December 11, 1974 

The Honorable M. L. Brockette 

Commissioner of Education 

Texas Education Agency 

201 East 11th Street 

Austin, Texas 

Opinion No. H- 469 

Re: May Houston Independent 

School District appoint a tax 

assessor-collector other than 

the tax assessor-collector of 

the City of Houston. 

Dear Mr. Brockette: 

We have been requested by your office to determine whether the 

Houston Independent School District may legally appoint a tax as~sessorcollector for the School District other than the tax assessor-collector 

for the City of Houston. You ask this question because there are 

conflicting statutory provisions on the matter. 

On the one hand, the 1923 special act which created the Houston 

Independent School District, although careful.ly designing it not to be a 

municipal school district, provides in Section 30 that assessments and 

taxes for the district are to be made and collected by the assessorcollector for the City of ‘Houston. Special Laws of Texas, 38th Leg., 

1923, ch. 91, p. 331. 

On the other hand, Subchapter F of Chapter 23 oft the 1969 Texas 

Education Code also deals with the assessment and collection of taxes 

by or on behalf of independent school districts. Section 23. 92 specifies 

that then board of trustees of an independent school district, other than 

a municipal school district, “shal.1” select an assessor-collector by 

one of the following methods. The’board of a non-municipal district 

can either appoint its own assessor-collector (8 23. 93), designate the 

county tax assessor-collector as the assessor-collector for the school 

district ($23. 941, or appoint an assessor only and provide for collection 

of the taxes either by the county tax assessor-collector or the assessorcollector of any city located wholly or partial,ly within the school district 

p. 2144 
. . 

The Honorable M. L. Brockette page 2 (H-469) 

(5 23. 95). Further, the board of a non-municipal~ distri~ct may authorize 

the tax assessor or the tax coll.ector of any incorporated city or town 

within its boundaries, either partl,y or entirely, to act as the tax 

assessor or collector, respectively, for the school district (5 23. 96). 

School districts are also allowed to consolidate their tax assessi,ngcollecting, if they choose ($ 23. 97). 

In our opinion these latter provisions are controlling and camp-:l 

an affirmative answer to your question. The purpose .of the 1969 Texas 

Education Code, as stated in 5 1.03, is “to bring together, in a unified 

and organized form the existing law relating to tax supported educational 

institutions and to simplify, cl.arify, and harmonize existing law. ” 

Unlike the later ‘1 9 7 1, act which added to the Code provisions relating 

to higher education (Acts 1971, 62nd Leg., ch; 1024, p. 3072), the 1969 

act did .not specify that it was only a recodification without substantive 

change. 

Section 1.04 of the Code states: “This Code shall apply to al,1 

educational institutions supported either wholly or in part by the state 

tax’funds unless specifically excluded. ” The Houston Independent 

School District was not specifically excluded. Therefore any inconsistent 

provisions of a general, special or local law dealing with the Houston 

Independent School District must be disregar,ded unless they have been 

expressly saved from repeal. ‘The provision in the 1923 special act 

which appoints the tax assessor-coll.ector for the City of Houston the 

assessor-collector for the Houston Independent School Distrirzt has 

not been saved from repeal and therefore is no longer applicable. 

See also, Article 2792-l., V. T. C.S., 

-- 

which was saved from repeal. 

The cases of Houston Crane Rentals v. City of Houston, 454 S. W. 26 

216 (Tex. Civ. App. --Houston l,st., 1970, writ ref., n. r. e.) and 

Campbell v. City of Houston, 464 S. W. 2d 372 (Tex. Civ. App. --Houston 

14th, 1971, no writ) concerned matters which arose before the Texas 

Education Code was adopted and do not govern post-Code situa,tions.. 

Accordingly, the Houston Independant~School District may 

appoint a tax assessor-coUector for the school district other than, 

the assessor-collector for the City of Houston in conformity with 

Subchapter F of Chapter 23 of the Texas Education Code. 

ps 2145 
The Honorable M. L. Brockette page 3 (H-469) 

SUMMARY 

The Houston Independent School District 

may appoint a tax assessor-collector for the 

school district other than the tax assessorcollector for the City of Houston. 

V$y truly yours, 

Attorney~General of Texas 

APPROVED: 

YiIazbvL 

DAVID M. KENDALL, First Assistant 

C. ROBERT HEATH, Chairman 

Opinion Committee 

lg 

p* 2146