Untitled Texas Attorney General Opinion ( 1950 )

January 13, 19% Ron. Theophllua S. Painter, President The UnlversXty of Texas Austin, Texas oplnlon RO. v-982 Re: Issueme of sevenue Egg; under Article . De& Dr. Painter: In your recmt letter you &ate thatthe Board of Regents OS The University of Texas dealres to m&e certain Imovements to the Union Bulldlng looated on the campw oi the University, and proposes to finance such lmprove- ments by thelssuance of revenue bonds under the authority of Article 2603c, such bonds to'be paid by the levy of a student building use tee. You ask the opinion of this de- partment on the following questions: "1. May the Bo&d of Regents of The Unl- verslty of Texas issue boxls under the povl- 810~ ;bf~Artlcle'2603c, V.C.S., f6r the purpose of flnanclng permanent repairs an&Improvements by way of additions to the present Union Bulld- lng on the oampus~of The University of Texas? "2. If m answer to the foregoing,quea- tlon is In the afflrmatlre, then please advise aspto whether or not any fee levled tier the prMslons of Article 26030, V.C.S., would have to coma-pfthln th& llndtatlons of theYe 8 au- thorized to be levied by-+rtlale~2654a,~$.C.S.1 “3. -Would anyfeslevled forf~purpo~e of servicing bonds issued lfiflnanelng lmpove- ments for the Texas Union Bulldlng under Article 2603e; V.C.S., be Untlted in any way by &tlale 258!9d,V.C.S.?" Article 26036 authorizes the Board of Regents of The UnlvWslty of Texas and the governing boards of the other educational institutions named therein to construct or acquire, wlthout cost to the State of Texas, "dormi- tories, kitchens ami dining halti, hospltala, llbrarlea, Eon. Theophijus'S.mater - mge 2 (V-982) student utivity buildings,gymula, 8thletlo bul and stsdia, aad mob other bulldlags as rry be needed lbls48 the goad of the institutionand ths moral welfare.and seolal oordoct of the students o? such lnstltutlons,mand in m-at of suoh ooastruotloaor loquisition oosts to issue nbgotiable bonds. Said boards are authorlsed to fix fees and obarges r0r thwuse 0r a bulldlrrg o0mtru0t- ed~mlertho sktute,andto pledge the ssm,slsmgwlth the net peventze derivedfion such building for the payment or the bonds. It Is pmidodlatb ststxtethtthe fee to be usesssd agdast a studeat forthe uao OS the studeat lstlr itybuildingshall not exoeed $4.00 rm any one semes- ter or rm uq one 8-r session.. The nlldlty or &tlole 2603~ vu upheld by thls dbmrtmat in Opinion No. 0-1694 on the bssls of tbs hold- dollars oi bo@s hste boen Issued under its teks. The oonsfmmtlon or acqulsltlon of a student a&iv- W&u$illng 18~speol?loall~ewered la Seation 1 0r the Rowever,yew inquiry relates, not to the orlgl- ml a&sltlon, but to the repslr and lmprovemsnt o? an ting buildlag. There tight be sons question as already ~(Edll to whetherthe statate warildcwer this except for that~. of Seotlea 8 of tti~sktute~wbich readsa I) In sll ssses where edsting buildlags o rst%& esare r ep a ir o red lnlurged or to whloh rdaitiolur aresoonstruotad. . .I It is evideat ttmt the Lsglslatwre intended for the power-toooimtruof ad 40-o to inaludo the power to rep&r, to enlarge, an¶ to oonstrue* additions. It follows thst your first questionis answerodla the a?- flrmtl~e . The Board of Regents latsnds to pry ths requlre- mts of the boadr by the levy o? a building use fee. You wish to know whether such fee would hsre to some~wlthla t$thlllmta;l``lmposedb;rSoatlon 4-o? Artlolb 265$a (aots *I . l , Ch. 66, p . 9 6). Sootlon 4 reads 88 fol- lows: lion.Theopbilus 9. Palate - P-0 3 (V-982) ?3eotlonk. mob of the gwernlng boards of tlw rarlouslnrtltutfas-of higher edueat1on mm- sd in Seotlon 3 o? th.lsArtliileis expesaly au- thurlsed, when deems& neoessary by s&id gwernlng board, to requlrs and oolMt a fee or charge ?rom all students.registal 'in mid Institution to ower the costs of stzldh 3' servloes whloh the sald~governgngbuard.,dsem neeass~ c@ helm1 ln c~sg.on't~-ebucati~l.``~l~ o? the ln- stltutlons, these servlaes to include swh ser~loes as textbook,rentals,``resmatlonalsctlrltles,health aml hospital.servloe,aMAsts and lectsre eourses; debating and oratorio81aetlvltles,~stadsntpubli- eatlonsj and other approved student activltles;~ provllt; hovsrbrj that'po~&udemt oh&-l.be re- mr ua~f``~suchserrioes aor6thauPl?