OFFICE OF THE AfToRNEY GENERAL OF TEXAS 

AUSTlN 

Honorable L. P. Beard 

County Auditor 

Bell oounty 

Belton, Texaa 

Dear Sir: Opinion PO. O-3702 

Rer Situa of taxation of road 

bulldingaquf~ntbelong3.q to l rerldent of Beu; 

county 

Ye are la reaelpt OS your letter in whlah you requert the opinion of thir department on the faatr ret out 

am follawrc 

“My dtentlon bsr beea aallsd to the fast 

that we heve a road aontraator or builder in 

Bell County, or rather thlr 18 hia hosts and 

plaa8 of resldenae, who haa not rendered hl8 

road bulldlag equipment to Bell Oounty for Ad 

valorem tax purporer. 

?Ilr aontention 18 that the equI.pment iraa 

not in Bell county on the lat. 0r atwry or 

the 1st of the year and for that reamn lr not 

rubjeat to being rendered for tax purposes ln 

Bell oounty. 

%Ul ppu pleame advile me under there 

aonditions If this pxwpertg la aubjeet to belng arrerred ln Bell 3 our&y for tar purposes.” 

Seotion 11 of Artiole VIII of the Conetltutlan of 

Texas provide8 aa follow: 
mnorable L. P. Heard, p-e 2 

"All property, *ether awed by paraag~ 

or aorporatlona ahall be aaaeaeed for taxation, 

and the taxes paid in the oounty rlbere altwitsd, but the Leglalature may, by a tvo-thlrda 

vote, authorire the payment of taxer of aonresidents of oouatlea to be made at th4 office 

of the Comptroller of Pub110 haoouata. And 

611 lands and other property not rendered for 

tPurt1w.s by the ovn4r theraof akmll b4 l a nea a - 

ed at lta i%lr value by the proper offlaer." 

Artlole 7153 or the Revised Civil Statutes protides as f’ollovar 

aAll property, real 8nd personal, eraopt 

mah as la required to be listed and ara~aeed 

othervise, ahall be listed and 488488ed in 

the oounty vhepe it la eltuated~ and all peraanal property, aubjaat to taxation and tomporarlly removed from the State or aounty, 

shall be listed and l a8eaaed in tha aoaaty 

of the residence of the ornor thereof, or la 

the aounty vhere the prinalp41 ofti4e of au4h 

ovner la altuPtsd.* 

The road bullbing egulmeent you refer to la alaaa4d as tPngible peraonal property. 

The gewr a l rule as to the l ltw o f taxation o f 

tsngfblo pereunal property v48 stated 

% 

the Glpra4 court 

of Tame in the oaae of Qreat Southern s4 Ia4uP4n44 oam- 

~~v;,City of Austin, 243 le.W.,778. The aourt raid ar 

“Under the ocnmon law, 'rabllla aeauuntur 

p4raomm~ vaa a vell-eatablbliahed mxlm, and 

personal property of every d444tiption ne 

taxable only at ths dmlaile of its ovaer, 

reg~dleaa of its a4tu4l laaatian. This la 

atlll the baa14 priaalple upan vhl.oh the tutatlon of personal property rests. . . . 

I) It is true that the aatu4.l aitua 

of cer&&'alaaasa of vlalble arid twkble 
Honorable L. P. Heard, page 3 

personal property, as vell as intangible property having d.mllar charaateriatlbr, as, for 

example, money, Rtate and munloipal bonds, 

circulating bank notes, and shares of stock 

in private oorporatlone, may have a altua for 

taxation vhere they are permanently kept, 

aepcrrate and apart from the domiaile of the 

ouner. . . ." 

The rule of lav applloable in Texaa.la, therefore, 

that tangible personal property la taxable in the oounty of 

the dorialle of the omer unless the property has acqalred 

a permanent fixed l ltua of its ovn separate an8 apart from 

that of the aountg of the ovwr~a domialle. %ere temporary 

abaenae fror the oounty of the ovner~a domlalle does not 

give trngible personal property a taxable altw in another 

oouat 

7 

and remwe It from taxation in awh eountf of the 

ovwr a domlalle. This vaa pointed out by the Port Worth 

Court of Ulvll Appeals in the wee of City of Fort Worth v. 

