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Mr. E. N. Jones, President 

Texas Techno&oglcal- College 

Lubbock. Texas 

Opinion No. WW-531 

Re: Whether certain property 

owned by Texas Technological College In Carson 

County isexempt from 

Dear Mr. Jones: .' 

taxation under,~the laws 

~of the.State of Texas. :.j ~

. . 

We quote .from your ,opinion re2qu&t -as f++vs:- .,I 

"Yin&~~oplkLo~ "Yin&oplkLo~ Is respectfully respectfully requested requested as to 

whether whether cer,talti cer,talti property property owned by Texas Technological Technological 

College College in ICakon ~County ~County is exempt 

the laws ofO$he State cf'Texas. 

from,taxation from,taxatlon under 

"The property was originally the PanTex Ordnance ~~ 

Plant and was .deed@d by:the Federal Government tom. 

Texas Techi.on April'l, 1949 by deed without warranty 

for t&purpose df.edtlcatlonal util+zation. The deed . 

contained~a recapture clause in event of a national 

emergency. 

"During t:?e Konean emergency In 1951 and l%Z!, the 

Government,exercl,sed the recapture clause and recaptured 

approximatWy lO;OCO, acres of the 16,000~, with improvements, originally .deeded to the College. A period of 

negotlatlops.began'and culminated In the instruments 

dated August 19, 1955 whioh have been sent to your office. 

"For the. sake. of clarity, the prop&y till be 

divided Into two- clas~lflcatlons, with a description 

of each: 

"PROPERTY HELD PURSUANT TO THE 

EDNATIONAL USE PLAN 

"This propeky was.conve$ed to T&as Tech'by the 

United States Government fork a period of twenty years 

on April 1, 1949 on tte contentlon (sic) that such l 

property be used In compliance with an Education Use 

Plan which was established by the General Services 

Administration, has been revised, land Is now under 
: ” 

Mr. E. N. Jones, page .2, Opinion No. WW-531 

the jurisdiction.of the Department of Health, Education 

and Welfare. If the property Is not operated strictly in 

accordance to such plan, the United~States Government may 

re-take it for non-compliance any time within the remaining 

years of the twenty-year period in keeping with the reversionary clause in the Amended:Deed. 'At the end of the twentyyear period, Texas Tech will own the property outright. 

"The majority of this property is either under 

cultivation or being used for the grazing of experimental herds owned by Texas Tech. Texas Tech keeps a 

full-time crew~on the property for the purpose of 

maintenance and to aid in research. One particularly 

outstanding research project presently being conducted 

is the bull progeny tests..; Faculty and students are 

brought-up from~Texas Tech's main campus to study and 

observe the work being conducted. 

.- 

"Four buildings, located'on the aforesaid property 

are temporarily excess to the needs of Texas Tech in 

its operation pursuant to the Education Use Plan. 

Three of these buildings are being leased to Phillips 

Chemical Company and the other to one of their employees 

by Texas Tech for and with the.permission of the Department of Health, Education and Welfare. It is contemplated that as ~the educational program expands, this . 

property will be used.in connection therewith and is '. 

being held for the purpbse. 

. . "PROPERTY OWNED OUTRIGHT BY TEXAS TECH 

"This property 1s~ owned outright by Texas Tech, 

having been purchased from the United States Government 

by use of accumulated amortized credits. TL:e majcrit3 

of this property is rented to&e Phillips Chemical 

Company for storage purposes. Phillips rents three 

warehouses on a five-year basis and it rents one hundred 

and two (102) igloos on an 'as-needed basis,' paying 

only for the' igloos actually.used. Certain staff 

residences located on'this property are rented to individuals on a month-to4month tenancy. Certain buildings, 

located on sald ~prop,erty, and.known as PanTex Village, are 

owned by Carson County.' Texas Tech leases the land 

under such buildings to the'county on a year-to-year 

basis for $1.00. .~ 

: 

"The income from'all of the aforesaid rentals is 

credited to the.PanTech Farms' Account and Is used solely 

for the promotion,of the educational program at PanTech 

47 '. _~, 

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Mr. E. N. Jones, page 3, Opinion No. WW-531 

Farms in Carson.County. It is contemplated that this 

property will be eventually needed as part of the PanTech 

Farms operation pursuant to the Education Use Program 

and is being held for such future use." 

It is the opinion of the Attorney General that all of the 

above-described property is exempt from taxation under the 

laws of the State of Texas. 

PERTINENT STATUTORY AND CONSTITUTIONAL PROVISIONS 

Article 8, Section 2 of the Texas Constitution contains 

the foll,owing language: 

II . . the legislature may, by general'laws, exempt 

from taxation public property used for public purposes; 

. . bng all buildings used exclusively and owned 

by persons or associations of persons for.school purposes. . . .' 

The provisions of the aforesaid Article are permissive 

and not mandatory. #Pursuant thereto, the legislature enacted 

Article 7150, Texas.kevised Civil. Statutes, the. salient provisions of which read as follows: 

"The following property shall be exempt from taxation,~ 

to-wit: 

"1. Schools and.Churches. -- Public school houses, . . . 

~A11 public colleges,~ public academies, and all endowment funds of institutions of learning and religion 

not used with a view to profit, and when the same are .. 

