. . 

TJXEA%=FO,MNEY GENERAL 

cm TEXAS 

January 12, 1966 

Hon. Q. F. Steger 

County Attorney 

Colorado County 

Columbus, Texas 

Dear Hr. Steger: 

Opinion MO. (C-532) 

Re: The amount of compensat ion a County Tax 

Assessor-Collector is 

permitted to receive 

for the collection 

only of taxes for an 

independent school 

district, including 

delinquent taxes, which 

taxes are assessed’bythe special assessor’of 

the independent school 

district and related 

questions. 

You have requested the opinion of this office upon the 

following questions: 

“1. What compensation is a county tax assessorcollector permitted to receive for the 

collection ONLY of taxes for an independent 

school district, including delinquent taxes, 

which taxes are assessed by the special 

assessor of such independent school district? 

“2. In the event taxes for an Independent school 

district are assessed by a special assessor 

for such school district to be thereafter 

collected by the county assessor-collector, 

is the county assessor-collector required to 

prepare the tax rolls and receipts required 

for such collection?” 

You are advised that Article 2792, Vernon’s Civil Statutes _ _- 

as smenaea my Ii. B. 243, Page 1579, Acts of 59th Legislature, 

1965, governa the amount of fees to .be charged by the county 

tax assessor-collector for the collection of taxes including 

delinquent taxes for independent school districts. Article 2792, 

as amended, which became effective on August 30, 1965, contains, 

in part, the following: 

-2809- 
Hoti. G. F. Steger, Page 2 opinion NO. (~-932) 

11 

. . . when'the county astiessor and collector is 

required to assess and collect the taxes of 

independent school districts, the Board of Trustees 

of such school district may contract with the 

Commissioners Court of said county for payment for 

such services as they may see fit to allow, not to 

exceed the actual cost inCui?red In assessing= 

collecting said taxes; . . .II (Emphasis added) 

In Attorney General Opinion No. MS-159, this office held 

that Article 2922 L~governed the fees to be charged by the Tsx 

Assessor-Collector of a county for assessing and collecting 

rural high school taxes, and this was regardless of whether 

the duties involved current or delinquent taxes. (Bnphasis 

3 e reasoning 

&idelnterpretatlon of the above cited oplnlk though related 

to the tax assessor-collector of a rural hlgh'school district, 

would apply to ,the tax assessor-collector of an independent 

school district and that the fees for delinquent taxes are 

included in Article 2792. Thus, the amount of fees allowed 

would be limited to the amount of the actual costincurred in 

collecting said taxes, including delinquent taxes. 

In answer to your second question as to who prepares the 

tax rolls, it is the opinion of this office that the county tax 

assessor-collector Is not required to prepare the tax rolls when 

there Is a special assessor. The special assessor has this duty 

by virtue of the pertinent language in Article 2792, Vernon's 

Civil Statutes which is as follows: 

I‘ . . . If said taxes are assessed by a special 

assessor of the independent district and are 

collected only by the city or county tax 

collector, the city or county tax collector 

in such cases shall accept the rolls prepared 

by the special assessor and approved by the 

Board of Trustees as provided In the preced.lng 

Arf icle. " (Emphasis added) 

Among the many cases which enunciate the rule that when 

the language Is unambiguous and its mearilng Is clear and 

obvious, rules of construction are Improper, are Fox v. 

157 Tex. 292, 302 S.W. 2d 405, 

Burgess, 

Calvert v. Phillip 

Chemical Co., 268 S.W.2d 478 

Ciilmore v. Waples, 108 Tex. 1 

19 4 error r:f ); 

1.03~,'(1916) 1; 

addition to the clear language of the statute, the foliowing 

-2810- 
Hon. Q. F. Steger, Page 3 Opinion No. (C-582) 

language regardlng~"assessments" Is found.ln the e,ase,of Re ubllc' 

1ns;~Co. v. Rlghland'Park I. School Dlst., 57 S.W.2d 627 *. 

