Honorable Joe C. Gladney 

Criminal Dlstriot Attorney 

'Rusk County 

Henderson, Texas 

Attention: Honorable O'Neal Morris 

Dear Sir: opinion NO. o-5246 

Ret Power to collect taxes 

on homestead without 

collecting personal pr* 

perty and poll taxes 

due from owner of the 

homestead. 

Your opinion request, dated April 21, 1993, states: 

"Mr. George E. Wood, Tax Assessor-Collector 

of Rusk Counby, Texas asked me to seoure fran your 

office an op&nion on the, following question, towit: A homestead owner who owes taxeson his homestead and on other personal property and poll, 

taxes tenders payment of all the taxes due on 

his homestead to the exclusion of the personal 

property taxes and poll taxes due. Can Mr. Wood 

accept payment of all taxes due against this homestead without payment of the other taxes mentioned? 

In other words, can the.,homestead be inoumberad 

with taxes due on personal property and poll taxes? 

"It is my opinion that the Tax AsseeaorCollector can accept payment of taxes due on the homestead without payment on personal property and 

poll taxes. My opinion is based on Article 

7279 R.C.S. of 1925 whi@h says3 No real estate 

set apart, used or designated as a homestead 

shall be sold for taxes other than the taxes due 

on such homestead. I also oite the following 

authoritiesa City of San Antonio vs. Toepperwein, 133 S. W. 416: Tate vs. MoGraw, 73 S.W. 2d 

559. 
Honorable Joe C. Gladney, page 2 - (0-5246) 

',"It is possible that this question is covered in Opinion No. O-448 made to W. Pat Camp, Assistant Criminal District Attorney, San Antonio, 

Texas, March 15, 1939. 

"An opinion on this question will be greatly appreciated." 

We feel that your opinion is correct. Article 7279 

has consistently been construed to mean that a homestead is 

not liable for any tax save and except the taxes due against 

the homestead itself. Wright v. Straub 64 Tex. 64, Higgins 

v. Bordages, 88 Tex. 458 31 S. W. 52, $03, Barnet v. Eureka 

Paving Co., 234 S. W. 1081, Tate v. McGraw, 70 S. W. (28) 

467, 73 S. w. (2d) 559. Since this is true, payment of the 

taxes due on the homestead will leave such homestead free and 

clear of any tax lien, and such property can in no way be used 

for the collection of personal property or poll taxes due from 

the owner of such homestead. 

In our Opinion No. o-448, to which you refer, we 

held that payment of all taxes against the homestead and payment of the poll tax of the taxpayer prior to January 31, 1939, 

followed by a subsequent payment Bf the poll tax of the wife 

of the taxpayer on February 6, 1939, would entitle the taxpayer to a poll tax receipt dated January 31, thus entitling 

him to vote, despite the fact that all of these payments were 

not made prior to such date. In that opinion we referred, 

with respect to poll tax payments, to the principles enunciat, 

ed in the preceding paragraph. Suoh principles are, we feel, 

applicable to poll taxes, personal property taxes, or to any 

taxes or assessments other than taxes actually due on the 

homestead. 

Trusting that the foregoing fully answers your inquiry and confirms your opinion, we are 

APPROVED MAY 4, 1943 

Very truly yours 

/a/ Gerald C. Mann 

ATTORNEY GENERAL OF TEXAS 

ATTORNEYGENERALOF TEXAS 

/s/ R. Dean Moorhead 

R. Dean Moorhead 

Assistant 

RDM:db:elb 

APPROVED 

OPINION 

COmITTEE 

BY 

Chairman