Honorahle Jerry Sadler OpinionNo. ~~-1108

Commissioner General Land Office Re: Authority of Comptroller Austin, Texas to issue a warrant reimbursing the party actually paying taxes ordered refunded by the Legislative ClaimsBill, in lieu of making such reimbursement to the veteran named in Dear Mr. Sadler: the Act.

Our opinion is requested on the following question: May the Comptroller of Public Accounts issue a TreasuryWarrant payable to the assignee of a claimant named in Section lA, House Bill 22, 56th Texas Legislature,Third Special Session, Chapter 18,when the assignee has paid the taxes contemplatedby the bill?
The 7eterans' Land Board had for some time followed the legal constructionthat when a veteran's land purchase contractwas forfeited for non-payment,and the Statewas reinvestedwith full title to the land, tax liens on the trac.tceased to exist and were merged into the State title. In June, 1957, saidboard adver,-, .&3neda forfeited tract for sale, the notice statfng tha.tthe trastwould be sold free of taxes. NehemiasAlvarado was the purchaser at such sale. Subsequently,the Texas Supreme Court held that tax liens would not merge but continued to run with the land after resale. The State, therefore,was in the position of having sold land under an unintentionalmisrepresentation, inasmuch as there were delinquent taxes aga‘lnstsuch land at the time of such forfeiture.

The Legislative ClaimsBill (Acts of 1959, 3rd C.S., Ch. 18, p. 404)moved to correc:t.thissituation. Section 1A thereof appropriated "anamount not to exceed theHonorable Jerry Sadler, page 2 (~~-1108)

amounts set forth opposite the names of the followingmilitary veterans respectively,to-wit:

. . .NehemiasAlvarado

. . . 372.28

. . ."

In October, 1960,with Eoard approval, veteran Alvarado assigned his purchase contract to A. J. Morrow, a non-veteran,who, as part of the transaction,paid the taxes in question, and whona/jseeks reimbursementtherefor under the Claims Bill.

The answer to your question requiresa careful analysis of the Act. Section 1 appropriates funds to pay claims of numerous types. The appropriation in Section 1A is limited to tax refunds to veteransunder the circumstances aforesaid. In addition to naming the veterans and giving the amounts to be paid them, Section 1A also provides:

!'Said payments shallbe received in full satisfactionof all claims and demands of said named veterans, respectively, against the State of Texas arising out of the resale by theVeterans' Land Board

. . .and the purchase

. . . by said named veterans.

. . . Saidpayments shallbe made as and when the chairman of the Veterans' Land Board certifies to the Comptroller: a the t 1 name of the veteran;

. . .and e whether in fact said amounts have been pafd by the veteran or are still owing and unpaid to the agency or official charged by lawwith the collectionthereOf. If said amounts have been paid by the veteran, the Comptroller shall issue the State'swarrant in the name of the veteran making suchpayment and deliver suchwarrant to the Veterans' Land Yoard for transmittal to the veteran; if, however, said amounts are stilldue and owing to the agency or official chargedwith the collection thereof, the State'swarrant shallbe issued in the name of such agency or official.

. . .'I Section 3 of theAct directs the Comptroller "to issue a warrant or warrants on the State Treasurer in favor of eazh of the persons, firms or corporationsnamed herein

. . .Honorable Jerry Sadler,page 3 (~~-1108)

It will be noted that the statute authorizespayment only to the veteranmentioned in the statute, or to the taxing agency where taxes are stillunpaid. (Subsequent to enactment of the ClaimsBill, part of the taxes on the land in questionwere paid by the State to the taxing authority.) In view of the specificdirections in the statute,we are constrainedto answer your question in the negative. To hold that a warrantmight issuepayable to a person other than the named veteran or the tax authoritywould be to hold that the Comptroller could act contrary to the statutory directions.

The warrant may onlybe issued in the name of Mr. Al.varado

and delivered to the Veterans' Land Board. As a ma:.terof mechanics, the problemmight be solved if Mr. Alvaradowere to endorse the warrant over to Mr. Morrow while the Board, through an agent, is still in possession of the same. The Board could then deliver the warrant to the endorsee,Mr. Morrow. Further, we enclose herewitha copy of Attorney General's OpinionNo. 0-1062 which suggests an additional solution to the problem. If an assignment and power of attorney, executedby Mr. Alvarado, somewhat similar to the one set out on page 4 of said opinion, is filed with the Veterans' Land Board, such Board would then be empowered to deliver the warrant to Mr. Morrow,who could endorse thereon the name of the payee and cash same. If thematter cannotbe worked out under one of the above arrangements,a new appropriation will have to be secured in Mr. Morrow's name.

SUMMARY

Since the Legislative ClaimsBiil orderspayment of a tax refund to a named veteran, the Comptroller ?s rgithout authority to issue a warrant under such appropriation to anotherperson who purchased saidveteran's tract and who actually paid the taxes in question.
Yours very truly,
!~LI,L WILSON Attorney General of Texas. .-

Honorable Jerry Sadler,page 4 (~~-1.108)

APPROVED:
OPINION COMMITTEE: W. V. Geppert, chairman
Thomas Burrus John Reeves Grundy Williams

REVIEWED FOR THE ATTORNEY GENERAL BY: Houghton Brownlee, Jr.