Southland ffreyhound Lines, 62 8.W. 954, In that aaae the 

City of Fort Worth attempted to tax the motor bwaea of tbe 

Southland OrayYzound Llaea, Ino ., a aorporatlm vhoae ple4e 

of domlolle and prinolprl pl8ee of bualneaa vaa Bexar County, 

Texas. The aourt held that the footi that the busses operated tempomrlly through the City of Fort Worth did not render 

then l ubjeot to ttuatlon in Tnrrant County. The fast th+t 

the buaaea operated temporavAly~Ln a number of oouutlea 

plawd them in auab a eategory that they vere taxable only 

in Hexar County, Texw, the aountp of the oo~poratlon~a 

domialle. The reason for thiu yam beoauae the busses as 

tangible personal property had aoqulred no t-able altua 

in any other aounty. 

Boxever, in a ease vbere tamgible personal property 

does roqilire a permanent situ8 in a aounty other than the 

ooltsty of the ovner*a domlalle in relation to the tax year 

in qwation such property la taxable ia the county vhero the 

sake is actually located. The Court of Cioil Appeals of 

Texas Ln the oaae of Clampitt v. Johnson, 42 S.Y. 866, atated as follova: 

"It 18 quite certain from the testimony 

in this oaae that appelleea moved their oattle 
Honorable L. P. Heard, page 4 

TV? Sterling county intending to pasture them 

there until the following spring. The drought 

ln Runnele county had 80 seriously affected 

the range as rendered it neceeeary for them 

to proaure a range elecwhere. The cattle were 

moved in November, and it is a matter of crammon knowledge that new grass does not spring 

up and grow to any considerable extant in this 

etate ln the months of November, December, 

Jpnuary, and February. Hence we aa 

it is reasonably certain that 9 

that 

appel &es’ purp;o; ?h~ to keep the cattle in Sterling County 

x tL;x thcg plaacd them there until the 

following spring, and this purpose vaa oarrled 

out, as shown by the agreed facts; and vhlle 

live atouk may be in a partlaular county under such alrcumatan~er as vi11 not render 

them aubjeot to taxation In said county, as, 

for tietanae, while being driven through the 

oounty, or held there temporarily for the 

purpose of sale or trade, still we are aatisfled that the aattle referred to in this 

ease were situated in Sterling c?ounty on the 

1st say of January, 1894, within the meaning 

of the tas laws, and were therefore subject 

to taxation In said oounty.' 

The test in each case vaa eat out by the &?lveaton 

Court of Civil Ap 

Haden, 214 S.W. 7 g 6. 

eala in the oaae of City of Galveston v. 

The Court stated aa follower 

"The law seems to be well settled In 

Texas ttlat tha proper place to tax peXYVJna1 

property le the resideme of the ovner, provided it has not aoqtired a altua for purpoaes 

of taxation elsewhere, in whloh inatanae It la 

to be taxed where situated. ConIltltution of 

Texas, wt. 8, I 11; R.3. arta. 7510 and 7514~ 

City of Austin v. Xnauranoe Co., 21X S.W. 482. 

Indeed, the oaoea oLted in the foregoing Ooncluaione so hold, partioularly the ouffey Case, 

with reference to such phyeloal property as 

is here involved, and both litigants appear 

to proceed upon the assumption that such is 
Eonorable L. P. Heard, page 5 

the rule, differing only aa to vhether thlo 

property van shovn to have a tltua where located. The question, then, u9on thin feature 

of the aase turna in thir court, on vhether 

or not the evidence vaa lrufflclento support 

the trial court’s fX.ndlng that the 9ro9ertg 

aa to vhiah any reeorery SOF taxbe war denied 

had in fast acquired a rltus outside of the 

alty of GRlveeton, vhere it8 ovnec realded.’ 

By way of appliaatlon of the above authorltlee to 

.the situation you present, the iact that the road equlplnent 

VW out of Bell County on the lrt day of January, ir not a 

fast vhbh ln ItrelP 9reventr the property froaa being tarablo 

in Bell County. If the road build- eqUlgment has been l ltuated in another oounty on a permanent baela In relation to the 

taring year In question then the r~ae vould be taxable In the 

eouuty vhere actually rituated and not’in Bell County. Siovevor, 

i? ouch road equIpkent, a8 Ir the ordinary same, la wed and 

awed from one oounty to snothor to vork on partlouler jobs, 

aad rwh equl9ment never auqulrer OZI aotual ritur in any county 

other than the ovner’r domiaile, then uuder the lava of thir 

Nate it Is ow 09lnlon the same vould be taxable in Bell 

aounty . 

We trust that the foregoing fully awvers your lnW-Y. 

Yours very truly 

Al'T~.BY OBT@i$AL of TEXAS