. . 

Eon. Wi.ll.iamScanl.sn 

Assistant County Attorney 

Callleron County 

Brmnsville,Texas 

Dear Sir: ,: opinion Bo. O-1654 

Be: State and count+ taxes for 1939 

agaainst reel estate agqu*ed 

after July 1, 1939, by the 

Brownsville Housing Authodty. 

m your letter of lioiember. 16, 1939, you advise that the Bmmsville 

Housing Authority, organized under Article l269k of the Revised Civil 

Statutes of Texas, obtaj.ned by deed and by the erercise of its power 

of eminent domain, certaiqreal estate in the City of Brownsville, Texas, 

the title to which vested in the Authosity~ after July 1, 1939; that all 

taxes en such property to and.including the year 1938 were pai&, and 

that the Authority has set aside sufficient money to pay State and 

county taxes upon the promrty for the year 1939, should it be re¶uired 

to do so; that as af January 1, .1939, the title to this property was 

vested in private indiviawd. 

From this state of fects, you ask the opinion of this depsrtment upon 

the question whether the State and county taxes upon these properties 

for the year 1939 me collectible. 

Article 7151, Revised Civil Stat&es of Texas, 1925, provides in part 

as follows: 

"All properties shall be listed for taxetion between 

January lst and April 30th of each year, when reN.red 

by the Assessor, with reference tathe quantity held ~~ 

or owned on the first day of January in the year for 

which the property is reQuirea .to be listed or rendered . .." 

Ey virtue of the prov.isiens of this statute, the ownership of property on 

the first day of January of a?ay year creates a ~liahility on the part 

of the owner for taxes levied upon such property for that year, WLnters 

vs. Independent School District 'd Event (Civ. App.), 208 9. W. 574, and' 

the sale of such property shortly thereafter does not affect the rule. 

Childress County vs. State, 127 Tex. 343, 92 S. W. (2d) 1011. 
HOZI. ~$~.~iarn scanlen, Page #2 (O-1654) 

It is true that Section 22 of the Act under which the Brownsville 

Housing Authority is organized provides: 

?he property of an authority is declered to be public 

property used for essential public and governmental 

purposes and such property and an authority shall be 

exempt from ell taxes and special easessments of the city, 

the county, the State, or any political subdivision thereof;..." 

However, whether a particular piece of property is exempt from taxation 

or not depends upon its ownership on the date as of which the taxes 

are assessed, and if, after such date, but before the tax is paid, the 

property is takenby eminent domain or bought by a body politic or 

corporate the property of which ia exempt from taxation, the tax as 

originally assessed is valid and subsisting, end the parson who owned 

the property on the data as of which the tax was assessed is legally 

bound to pey it. 26 R. c. L. 29% 

The acquisitienoftitle tothese properties, of course, imposes no 

personal responsibility upon the Housing Authority for taxes due the 

State and the county, assessed against the indivia~i owners thereof 

as of January 1, 1939, Howher, there is involved in your -inquiry, of 

necessity, tha question whether the lands taken over by the Housing 

Authority are held by it subject to the valid liens, if any, of the 

State and county against such lands for taxes assessed against the' 

individual owners thereof as of Jenuary 1, 1939. 

In view of the provisions of the Act under which the Housing Authority 

is created, we do not find it necessary to discuss the doctrine of 

merger, as applied to the present situation. 

Cur Constitution, Article 8, Section 15, provides as follows: 

?he annual assessment made upon landed property shall 

be a special lien thereon; and all property, both real 

and personal, belonging to any delinquent taxpayer 

shall be liable toseizure and sale for the payment of 

all the taxes and penalties due by such delinquent, and 

such property may be sold for the payment of the taxes 

and penalties due by each delinquent, under such regulations 

as the Legislature may~*ovide." 

?l'he lien of .the State, under the provisions of the 

Constitution, ariass out of the asaessmant of property, 

and does not exist-until that assessment is made." State 

vs. Farmer (SupraW Court), 59 S. W.:541. 
Hon. William Scanlan, Page #3 (0-l.6654) 

It appaars that the properties involved in your inquiry were not acquired 

by the Housing Authority until after the expiration of the time provided 

by law for the making of assessments thereon. Applying the presumption 

that the officers of the State have performed their duty in accordance with 

the law, we presume that assessments were regularly made, prior to 

April 30, 1939, and prior to the acquisition of title to these properties 

by the Housing Authority, by the proper officers, so that the tax lien 

given by the Constitution came into existence prior to the time the 

properties were acquired by the Brownsville Housing Authority. 

Article l269k provides in part as follows: 

"Sec. 3 (1) Real property shall include all lands, including 

improvements and fixtures thereon, and property of any nature 

appurtenant thereto, or used in connection therewith, and 

every estate, interest and right, legal or equitable therein, 

including terms for years and liens by way of judgment, mortgage, 

or otherwise and the indebtedness secured by such liens." 

“Sec. 12. . . . Property already devoted to a public use may be 

acquired in like manner, provided that no ~real property 

belonging to the city, the county, the State, or any political 

subdivision thereof may be acquired without its consent." 

Sec. 20. All real property of an Authority shall'be exempt 

from levy and sale by virtue of an execution, and no execution 

or other judicial process shell issue against the same, nor 

shalleny judgmnt against an authority be a charge or lien 

upon its real property; . .." 

“Sec. 22. The property of an authority is declared to be 

public property used for essential public and governmental 

purposes and such property and authority shall be exempt 

from all taxes and special assessments of the city, the 

county, the State or any political subdivision thereof; 

n . . . 

The lien for taxes existing against such properties in favor of the 

State and the county is clearly "an interest in land." Section I2 of the 

Act provides that no real property belonging to the county or the State 

may be acquired without its consent, and Section 3 (1) defines the term 

"real property" in such manner as to include every interest in lands. 

The Act in our opinion expressly, therefore, prevents the Housing 

Authority from depriving the State or the County of ths benefit of liens 

for taxes lawfully fixed against real propertieti for taxes due the State 

and county. 
- - 

Hon. William Scanlan, Page #4 (O-1654) 

We trust that the foregoing sufficiently answers your inquiry. 

Yours very truly 

AlTORIWi CWERALOFTRXAS 

s/ R. W. Fairchild 

m 

R. W. Fairchild 

Assistant 

IMF:pbp/ldw 

APFmvED DEC. 13, 1939 

s/ Oerald C. Mann 

AlTORlTEY -oFTExAs 

APPROVED 

OPllpIcN 

CD 

BY B. W. B. 

CRAIRMAR