Untitled Texas Attorney General Opinion ( 1952 )

December 12, 1952 Hon. John C. White Commissioner of Agriculture Texas Department of Agriculture Austin, Texas Opinion Ro. v-1554. Re: Applicability of Article 5764, V.C.S., to Dry Land Farmers' Co-operative So- Dear Sir: cietg. You have requested the opinion of this office as to whether the Drr Land Farmers' Co-ooeratlve So- ciety must pay the annual license fee imposed by Arti- cle 5764, V.C.S. Paragraph IV of the Charter of the Dry Land Farmers' Co-operative Society reads as follows: "The purpose for which this farmers' co- operative society Is to be formed is to en- gage in the harvesting, handling and utillza- -tt``uf?%gr'buTtnral~-productspro~ducedor de- livered to it by its members, and to hire, employ and contract for the hiring and em- ployment of such laborers and harvesters as may be deemed necessary to carry out such purposes, and to execute such bonds and se- curity as Is necessary for the hiring of such laborers, as authorized by Articles 2514 to 2524, and Article 2742-A of the Revised Civil Statutes of Texas. Article 5742-A, V.C.S., reads as follows: "All the power and authority authorized or given in Article 5742 Is hereby conferred and given to Farmer's Co-operative Societies now organized, or may be hereafter organized, under Chapter 5 of Title 46, of the Revised Civil Statutes of 1925, Including the power to organize, own stock in, manage and con- trol a joint agency or corporation for the accomplishment of the purpose for which they are Incorporated." Hon. John C. White, page 2 (V-1554) Article 5764 provides: "Each association organized hereunder shall pay to the Commissioner an annual license fee of ten dollars but shall be exempt from all franchise or license taxes. For filing arti- cles of incorporation, an assoclatlon organ- ized hereunder shall pay ten dollars, and for filing an amendment thereto, two dollars and fifty cents." The above quoted articles are carried in Chap- ter 8, Title 93, V.C.S. which chapter is entitled "Marketing Associations' and contains Articles 5737- 5764, inclusive. The original Co-operative Marketing Act was passed in 1921. Acts 37th Leg., R.S. 1921, ch. 22, p. 45. Article 5742-A did not appear In the original act but was added in 1930. Acts 41st Leg., 4th C.S. 1930, ch. 12, p. 12. Articles 2514-2524, V.C.S., comprise subdivi- sion 5 of Title 46. Subdivision 5 Is entitled "Farmers' Co-operative Society" and was enacted in its present form in 1917. Acts 35th Leg., R.S. 1917, ch. 193, p. 432. The obvious purpose of the above cited 1930 amendment to the Co-operative Marketing Act was to al- low Farmers' Co-operative Societies, organized under Articles 2514-2524, the same powers conferred by Arti- cle 5742 upon associations organized under Chapter 8, Title 93, V.C.S. Thereafter such societies derived power and authority from both the Farmers' Co-operative Societies Act and the Co-operative Marketing Act. Article 5742-A provides that all the power auth- orized in Article 5742 is conferred upon Farmers' Co- operative Societies "organized" under Articles 2514- 2524, V.C.S. The purpose of Article 5742-A was only to enlarge the corporate powers of Farmers' Co-operative Societies and not to change their method of organiza- tion. These societies are still organized under Arti- cles 2514-2524, V.C.S., but have the powers conferred in Article 5742. Since Article 5764 provides a license fee only for associations "organized* under Articles 5737-5764, this license fee is not applicable to co-op- erative societies organized under a different set of statutes. Hon. John C. White, page 3 (V-1554) SUMMARY The Dry Land Farmers' Co-operative Society was organized under Articles 2514-2524, V.C.S. It is therefore not required to pay the annual license fee as provided for In Article 5764, V.C.S., which imposes a fee only upon co-oper- ative associations organized under Articles 5737-5764,V.C.S. APPROVRD: Yours very truly, Mary K. Wall PRICE DARIRL Reviewing Assistant Attorney General Charles D. Mathews By:e . First Assistant Executive Assistant EJmmm