Hon. H. D. Brycm couatyAttorney Austin County Bellvllle,Texas
Dear Sir: OpiaionNo. o-6861 Be: Releaseof penaltteaand i&erert on delisquextd vmlormntaxes due doam6nSchool and road districta under SeB. MO, Aots 48th Leg. R.S.
He have your requestfor a opinionwhioh reads as follows:
"The questionha8 bsm raisedby the tax oolleoto-9 Au&* Countyas to whether or motrSeaate Bill No. 130, Aots ofthe Rggulu Sessionof ths 48th Legislaturereleasesto a11 nmnberS of the armed forum of the UnitedStates of Amer$oaaad their auziliiriesaad all mmlzars of the armed foroes ia reservein the UnitedState!+ of Awrioa Pnd their auxiliariesin World Har No. 2 all ixterestexd penaltiesaooruiagsubequeat to their eatry into such servioeon the mad districtsand oomon school distriotsin Austia county.
"We have a oopy of youFopiait% addressedto Honorable~George Ho Sheppard, Cwptroller of PubliOAccounts, Austin,Tens, %y George P. Blaokbur*,your assistnat;and approvedJuly 31, 1943 %y Grover Sellero,first assistant attorneygeneral,mtd in the last paragraphof such opinion,you state that the aot appliesto the interesf.and penaltiesof -a Stata pad oounty ad valormu taxes.
"Pleaseadviseme if *he aot also oovl)r~~ road distriot8and oomoa school districtaaa hereilaa$momqussted."
Althoughyou do not speoifgwhat ohuaoter of *axe8 the noapayrwnt of which give rise to the wilateres.b aad pelultieo"about which you inqure, due road diatriotaaad we assume you have refermoe to ad valorsa'tiaxe8 oommoas&o01 dietriots. Thi8 opiaionaa written is boned upoathat assump- tion.
In our opinionIZo.O-6463,addrsssedto HonorableGeorge H. Sheppard,Comptollerof PublioAooouits,no held that Senate Bill lb. 130, 48th Legislature,me written ir lamguage80 plaia aad uaambiguousthat its meaningwas so clear and obviousthat Ohs law would be appliedad anforoedaa written,there bsilg tieroom for ooastruotio~of Its mmnfrg, and we oited aumrous authorfties. Hon. Vi.D. Bryan,Page 2 10-5651)
In OpinionRoe.5463 we *aid, in part8 'The method of the Act's operationis to releaseto the above danmd personssaid interestand penalties. The interestand-lies referredto ar6 plainlydescribedin the Act as *all interestand penaltiesaooruingsutieQuenttot~heirentry into auoh servioeON STATEiAND COUNTYAD VALORRMTutes on propertylisted on the tax rolls of any county in the name of such me&era of the Armed Foroes or their auxiliariesor the drmsd ForoesResellre or their auxiliariesprior to the time they joined such &mad Foroes or auxiliaries.'"
Refersmoeto the provisiosls of said Senate Bill 130 disclosesthat the Ri.11does not deal with, mar in axy way attemptto deal with, the penalties and interestahioh might aoorueby reason of nonpaymentof any road distriotor oommon sohooldistrictad Valorem taxesf The Bill legislateswith regard to the penaltiesand interestaooruiagby mason of the nonpaymentof "Stateand countyadvaloren taxes. . . .*
The terms "Statead valoran taxes,""countyad valoremtaxes,' "road districtad valoremtaxes,"and "camnonsohoolad valoremtaxes" are terms of differentsignifioation and have long so been used in the Legislativeemaot- meats of Texas* They are not synomymoua.
You we thereforeadvisedthat the provisionsof Senate Bill lb. 130, 48th Legislature,do not operateto releaseto the medmrs of the Anned Forces of the United Statesand theira~iliaries, nor the members of the Amned ForcesReserveand their auxiliaries,any interestand penaltieswhich might aocrua againstthem by reason of the nonpaymentby them of any ad valoremtax- es due road distriotsand cormnonsohooldistriotsin AustimCounty.
Yours berg truly
ATTCRREYGIRJRRALOFTERIAS
By /8/Geoo PO Blackburn
George P* Rlaokbura As sistant GPBxAWregr
APPRGVgDOCT 14, 1943 Approved /s/Gerald C.