Court Opinion

ID: 9760587
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-29 01:01:58.402644+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:29:13.900547
License: Public Domain

*843OPINION
BUTTS, Justice.
The Freer Municipal Independent School District and others (Freer) sued Clinton Manges and the Duval County Ranch Company (Manges) to recover delinquent school taxes. In June of 1980, the trial court rendered judgment assessing the amount of taxes due and awarding costs, attorney’s fees, interest, and foreclosing tax liens against Manges’ property.
The court of appeals reversed the portion of the judgment in favor of Freer (the authority to tax), affirming the remainder. Manges & Duval County Raney Co. v. Freer Independent School District, 653 S.W.2d 553 (Tex.App. — San Antonio 1983), reversed, 677 S.W.2d 488 (Tex.1984). However, this Court remanded the case to the trial court for the purpose of clarifying the judgment, with instructions for inclusion of “an itemization of delinquent taxes due upon each parcel of property for which the judgment has been affirmed.” Id. at 567.
The Texas Supreme Court initially reversed the judgment of the court of appeals, which was that the Freer Independent School District lacked the authority to tax, and affirmed the trial court in a per curiam opinion. Freer Municipal Independent School District v. Manges, 677 S.W.2d 488 (Tex.1984). However, subsequently, the supreme court modified its judgment, again reversing the court of appeals judgment pertaining to the authority of the Freer School District to tax, but this time affirming the remainder of the decision, including the instructions on remand to clarify the judgment.
On remand, the trial court prepared the itemization of delinquent taxes but restricted the parties to use of only the original trial record. That is, the court allowed no new evidence in reforming the necessary property descriptions. We have again examined the descriptions and while these descriptions may be the best possible from the evidence presented at the first trial, we agree many are not adequate.
A judgment for foreclosure of a tax lien upon real estate must describe a definite tract of land. Arnold v. Crockett Independent School District, 404 S.W.2d 27, 28 (Tex.1966). The land descriptions in the judgment must be specific enough that the land can be located or particularly identified. Id. at 29; Garza v. City of San Antonio, 231 S.W. 697, 700 (Tex.Comm’n App.1921, opinion adopted).
We therefore remand the case to the trial court with instructions that it receive all necessary relevant evidence which will enable the court to determine and incorporate in the judgment a legally sufficient description of each parcel of property upon which appellants owe taxes. The appellees’ authority to tax has heretofore been fully litigated and is no longer subject to review. The property description matters arose only incidentally.
Accordingly, through this Court’s discretionary power to remand a case for further proceedings, we now order the remand to the trial court with instructions that all relevant evidence be received to clarify the property descriptions in the judgment and that the judgment be so modified.
It is so ordered. Costs to be assessed equally between the parties.