### E ORNEY GENERAL
OF~ILCXAS

Honorable RLchard F. Stovall Distrkt Attorney 110th JudicialDlstr1at Floydada, Texas
Dear Sir: OpinLonNO. 0-6600 Re: Whether the tax collector of Floyd County isrequired to collect a One Dollar ($1.00) fee for each certlflcate of redemptfon Issuedwhen delinquent taxes are paid?
Your request for an opinFon from thisdepartment has been referr~edto the writer for attention and reply. Your request reads In part as follows:

"Pleasegive me your opinion as to whether or not the Tax Collector of Floyd County,Texas, is required to collect a one dollar ($1.00)fee for each Certificate ofRedemption Issuedwhen del1nquer-k

taxes are paid. The tax collector has been advised by the audltor that she must collect a one dollar ($1.00) fee for each year that the taxes have been delfnquent, in other words, if a tax payer has been delinquent in the payment of his taxes on a certain piece of property for 5 years and desires to pay said taxes, the Tax Collectormust collect, inaddition to the,taxes,penalty and interest, $5.OO for issuing a Redemption Certificate,andif thfs is not done, the Tax Collectorwould be Liable to the county for failure to do so. In our county the Tax Collector advises that themaxImum fees of office are earnedwithout the necessity of collecting the one dollar ($1.00)redemption fee for eachyear that the taxesmay be delinquent.

Article 7331,Revised Civil Statutes, provides in part:
"For calculatingand preparing redemption cer-Honorable Richard F. Stovall, page 2 O-6600

tifFcates and receipts, reporting and crediting redemptions,posting Comptroller'sredemptionnumbers on the delinquent tax record or annual delinquent list,mailing certificates of redemption to taxpayers after approval by the Comptroller,and for Issuingreceipts or certificates of red~emption for property shown on the annual delfnquent list, ,the tax collector shall be entitled to a fee of one dollar ($1.00) for each correct assessment of land to be sold, said fee to be taxed as costs against the delinquent. Correct assessment as herein used means the inventory of all properties ownedby an indFvFdua1 for any one year. Q

. n .'
We are advised by the Comptroller'sDepartment that the county officers of Floyd County are compensatedon the basis of fees earnedby them in the performance of their officialduties. The maximum fees which may be retained are fixed by Articles 3883 and 3891,R.C.S. The feesmust be collected and paid to the county treasurer after deducting' salariesand'authorized expenses as provided by Article 3891, R.C.S. In fact, failure to charge up the fees OP costs that may be due under existing laws ismade a penal offense by Article 102 of the Penal Code,which reads as follows:

"Any county officer or any dlstrfct attorney to whom fees or costs are allowedby law ,whoshall fail to charge up the fees or costs thatmay be due under existing laws, or who shall remit any fee that may be due under the laws, or who shall fail to make the report requir3j by law, or who shal~l pay his deputy, clerk or ass'Lstant a,less sum than specified in his sworn statemeht,or receive back as a rebate any part of the compensationallowed suchdeputy, clerk or assistant, si~lall be rined not less than twenty-fivenor mo~c3,thsr: five hundred dolIars. Each act forbidderby this articl,e Is a separate offense."
We trust that the above ~11'1satlsfac,t.oi:iIg answer your inquiry. Ver-y truly 'yours HTBD:db:wc ATTORNEYGENERAL OF TEXAS
APPROVED MAY 29, 1945 B-ys,/Bi T. Bob Donahue s/Grover Sellers H. T. Bob Donahue ATTORNEY GENERAL OF TEXAS Assistant Approved Opinion CommitteeBy s/i%63 Chai:rmari