Untitled Texas Attorney General Opinion ( 1940 )

A-xxm DXXERAL Honorable James E. Kilday, Director Xotor TransportationDivision Rsllroad Commission of Texas Austin, Texas Dear Sirs Opinion No. O-2310 Re: Whether Railroad Commission should collect lO$ of total con- sideration for lease of certifi- cate at ii?6inception, or on monthly payments as they are made. In your letter of April 29,,1!3&0,you advise that the Rall- road Commission has just approved an applicationto lease a cergificate of convenienceand necessity for a period of five years from April 1, 1940, the applicat+on ahowIng the coneideratlonto be Sixty (qi60.00) Dollars per month rental. You request our opinion as to whe&her.or not, in collecting the ten (lC$) per cent highway fee required td be paid in ic Section of Article glib, Vernon's Civil Statutes you should collect ,ten(10s per sent:of'Three Thousand Six Hundred (ji3,600,00) Dollars ln one sum, the considerationfor the full term of the lease,,or tahether - you should collect.justten (10%) per chnt of,tha Sixty (460.00)'Dollar monthly rental as (it la paid. In s&ion 5 of Article glib, Vernon's Civil Statutes latlng to common aarrier motor carrler0, it is provided that "in c&z", certificateis transferred,that the transferee shall pay to the Cpmmiaslon a sum of'money equal to ten (10s) per cent of the amount paid as a conald- eratlon for the transfer of the certificate." In our Opinion No. O-1505,- it was held that this provision appllea to the lease of aertfflcatesof convenienceand necessity. It Is noted that under the terms of the statute, the ten (10s) per cent required to be oollected ia upon the amount a, not t$n (10s) per cent of the amount agreed to be paid. If the full ten (10s) per cent of the considerationprovided to be paid over the full period should be collected in advance, and ,Ifthe lease should be terminated by either or both of the parties before the end of the lease period, and the monthly payments cease, the State would have collected more than ten (10s) per oent of the amount paid a8 a consider- ation for the lease. We do not believe the statute waa meant to make possible such a situation as fha,t. In our opinion, said ten (10%) per cent should be collected only as the monthly lease payments mre made. Yours very truly ATTORNH GEZ?EMLOF~S GRLrRS:wc By s/ Glenn R. Lewis Glenn R. Lewis Assistant Attorney General of Texas = .-._._," ?4..-4 .!-+a-mr RWR Chairman