Invested ,in bonds or mortgages, and all such buildings 

used exclusively and owned by persons or associations 

of persons for school purposes; ~ . .‘I~ 

II 

. . . 

" 4. All property, whether real or personal, belknging 

exclusively to~thls State, 

thereof. . .I' 

or any political subdivision 

GENERAL DISCUSSION 

The exemption of property used for school purposesapplies 

to private schools as well as public schools. Cassi'ano v. 

Ursuline Academy 64 Tex. 673 j1823). However, 5he exempfion 

accorded nr sivate schools ismze restrictive than the exemption given to public school houses 9 public colleges and public 
Mr. E. N. Jones, page 4, ' Opinion No. WW-531 

academies. Chief Justice Stayton pointed out this distinction 

inthe case of St. Edward"s College v. Morris, Tax Collector, 

17 S.W. 512 (Tex.Sup.Ct. 1851): 

"In reference to the exemption from taxation of 

property, when used exclusively and owned by persons 

or associations of personsfor school purposes, the 

statute simply repeats, the~language of the Constitution 

which permits th,e exemption to be made; thus indicating 

an intention to make the exemption in such cases more 

restrictive than is the exemption when given to public 

school-houses, public college6 and public academies. 

The Constitution, aswell as the statutes, make thedistinction between public property and private property 

owned and used for school purposes. . .' 

Texas Technological College.was created and is governed 

by the laws of the State of Texas. It is a public college. 

Its property is public property of the State of Texas, and 

is held bv Texas Technological College as an agency of the 

State of Texas. See State v. University of Houston 264 S.W. 

2d 153 (Tex.Clv.App. 1954, N.R.E.) 

The test for determining whether public property is tax 

exempt because used for a "public purpose" is whether it is 

used primarily for the health, comfort and welfare of the 

public. A. & M. Consolidated Independent School District v. 

City of Bryan> lo4 S.W.' 2d 914 (Tex.Sup.Ct. 1945). Fublic 

education is recognized as a function of State government. 

Cassiano v. Ursuline Academy, supra. There can be no doubt 

that the maintenance of a public school is a public purpose 

as envisioned by Article 8, Section 2, Texas Constitution. 5 

Therefore, this opinion is concerned with the exemption accorded to "public property used for public purposes" by 

Sectiornl and 4 of Article 7150, Texas Revised Civil Statutes. 

From >, supra, we quote: 

"Public schools, colleges, .and academies may,,,under 

authority of law, be established for the purpose'of 

giving Instruction In . . : agriculture, or other 

pursuit, which can be done practically only by having 

lands which may be used for the purpose of giving 

practical instruction, and in such a case all the 

buildings and land used for such a purpose would evidently be exempt." 

On the authority of this case it is apparent that all the 

property described as "Property Held Pursuant to the Educational Use Plan," (with then exception of the four buildings 

‘. 

“I 
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Mr. E. N. Jones, page 5, Opinion No. WW-531 

which are temporarily excess to the needs cf said plan and 

which are being rented) is exempt from taxation. 

The exemption accorded to "public pr+operfy used for public 

purposes" is not lost~ even though such property may be temporarily 

leased or rented, so long.as the public purpose of the property 

has not-been abandoned, and so long as the revenue from 

such renting or leasing enures'to the.publlc benefit. State v. 

City of Beaumont 161 S.W.,2d 344 (Tex.Civ.App. 1942, no writ 

history); City of Abi1ene.v. 

1938 Error Dismissed.) 

State 113 S.W. 2d 631 (Tex.Clv.App. 

In your letter you state tha t it Is contemplated that the 

property~described as "Property Owned Cktright by Texas Tech," 

and the four buildings listed under "Property Held Pursuant to 

the Educational Use Plan" which are temporarily excess to the 

needs of such plan, will eventually be used in connection with' 

the educational use plan .and are being held for that purpose. 

You further state that the Income from all rentals Is credited 

to the PanTech Farms Account and is used solely for the promotion of the educational program. It Is therefore apparent 

that the property described as "Property Owned Outright by Texas 

Tech" and the four rented buildings listed under "Property Held 

Pursuant to the Educational Use Plan" are also exempt from 

taxation. 

The properly held by Texas Technological 

College pursuant to the Educational Use Program 

Is exempt from taxation under the laws of the 

State of Texas on then grounds that such property' 

Is the property of a public college used in connection with'the college's educational program. 

The remainder of~the.property is also exempt 

from taxation under the 1aws::of the State of 

Texas though temporarily leased or rented by 

reason of its being public property "held" for 

public purposes, since the public purpose of 

such.property has not been abandoned and all 

revenues therefrom enure to the benefit of Texas 

Tech and are used solely for the provotion of 

the educational program at PanTech Farms. 
Mr. E. N. Jones, page 6, 

JNP:db 

APPROVED: 

OPINION COMMITTEE: 

Opinion No. WW-531 

Very truly yours, 

WILL WILSON 

Attorney General of Texas 

,~ zii15iIr P&-L--u 

Assistant Attorney General 

Geo. P. Blackburn, Chairman 

C. Dean Davis 

B. H. Timmins, Jr. 

L. P. Lollar 

Henry G. Braswell 

REVIEWED FOR THE ATTORNEY GENES& 

m: W. V. Geppert .'