PP*, 33 error ref.), wherein Justice Higgins cited at page 629: 

"An assessment involves, first, the preparation 

of a list of the property subject to the tax; 

and, second, the valuation of such property 

in the manner prescribed by law, ,and by the 

constituted authority.' 26 R.C.L. Title 

Tsxat ion, *3X; 37 CYC. 987, and footnote 84.” 

(Emphasis added) 

In answer to your question as to whether the special assessor 

orthe oounty tax assessor-collector shall prepare the tax receipt 

forms, you are advised, thatinasmuch asthe statutes are siient 

in reference thereto, that' the preparation of the~tax receipt forms 

is a matter that should be taken care of in the contractentered 

into pursuant to Article 2792. It follows that if the contract 

provides for the county tax assessor-collector to prepare such 

forms that the actual case of collecting the taxes would be lncreased. 

In a subsequent letter you asked the following questions: 

I"3. Is a county tax assessor-collector, who 

collected ONLY taxes for an independent 

school district, permitted to retain as 

compensation five per cent (5s) of 

DELINQUENT taxes collected for such 

school district prior to August 30, 1965? 

"4. Is a county tax as6esso~collector~,.who~ ., 

collected ONLY taxes for~an independent 

school district, permitted to retain as 

aompensation five per cent (59) of 

DELINQUEXT taxes collected for such 

school district which were in process of 

being collected prior to August 30, 1965, 

but were actually remitted to the collector 

after August 30, 1965?” 

It is the opinion of this office that Article 2792, Vernon's 

Civil Statutes governs the fees of a county tax assessorcollector for an independent school district. Prior to the enactment of H.B. 243, Acts of the 59th Legislature, 1965 which became 

effective on August 30, 1965 the amount of fees were limited to 

per cent for assessing and'one (1) per cent for collecting 

-2811- 
Hon. 0. F. Steger, Page 4 Opinion Ho. (c-582) 

1931; error ref.),'the‘court'held that a Com&sloners~ 

'In Steusoff v. Libei-ts County 34 S.W;2d 643 (TexlC;;G$~p. 

was without jurisdiction to allow tax assessor different cos@cn- 

~a~~oli'.f~Klm^:~that:,ffJred~~by: statute (Rev. 'St. 1925, Art. 3937). 

Inasmuch as It Is the position of this office that-prior to 

August 30,~1965 the fee allowed *as one (1) per cent for 

assessing and one (1) per cent for collecting, the answer to 

question no.'3 is MO. Therefore, the answer to question no. 4 

Is RObl&tirtue of the answer'to question no. 1 and Attorney 

General's Opinion We. RS-159. 

The compensation a county tax assessorcollector is permitted to receive for 

the collection ORLY of taxes for an 

Independent school district, including 

delinquent taxes, which taxes are 

assessed by the special assessor of 

such Independent school district is 

limited by the smount of the actual 

cost incurred in collecting said taxes. 

In the event taxes for an Independent 

school district are assessed by a 

special assessor for such school 

district to be thereafter collected 

by the county tax assessor-collector, 

It is not the duty of the county tax 

assessor-collector to prepare the tax 

rolls for such collection. 

The contract entered Into pursuant to 

Article 2792 should provide who Is to 

prepare the tax receipt forms. 

The county tax assessor-collector who 

collected OKLY taxes for an independent 

school district, Is ermltted.to retain 

as compensation one P 1) per cent of 

delinquent taxes collected for such 

school district prior to August 30, 1965. 

The county tax assessor-collector who 

coileoted taxes after August 30, 1965 IS 

entitled to retain the amount of fee@ 

-2812- 
Eon. 0. P. Steger, Page 5 Opinion MO. (C-582) 

contracted for with the Board of Trustee8 

of siich Bchool district, not to exceed the 

actual cost incurred in collecting the taxes,, 

Yours very truly, 

WAQQOMRR CARR 

Attorney ffeneral 

Assistant 

TRQ: cf 

APPROVEDZ 

oPwI,on cor+lMImTEE 

W; V;: Geppert, Chairman 

W; E; Allen 

Gordon C. Cass 

Kerns B. Taylor 

Malcolm Qiaick 

APPROVED FOR TKE ATTORHRY cIEWlZR& 

BY: T. B. Wright 

-2813-