wee reversedby the Commissionof appeala in .snopinion reported,&n125 S.W, 26 11553, .'EBeCosmioalonheld that the rale to a mingle conamnerin the city of Victoriadid not amount to "local sale and dintributlon" of gae In the city aa comtemplatedby the statute; however,the court did not quarrelwith Me definitionof "gas plant" stated by the Court of Civil Appeals. HonorableRobert S. Calvert,page 3, @W-909)
on those engagedin the businessof owning,operating,msnsglng,or controllinge gas plant within an Incorporatedtown or city used for local sale and distribution.The definitionof "ges works" es used in Article 7060 we8 held by the case of Eddine-Waleh&Butane Company Calvert, 156 Tex. 587, 298 S.W. 2d 93 (1957) to mean (1) an establilh- ment in which gee is manufactured,producedor processed/or (2) a dlntrlbutionsystemconsistingof pipes throughwhich the gas flows and is deliveredto the premisesof consumers. Construingthe two cases together,It apsearethat to come within the terms of Article 11.03, it is necessarythat a tax payer be engagedin the businessof operating, managingor controllingen establishmentIn which gas is menufeatured, producedor processedfor local sale end distribution,or in the business of owning,operating,controllingor managinga distributioneystem consistingof pipes throughwhich gas flows and is deliveredto the premisesof aonsumers. The Air Force Base is not In eithersuch business. In all but a few instances,the Air Force, or one of it's components,is the conszxker of the gee. And, under the rationaleof the Commissionof Appealsopinionin UtilltleaNatural GM Co. Y. State, 128 S.W. 26 1153 (See footnotel), it is olear that the sales of gas by the Base to the privateconcessionaires locatedwithin the enclavedo not put the Air Force in the businessof operatings gas works or distributionsystemwithin the meaning of the Article in question. Consequently,you are advisedthat Lone Star Gae Co., 8s the "looal distributor",la requiredto pay the tax imposedby Article 11.03 on the gas sold to the Air Force Base.
An Air Force Base locatedwithin the limitsof an incorporatedcity which purchasesgas throughe single meter locatedat the base boundaryend consumesall gse except for s certainBmountwhich is sold to private concessionaires using gas on the base Is not in the businessof operatinga "gas works" or a "distribution system"'withinthe meaning of Art. 11.03,Title l22A, Taxation-General, Tex.Rev.Civ.Statutes (1925).
Yours very truly,
WILL WILSON AttorneyGenera1of Texas
JNP:bg Assistant
APPROVER honorable Robert 3. Calvert,page 4, (VW-909)
OPINIONcok&!rllm: HoughtonBrownlee,Chairman
Ian-y Hargrove Arthur Sandlip CharleeD. Cablneas GrundyWIlllamp
RRXWEDFORTXEA!lTORRRYG~L BY: LeonardPasnmore