I . 

NOV~ID~~P 28, 1951 

Hon. J. W. Edgar 

Commissioner of Education 

Texas Education Agency 

Austin, Texas Opinion-No. V-1356 

Re: Authority of a municipally controlled independwnt-school dlstrlct to compensate 

the city or the city 

tax assessor-collector 

for assess-h-g and collecting the district's 

Dear Sir:, taxes. 

We.rei"er,,to,,your.,request for an opinion of 

this office concerning-th-e,auth~itg of a municipally 

controlled'in6ependent'school .dlstrlct to compensate 

the city, ~orthe, office .vfthecity assessor-collector 

for the;assesslng and collecting of school taxes for 

Its school ,distrlct, under the provisions of Articles 

2791 and~2792, V.C.S. 

-~The followlng~fants .are stated in your request. -'The Marshall Independent -School District is 

a munl.cfpally ~controlle~d district. Formany years 

the ~boungaries of the.Mzsrshall Independent School 

Distrlctwere~ldsntical withthe corp-oFate.limits of 

the city ofMarshall, but several years ago the city 

of Marsball extended its city limits for school purposes onlg,~under ,the-provIsIons of,Article 2803, V.C.S. 

The city vf,Narshall,has. a city ,assessor-collector of 

taxes whohas ,assessed and 'collected taxes each year 

for boththe city and-the .school ~district. Due to 

the extens~ion of-the'city limits ~for school purposes 

only, the duties, lmposed.upon me city assessor-collector of'taxes have been tremendously-increased and 

for thisreason thw~ 3osrd,,of--teesof the Xarshall 

Independent. School,Mstrict would;-,,if.,posslble, like 

to expend 'school funds to assist the city of Marshall 

In the assessment ,and'collectlon of school taxes. 
- . 

Ron. J. W. Edgar, page 2 (V-1356) 

On the basis of these facts, you submit 

the following questlons: 

"1. Is Artlcle'27pl applicable to a 

municipally controlled independent school 

district such as the Marshall Independent 

School District? 

-2. Does the Board of Trustees of the 

Barshall Independent School District have 

the authority to contract with ~the city of 

Marshall under the provisions of Article 

2792?' 

In Attorney GeneraPs Opinion V-898 (1949) 

this office had~ occasion to consider the status of 

the Marshall Independent 'School Mstrict. That opinion held that a municipally contr~olled school district 

wNch extends its boundaries for school purposes only, 

under the provisions of Article 2803, V.C.S., maintains its character as a city controlled school district subject to the laws appertaining specifically 

to municipally controlled school districts. Ba es v. 

City af.Beawont, 190 S.W.28 835 (Tex. Mr. 

error ref. w.0.m.). 

&--FX5; 

In 'a letter pplnion addressed to County 

Attorney Carroll Ed Sullivant, Cooke County, dated 

August 23, 1950, this ,office advised that Articles 

2791 and 2792 have no application to munlclpally 

controlled independent school districts; that Artlcles 2802 and 2803, V.C.S., speclflcally govern such 

municipal districts with respect to Its assessor and 

collector of taxes. See Att'y.Gen. Gp. 0-2687 (1940). 

Article 2802 grovldes ins part as follows: 

"In an independentschool district constituted of a city or town having a city assessor and collector of taxes, such assessor 

and collector of taxes shall assess and col-- 

lsct the taxes for school purposes; provided, 

that ina city or town having an assessor and 

collector of taxes, the levy of taxes for 

school purposes shall be based upon the same 

assessment of property upon which the levy 

for other city~purposes is based. In such 

a city or town, the assessor and collector 

- 
. . 

,’ 

Hon. J. W. Edgar, page 3, .(V-1356) 

of taxes shall receive no other compensation fork collecting school taxbs than. 

the compensation paid him for assessing 

and collecting city taxes; . . ." 

A~tle-le-9803 provides: 

" . The*pr&erty of the added territory*sf;all bear Its pro rata part of all 

~sohaol~taxes;~but of no ,&her taxes. . . , 

Theoff'lcsrs whose ~duty it is to assess and 

collect taxes within the city limits shall 

also assess and collect school taxes within 

the territory added for school purposes as 

herein provided." 

These statutes specifically require that 

the school taxes of a city controlled school district, 

to which territory has been added for school purposes 

only, shall be assessed and collected by the city tax 

assessor-collector. They make no provision for compensation to that officer or to the city out of the 

school district's funds for the additional duties 

imposed thereunder. 

Accordingly, we agree with you that the 

Board. aP Truetees~~uf the Marshall Independent School 

District is'"nct authorized uniler.Articles 2791 and 

2792 to-contract with the city of Marshall for the 

paymentof,tbe, city or the office of the city tax 

assessor-collectorfor the assessing and collecting 

of the school taxes for the district. Nor do we find 

any other statute authorizing a municipally controlled 

school district to use its school funds for that purpose. 

SUMMARY 

Articles 2791 and 2792, V.C.S., have 

no application to municipally controlled 

independent school districts. Articles 

2802 8nd 2803, V.C.S., impose the duty on 

th8 city tax assessor-collector to assess 

and collect the taxes of 8 city controlled 

school district, and the district may not 

use its school funds to compensate the city 
Hon. J. W. Edgar, page 4 (V-1356) 

or the adsessor-collector for these 

services. 

APPROVED: 

J. C. Davis, Jr. 

county Aff8i.m Division 

Jesse P:Luton, Jr. 

Reviewing Assistant 

Charles D. Mathews 

First Assistant 

Yours very truly, 

PRICE DANIEL 

Attorney General 

By&&-=- 

Chester E. Ollison 

Assistant 

CEO:mh