Untitled Texas Attorney General Opinion ( 1951 )

THE TTORNEY GENERAI.
EXAS
PRICE DANIEL
ATTORNEYGENERAL
August 23, 1951
Ron. D. K. Woodward, Jr., chairman
The Board of Reg+nts
The Univemity of Texas
Kirby Building
Ialla 1, Texas Optnion No. V-1252
Ret ConstitutionaX.ityof ap-
propriatingmainsfrom the
Available UnlvereltyFund
to pay county taxes on en-
dowment lands set apart
for The Univereltyof
Dear Sir: Texaa,
.Y’~Your request relate8 to the constitutionality
.‘~‘“:
:j& ‘& eppropriationfrom the Available’ Univereity Fund
to pa)lcounty taxo6 on endowment lands of The University
Q? Texas. fn yo``factual recitation you state that
thla ID thenfirst occasion the Legislaturehas seen fit
to appropMate from the Available UnAvereity Fund for
payment of oounty taxes., #eretofore, since the authocl*
zatlom to levy and odlleht such tax In 1930, the Legla-
$atum haa appropriatedfrom the Qeneral Fund for such
purporer. ,,_ ,,
si3atioh’
1O~,;+rtlcli’
‘VW; dpartitutlonoi Texas,
provider :
“The Le irl8ture shall at3aoon a8 praa-
ticabli arta%2ish, w@m%te~and pra@de for
the malntenanoa, support and dlYWlbiOn of a
Univereity of the first ala#a, to be looated
b a vote of the people of thie State, and
aeyled, 3he Vnzveraity of Tmcast, for the
promotion of literature,and the arts and
sciences, including an AgriouZtUral,and Me&
,. chanlcal
.,,A. departmmt .*
Seation II, &tlols VIZ, CoaWWwtlon of Texas,
establlshlngtkc “Permnmlt Uniwercrltymnd,” SS as Pole
‘lows
:
- ,~ ,:>
~_&m``lt. K, voouward, JP., page 2 (v-1252)
“m order to enable the Legislatureto
perform the duties ,setforth in the forego-
iDg Seciklon,it 1s hereby declared all landz
@WI other property heretofore eet apart and
appropriatedfor the establishmentand maln-
teaanae of the University of Texas, together
w%t:hall the proceeds of sales of the same,
%+%tofore amde or hereafter to be made, and
,,
_ .&%I~grante,donations and appropriationsthat
*ay -after be made by the Sfate of Texaz,
“-Or from any other zource, except donations
limited to specific purposes, shall constl-
tute and become a PermanentVnlverslty Rmd.
And the same a8 realized and received Into
the Treasury of the State (togetherwith ranch
``UIWJ
belonging to the Fund, a8 may nom be in
the !Fraai!ury),
ehe$l be Invested ln bonds of
" -4J~llzqltedStates, the State of Texas, or
:,
qorat%ea of said State, or in School Bonds
``Q1'munlclpalltlea,or ln bonds of any city
W k&la, State, or In bonds lzeued under and
."'+q vi+tue OS the Federal Farm Loan Act ap-
proved ,%ythe President oftthe United Statea,
&%lly~l7,1926, and amendments thereto; and
,,.,:'::,tIie
snttrest accruing thereon shall be sub-
;jeot to appropriationby the Legfslatnreto
aacomplish the purpose declared in the fore-
going Se&ion; provided, that the one-tenth
,"oCthe alternate Sectlonz of the lands granted
',,.::j,~_
~,tsi
railroads, reserved by the State, which
were set apart and appropriatedto the eatab-
'%&ment of the University of Texas, b an Act
,oEthe~Leglalatureof February 11 185
titled, 'An Act to establish the Univeralty
of Texas,' shall not be Included in :'c,
stitute a part of,the PermanentUnlGerslty
I&rid."
bf the
The lnaome derived from~the lnveatntent
PePW&#sent
Univeralty Fund 1s known and designated am
the"'%v&ilablcDniveraity Fun&." Att'y Gen. Op. V-&a
(2949).
All lands endowed to The University,ofTexas
rcwr0erodesubject to taxation for county purposes by
Se&fen 16Qa), Article VII, Constitutionof Texas
&&@ed November 4, 1930), which provides:
Hon. D. K. Woodward, Jr., page 3 (V-1252)
“All land mentioned in Sections 11,
12, and 15 of Article VII, of the Constl-
tution of the State of Texas, now belong-
ing to the University of Texas shall be
subject to the taxation for county pur-
poses to the same extent as lands prlvate-
ly owned; . e en
Subsequently,Article 715Oc, V.C,S., was en-
'.%-i.~acted in 1931 (Acts 42nd Leg., R,S, 1931, ch, 93, p. 136),
and ``~ide*..inpart -35.
.follows:
y F'~&&&~+:'~ '"Set
D 1 . All the lands set apart
Y.g.*~
.,:::z:,
*
for the endowment of the Unlvepsity of
Texas by Section 15 of Article 7 of the
Constitutionof 1876,,and by Chapter 72
of the Acts of the Regular Session of
the 18th Legislature,which are now un-
sold, are hereby declared to be subject
to taxation for county purposes in the
counties in which they are located, to
the same extent as lands privately owned
in said counties.
“Sec. 6. It shall be the duty of
the Comptroller of Public Accounts to
issue warrants upon the General Fund to
pay taxes due each county, beginning
with taxes assessed .forthe year 1931,
and annually thereafter;said warrants
to be Issued and mailed to the several
counties within the time as now provided
by law for the payment of,,countytaxes
on privately owned lands.
