. .

Eon. Wi.ll.iamScanl.sn Assistant

CountyAttorney Callleron

County Brmnsville,Texas
Dear Sir: ,:opinion Bo. O-1654
Be: State and count+taxes for 1939 agaainst

reel estateagqu*ed after July 1, 1939,by the Brownsville

Housing

Authodty.

m your letterof lioiember. 

### 16, 1939,you advise that the Bmmsville Housing

Authority,

organized

underArticle l269k of the RevisedCivil Statutes

of Texas, obtaj.ned

by deed and by the ererciseof 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 countytaxes 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 opinionof this depsrtment upon the question

whether the State and county taxes upon these properties for the year 1939 me collectible. Article 7151,RevisedCivil Stat&es of Texas, 1925, providesin part as follows: "All properties

shall be listedfor 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 propertyis reQuirea .to be listedor rendered
. .." Ey virtue of the prov.isiens of this statute,

the ownership

of property

on the first day of Januaryof a?ay year createsa ~liahility on the part of the owner for taxes leviedupon such property for that year,

WLnters vs. Independent

SchoolDistrict 'd Event (Civ.App.), 

### 208 9. W. 

### 574,and' the sale of such property shortlythereafter

does not affect the rule. Childress

Countyvs. 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 underwhich the Brownsville HousingAuthorityis organized provides: ?he property

of an authority

is declered

to be public property

used for essential

publicand 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,

whethera particular piece of propertyis 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 propertyis takenby eminent domain or boughtby a body politic or corporate

the property

of which ia exempt from taxation, the tax as originally

assessedis valid and subsisting, end the parson

who owned the property

on the data as of which the tax was assessedis legally 

### boundto pey it. 26 R. c. L. 29% The acquisitienoftitle tothese properties, of course, imposes

no personal

responsibility

upon the HousingAuthority for taxes due the State and the county, assessed

againstthe 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 subjectto the valid liens, if any, of the State and countyagainst such lands for taxes assessed againstthe' individual

owners thereof

as of Jenuary 1, 1939.
In view of the provisions of the Act underwhich the Housing Authority is created,

we do not find it necessary to discuss

the doctrine

of merger,as appliedto the presentsituation. Cur Constitution,

Article 8, Section 

### 15, provides as follows: ?he annualassessment made upon landedproperty 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 paymentof all the taxes and penalties due by such delinquent, and such property

may be sold for the paymentof 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 appaarsthat 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. Applyingthe presumption that the officers

of the State have performed their duty in accordance with the law,we presumethat 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 givenby the Constitution came into existence prior to the time the properties

were acquired

by the Brownsville

Housing

Authority. Article l269k providesin 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 liensby way of judgment, mortgage, or otherwise

and the indebtedness secured

by such liens."
“Sec. 12. . . . Property alreadydevotedto a publicuse may be acquiredin 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

processshell issue againstthe same, nor shalleny judgmnt againstan authority be a charge or lien upon its real property; . .." “Sec. 22. The property of an authority

is declared

to be publicproperty

used for essential

publicand governmental purposes

and such property

and authority

shallbe exempt from all taxes and specialassessments of the city, the county,

the State or any political subdivision

thereof; n

. . . The lien for taxes existing againstsuch 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 countyor the State may be acquired

without its consent, and Section3 (1) definesthe term "realproperty"

in such manner as to includeevery interestin lands. The Act in our opinionexpressly, therefore,

prevents

the Housing Authority

from depriving

the State or the County of ths benefitof 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 AlTORIWiCWERALOFTRXAS s/ R. W. Fairchild



## m R. W. Fairchild

Assistant IMF:pbp/ldw
APFmvED DEC. 13, 1939 s/ OeraldC. Mann AlTORlTEY

-oFTExAs APPROVED OPllpIcN CD BY B. W. B. CRAIRMAR