Untitled Texas Attorney General Opinion ( 1952 )

January 28, 1952
Hon. Jack Y. Hardee Oplnlon No. V-1395
County~Attorney
HehdersofiCcunty Re: Legality of purchasing a
Athens,-,%xas computing machine and an
addressograph for the Tax
Assessor-Collector's Of-
fice from the county per-
Dear sir: manent improvement-fund.
Your request for an opinion concerting the
legality of purchasing a a*putlng machine and an ad-
dresfil% machine for the Taj:,Assessor-Collector'sOf-
fice from the county permanent lmprovement fund, In
part, reads as follows:
*Hexidetison~Countg
Comm%ssl&ers de-
slPe to purchase a Burroughs Tax Computing
tichlne and an Address-O-Graph machine at a
cost of.$10,000.00. These two machines are
to be used in th@ Tax Collector's office and
will provide a much more efficient method for
tax,records and will also cut,down man hours.
."There is no ~money In the General Fund,
however thei%ls~approxlmately ~$16,000.00in
the P&rmanent;Imprbvement fund. The Commls-
sidner's Cburt wants to'purchase the two ma-
chines out of the Permanent Improvement fund.
~*The~two machines are ,lastlng in quality
but require service with a servicing contract
after the first .year.
'They are not attached to the floor or
wall, however, they are seldom ever moved
and will remain in one office at all times.'
In Attorney General's Opinion No. V-808
(1949), It is stated:
*Section 9 of Article VIII of the Con-
stitution of Texas provides in part as follows:
Hon. Jack Y. Hardee, page 2 (V-1395)
*I . e . and no county, city or town
shall levy more than twenty-five (25) cents
for city or county urposes, and not ex-
ceeding fifteen (15'icents for roads and
bridges, and not exceeding fifteen (15)
cents to pay jurors, on the one hundred
dollars valuation, except for the payment
of debts incurred prior to the adoption of
the Amendment September 25, 1883; and for
the erection of public buildings, streets,
sewers, waterworks and other permanent lm-
not to exceed twenty-five (25)
e one hundred dollars valuation,
in any one year, and except as is in this'
Constitution otherwise provided; provided,
however, that the Commissioners Court in
any county may re-allocate the foregoing
county taxes by changing the,rates provided
for any of the foregoing purposes by either
increasing or decreasing the same, but in
no event shall the tot&l of said foregoing
county taxes exceed eighty (80) cents on the
one hundred dollars valuation, in any one
year; . . .I
'The moneys accruing from taxes levied
and~collected for each of the enumerated pur-
poses are Constitutional funds. The lmme-
dlate purpose of the above quoted provision
of the Constitution is to limit the amount
of taxes that may be raised for the several
purposes. It is also~intended to require
that any and all moneys raised by taxes for
a p&rtlcular purpose shall be applied to
that purpose and to~no other. Ault v. Hill
%%% ~"',T"l~;a````1``6T``~'l````!%"z!t.
504 (19181."
In order to answer your question, it is
necessary for us to first determine whether, under
the g:iVenfacts, these machines, when obtained and
installed by the county in the office of the Tax As-
sessor-Collector will become real property or retain
their original status as personal property, for in
Texas the law knows only these two species of property-
Erwin v. Steele, 228 S.W.2d 882 (Tex. Civ. App. 1950,
error ref. n.r.e.). In that case at page 885, the
Court said:
. .
Hon. Jack Y. Bardee, page 3 (V-1395)
'In a broad and general sense 'personal
property' includes everything that is the
subject of ownership not coming under the
denomination of real estate. Black's Law
Dictionary. 'Estate or property that is not
real, consisting in general of things tem-
porary or movable.' Webster's Mew Interna-
tional Dictionary.
"'Tangible or corporeal property Is
either realty or personalty, the word "real'
descr*lblngland and that which is anrexed
thereto, and the term "personal" having re-
ference to chattels, evidences of debt and
chases in action.' 33 Tex. Jur., P. 937,
Sec. 4.
"'Although popularly the term *personal
property" is used in a somewhat restricted
sense to~lnclude only goods, chattels, tan-
gible things, the subjects of personal use,
in its broad sense it includes everything
which is the subject of ownership not coming
under the denomination of real estate.' 50
Cor. Jur., 760, sec. 36."
In Crabb v. Keystone Pipe & Supply Co., 177
S.W.2d 989 (Tex. Clv. App. 1944, error ref.), the Court
said:
"There is a well-recognized rule whereby
personal property can lose its character as
such and become a part of realty. Such is the
case when it is affixed to realty in such a
manner as to become a permanent part thereof
and cannot be removed without materially dam-
aging the freehold.*
It is the established law of this State that
all county expenditures lawfully authorized to be made
by a county must be paid out of the county's general
fund unless there Is some law which makes them a charge
against a special fund. Bexar County v. Mann, 138 Tex.
93, 157 S.W.2d 134 (1941).
Under the facts submitted and the authorities
heretofore cited, it is our opinion that the character
of the machines which the county wants to buy is that
Hon. Jack Y. Rardee, page 4 (V-1395)
!
of personalty and will so remain when Installed in the
office of the County Assessor-Collector, for they will
not be so affl.xed to the courthouse or freehold of the
county as to become a permanent part thereof. There-
fore, we agree with your conclusion that the permanent
improvement fund of the county may not be legally ex-
pended for the purchase of such machines.
SUMMARY
Tie Permanent Improvement Fund of Render-
son County may not be legally expended for the
purchase of a tax computing machine and an ad-
dressograph machine for the use of the County
Tax Assessor-Collector's Office when such ma-
chinps will not be affixed to the courthouse
or freehold of the County In such a manner as
to become a permanent part thereof.
Yours very truly,
APPROVED: PRICE DANIEL
Attorney General ,
J. C. Davis, Jr.
County Affairs Mvislon
E. Jacobson
Reviewing Assistant Bruce W. Bryant
Assistant
Charles D. Mathews
First Assistant
BWBfwb;mh