To provide for this tax payment to counties,
Section 3 of Article v of House Bill 426, Acts 52nU Leg.,
1951 (GeneralAppropriationBill) provides in part!
“Sec. 3. In accordancewith the
Constitutionalprovision that taxes for
county purposes only be paid to counties
In which are located endowment lands set
aside to The University of Texas by the
Constitutionof the State of Texas md*-
the Act of 1883, there is hereby appro-
priated to the State Comptroller of Public
Hon. D. K. Woodward, Jr., page 4 (V-1252)
Accounti out of thenAvailable University
Fund+~o~ the payment of taxes to such
countt;ies
for county purposes only upon
said Uplverslty-ownedland the sum of
not te exceed One Hundred Forty-three
Thousand and Fifty-six Dollars ($143,056)
for I;hefiscal year endlng August 31, )
1952, and the sum of Seventy-nineThou-
sand, Two Hundred and Fifty-eightDollars
it;z,;:8)l;;;the fiscal year endlng AU-
. Provided,however that
any mongys appropriatedin thfs Artfcle
may be used for the purpose of paying
current and delinquenttaxes that have
accrued, or may accrue, under the pro-
visions of the above-mentionedConstltu-
Mona1 Amendment. It lb further provided
that any balances remaining In the moneys
appropriatedIn thla Section for the year
ending August 31, 1952, may be carried for-
ward and added to the appropriationfor
the second year of the biennium, that is,
for the fiscal year ending August 31, 1953."
It is Immediatelyobvious that In the forego-
ing ,languagean attempt Is made to effect a change %n
ArMale 7150~ (general law) by a rider to the General
AppPoprlatlonBill. It Is well settled that an appro- '
prlation bill cannot repeal or amend a general
Moore v. Sheppard, 144 Tex. 537 192 S.W.2d 559
73naenv.F I 92 Tex 451 figS W 578 (1899
St%?'57 Tex '200 [1880)% ittO
(1940); 6-4788 (i942); v-412 (19477;
A general law, Article 715Oc, specfffcally
provtdes for payment of thess taxes out of the General
FUItd. A rider In the Oeneral ApproprlatfonBill In con-
flict with the general law Is a subject of general leg-
lrlation and cannot constltutlonallyappropriatemoney
za; iawund different from that designatedby the gew
So long as Article 7150~ remains In effect,
money fo; payment of county taxes must be appropriated
from the General Fund and cannot be appropriatedfrom
the Available UniversityFund. merefore the attempted
appropriationInquired about in @%m? request 18 invalid.
As hereinafterpointed out, even awnamendment of the \
general law to provide for payment out of the Available
University Fund would be subject to another constltu-
tlonal question.
Hon. D. K. Woodward, Jr., page 5 (v-1252)
The Available UniversityFund, which Is the
income from the investmentof the PermanentU&vc~r$S$:g
Fund, was oreated for a specific purpose, that &a, #or
the maintenance,support and direction of 8 unive siEy
-of the first class (Tex. Const., Art. VII, Sec. L5 ).
Section 11 of Article VII provides that the intereat
accruing from bonds shall be subject to approprla$ioa
by the Legislatureto accomplish the purpose deoltrrad
in Section 10 of Article VII of the Constitutionof
Texas. Section 16(a) of Article VII of the Conrt$bu-
tion of Texas, authorizing the payment of county taxes
on University endowment lands, was not adopted until
the year 1930, and nothin is contained therein con-
flicting with the origlnaf purpose of the Available Vrri-
Verslty Fund as prescribed In Secl.Mn 10 of Article VII,
Moreover, the Available University Fund Is a speci&l
fund within the meanin$ of Section 7 of Article VIXI.af
the Constitutionof Texas, whioh prohibits the LegSsla-
ture from diverting any special fund from its purpose,
~S’tatev. Hatcher, 115 Tex. 332, 281 S.W. 192 (1926).
@&i%fore, a serious question is presented as to the
constitutionalityof this attempted appropriation. We
need not pass upon this additional question at the pres-
ent time, but It ehould be noted that the Legislature
In 1933 was of the oplnlon that the payment of county
taxes on the endowment lands of the University out of
the Available University Pund wouLd require a conetitu-
tlonal amendment. This was evidenced by the passage of
House Joint Resolution No. 30. However, this proposed
amendment was not adopted at the November election in
1933. Thereafter,all appropriationsIncluding the bi-
ennium end.lngAugust 31, 1951, for the payment of cowlty
taxes on endowment lands were made from the General Fund.
On the basis of Its oonfllct with the general
law (Article 715Oc), we conclude that the p.epblOn of
House Bill 426 relating to the appropriationof funds
froul\theAvailable University Fund to pay county taxes
on endowment lands of The UnZveyNityof Texas is UncOn-
stltutional. Article 7150~ requires that these taxes
be paid from the General Fund.
SUMMARY
The “AvailableUniversity.Fund,” con-
sisting of income derived from investmentof
the PermanentUniversity Fund, may not be
utilized for the payment of county taxes on
Hon. D. K. Woodward, Jr., page 6 (V-1252)
endowment lands of The University of Texas.
A general law, Article 715Oc, requires that
these taxes be paid from the General Fund,
and this law cannot be changed or amended '
by the General AppropriationBill. Tex.
Conet., Art. VII, Sets. 10, 11; Moore v.
, 144 Texi 537, 192 S.W.mr
Linden v. Finley, 92 Tex. 451, 49
APPROVED: Yours very truly,
Bruce Allen PRICE DANIEL
County Affairs Division Attorney General
Everett Hutchinson
Executive Assistant
Prim lbniel
IlbtorneyGDernl
BWtjac)em