THE ATTOWSEY GESERAL 

OF TEXAS 

January 4, 1990 

Honorable Mark Edwards 

Reagan County Attorney 

P. 0. BOX 924 

Big Lake, Texas 76932 

Opinion No. JM-1132 

Re: Compensation of the tax 

assessor-collector for the 

Reagan County Hospital District (RQ-1877) 

Dear Mr. Edwards:. 

You ask what statute governs payment for the tax 

assessor-collector for the Reagan Hospital District of 

Reagan County. You state that there is a conflict between 

the provisions set out in the hospital district's enabling 

statute, Acts 1977, 65th Leg., ch. 29, at 45, and the 

applicable provisions of the Tax Code. 

Section 16 of the hospital district's enabling act 

governs the collection of taxes. Hospital district taxes 

are to be assessed and collected by the county tax 

assessor-collector unless the directors of the hospital 

district elect to appoint a tax assessor-collector. We 

understand from your brief that you are asking about payment 

for the services of the county tax assessor-collector rather 

than for an assessor-collector appointed by the board. 

The two provisions in question are section 16(b) of the 

hospital district's enabling statute and section 6.27(b) of 

the Tax Code. Section 16(b) of the hospital district's 

enabling statute provides in part: 

The assessor-collector of. taxes [for the 

county] shall charge and deduct from payments 

to the hospital district an amount as fees 

for assessing and collecting the taxes, at a 

rate of up to two percent of the amounts 

collected, as determined by the board of 

directors, but the amount vaid mav not exceed 

S5.000 in anv one calendar year. The fees 

shall be deposited in the officers salary 

fund of the county and reported as fees of 

office of the county tax assessor-collector. 

P. 5959 
Honorable Mark Edwards - Page 2 (JM-1132) 

Section 6.27(b) of the Tax Code1 provides that a county tax 

assessor-collector who collects taxes for a taxing unit 

other than the county is entitled to a reasonable fee, not 

to exceed actual costs. Those two provisions conflict 

because they set different standards for determining the 

amount of payment for the services of the county tax 

assessor-collector. 

Section 6.27(b) of the Tax Code is a more general 

provision than section 16(b) of the hospital district's 

enabling act, and 

statutes.2 

section 6.27(b) is the later-enacted of 

the two A special law prevails over a later 

general law on the same subject unless the manifest intent 

is that the general law prevail. Gov*t Code § 311.026; see 

s, C't of bake Dallas v. 555 

S.W.2d 163, 168 (Tex. Civ. App. - Fort Worth 1977, writ 

ref'd n.r.e.) (must be clear evidence of legislative intent 

that general law prevail): see also Attorney General Opinion 

MW-388 (1981). 

This is an instance in which the legislative intent is 

explicit that the general law should prevail. Section 6(b) 

of the bill enacting the Property Tax Code (Title 1 of the 

Tax Code) provided: 

All other general, local, and special laws 

in conflict with this Act are repealed to the 

extent of the conflict, and the failure 

expressly to repeal or amend any law in 

conflict with this Act is not evidence of a 

legislative intent that the law not be 

repealed. 

1. Section 6.27 is in Title 1 of the Tax Code. Title 

1 is also called the Property Tax Code. 

2. The hospital district's enabling statute was 

adopted in 1977. Acts 1977, 65th beg., ch. 29, at 45; see 

also Acts 1987, 70th beg., ch. 1034, § 6, at 3489 (deleting 

part of section 16(c) dealing with board of equalization). 

Section 6.27 of the Tax Code was adopted in 1979 as part of 

the bill enacting the Property Tax Code (Title 1 of the Tax 

Code). Section 6.27 was not derived from a statute of 

equally broad application. Rather, it was derived from 

several provisions in the Water Code. Derivation Table, 1 

V.T.C.A. Tax Code, at XXVII (1982). 

P. 5960 
Honorable Mark Edwards - Page 3 (JM-1132) 

Acts 1979; 66th Leg., ch. 841, § 6, at 2330. Also ‘I sect 

1.02 of the Tax Code provides in part: 

This title [the Property Tax Code] appl 

to a taxing unit that is created by . _ 

,ies 

or 

pursuant to any general, special, or local 

law enacted before or after the enactment of 

this title unless a law enacted after 

enactment of this title by or pursuant to 

which the taxing unit is created expressly 

provides that this title does not apply. 

ion 

Those provisions leave no doubt that the legislature 

intended the provisions of the Property Tax Code to 

supersede conflicting provisions applicable to taxing units 

such as a hospital district. Therefore, we conclude that 

section 6.27(b) governs payment for the county tax 

assessor-collector for assessing and collecting taxes for 

the hospital district. See uenerallv Attorney General 

Opinions JM-996 (calculating "actual costs"); JM-655 (1987) 

(reasonable fee not to exceed actual costs). 

SUMMARY I 

The county tax assessor-collector for 

Reagan County is to be compensated for 

assessing and collecting taxes for the Reagan 

Hospital District in accordance with section 

6.27(b) of the Tax Code. 

JIM MATTOX 

Attorney General of Texas 

MARY KELLER 

First Assistant Attorney General 

LOU MCCRKARY 

Executive Assistant Attorney General 

JUDGE ZOLLIE STEAKLEY 

Special Assistant Attorney General 

RICK GILPIN 

Chairman, Opinion Committee 

Prepared by Sarah Woelk 

Assistant Attorney General 

p. 5961