenever the governing body of 

'any municipality or district takQng advantage-of 

this Act shall deem It necessary or expedient 

said governing body 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, assessing and 

collecting of taxes by the district or municipality 

rendering the tax service. All said laws, charters, 

ordinances, liens and other provisions are hereby 

conferred on and made available to any munlclpallty 

or district taking advantage of this Act In order 

that the district or municipality rendering the 

service and its Tax ASStSSOr, Board of Equalization 

and Tax Collector may levy, assess and collect said 

municipality's or district's taxes and may assess 

and collect the taxes of the munlclpallty or district 

for which It is rendering the strvlces, in a uniform 

and economical manner. 
. . 

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

"Sec. 2; When the Tax A88tsso~, Board of 

Equalization and Tax Collector of'any mutil~lpallty 

OF district have been authorized by ordinance or 

resolution to 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 Included munlclpallty~or dletrlct 

shall pay the municipality OP district, the 

8trViCt6 of whose officers and Board of 

Equalization are being utilized for said 

services and for such other in&tntal expenses 

as art necessarily Incurred In-connection with 

the rendering of such services, such an amount 

may be agreed upon by the governing bodies of 

said two munlclpalltles OP distPlcts." 

.Countles qualify a8 munlclpalltles, Article XI, 

Section 1, Constitution of Texas. 

In answer to your second question, each independent 

school district may 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 Statutory duties. 

In the tvent'tht school districts contract with the 

private appraising firm, they may thereafter contract uith 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 

collection 6y an Independent tax collector, 

notwithstanding the assessment was made by the, 

County Tax Assessor-CollectoP. In other words, 

the assessor and collector may be different, 

depending upon 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 independent school 

dls?zlct to assess th& tax and then conttict nlth the cotity 

to collect It. House Bill No. 243 provides: 

-2753- 

. 
. . 

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

"'When a majority of the Board of Trustees 

of an Independent district 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 

collected only 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 bthe' Board of 

TPuStte8 . . .' (Enphasle added T 

Your third c&estlon 18 answered'by the above. 

SUMMARY 

Independent school dl8triCt8, Incorporated 

cities, and counties may lndlvldually-employ the 

same private appraisal firm. Further, the courity 

may employ the private firm and then contract with 

the independent school 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 lndlvldually or as a 

group may employ a private firm 80 long as each 

district Is liable only for the CO8t of appraising 

the property within Its district. The districts 

may thereafter contract with the county to colltat 

the taxes assessed, 

However, a private appraisal firm may not 

USUFp the statutory duties of the Tax AssessorCollector of 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 renditions of value 

-2754- 
Ron. James A. i8orrls, page 7 (C-569) 

by the residents of 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 

-2755-