- Dollars ~r~semester or entire sum- All fses'and ohm-gee 'whichkuve en collected. charaed W attesmted to be colleckl by the va&ui ~nstltutl&~o? higher edutatlon?or any of the Pnr;posesnamd in this section under the heading of student services, regardless of the~name by which such fee w&s des- ignated, all of which fees having been charged, collected or attempted tb be collec~tedunder au- thority of Article 269-a or Artlole 2654-o of the Revlsec~ClvllStatutes of Texas, are hereby validated, conilrmsd,awoved and authorizedas though they had been authorlsed aEd ;oollectedbx speoiflc order of the rsrlous gov,ernlngboards. (Rmphaslsaddsd) It is our o~niollt~tany-stadsntactiritybaild- ing use fee must come rithlnthe $15.00 lhitation imposed by the statute. It Is note&ttmt recreationalactlvltles aad other apmwsd student~aotiritl~ are.cwersd-~by~the statute. -.Astudent aotlrity bu%ldlllg(or union bulldlsg) would clearly, in our opinion, ooms~tmder -%areatlonal ac- tivltles" and "otherapprwod student actlvltles.m In speaking of the Union Bulldlr@-of ThaiUnlrerslty~o? Texas, the Austin Court of stated the following in the oase of Ralney v. 7l3 (Tex. Clv. App.l9'+0): "It provldes faollltles for the conduct of various extra-curricularaatlrltl6s~of socla~, recreational,and educational natures , . e Bon. Thoophllus9. Palater - Page 5 (V-982) section 4 of Artiolo -~- 269a, having been enaated iubsequeat to Artlole 26030, would oontrol I? there 18 any oon?llot or lnoonslsteneybetween the two srtloles. It 18 interesting to note that the Attorney Oeneral hsr conslsteatly followed this oonstruatlonrime the enaat- ment of Seotion4 OS hrtiolo 265h, and ha8 required eoi- dence (in each'lnst&noeof revenue bonds issued under Article 26030 a& payable ?rom a bulldlng use fee) tbst such fee when added to ths other fees oams within the $15.00 lidtatlon. It hss,be& UT ed, because of the speoliio-wation o? Articles 269a and 2t 540 in the last senteaae OS geetlon 4, that the ices authorizedby Article 2603~ were not ln- tended to be owered. However, we cannot follow that oon- structloa. The first sentence of the section is the a?- flrmstlve prwlslon, and It 1s olear that it appllos to all ices of the types enumerated and tht the $15.00 llsdtatlon applies thereto. The seeoad seatwoe effects only the vall- datloiiof oertaln feed. It the Legislature had intended fao, the llrdtatlon~toapply only to fees oollectsd under the two nasmd statutoa, lt would have been a simple smtM.to M provide. Bowever,it did not so provlde, for the statute 1s couahed in broad terms as to the levy of fees and the &td- tation on suoh levy. Then the statute provides that certain fees theretofore levied are validated. The two ~wlslons are separate in this ~regard. Inanswertoyour swendquestlon,youQreadvlsed '..' thaWsmy--8tuderrtaetlvltytmlldlnguse fee levied under the ltithorltyof Artlole 26030 must cams within-the $15.00 Xfml- tatlon imposed by Se&ion 4 of Article 269ia. Your thlrd~ question relates to Article 2589l, and youwlshtoknowwhetherthls statute llmlts thebulld%ng iisefee authorlsedb Art&ale 26030. Article 258W~was en- aated in 1995 (Acts &th Leg., Ch. 78, pa 115). Section 1 OS the statute reads: Y3eotion 1. The B-d of Regents of The Unl- verslty of Texas is hereby authorlsed to levy a ilxed student fee not to exceed One Dol- per student for eaah sewster o?the long semsster and not to exceed Fifty Cents (50#) per student for each term of the susmer sahool,or cllpr ?ractlonal part thereof, as my in their dls- oretlon be just and necessary,for the sole pur- pose of opsratiqg,nalntalalng,ard lmprovlng ths I ...- &a. Theephllus S. Painta.- Pago.5 (T-9&) Texas Union; povlddd, however, tbt’the awuat o fth is fee myb e o ha a l g ed tanytlwwlthin the limits brelab-efore~flxed in ceder.that suf- floleat M to sappo~t!theBhionsuy beralsed. Provided that any student who ls..exemptedidol . tW tuitlan fee sball,be exemptsd .f'mmthe~nnion fee.*. : .,,~ Skiti& 2 prmidds that the iisllt8roks -Uni- : terslty shall oolloot skid fees and oredlt the same to an leoouiithmwn as the Student Unlm-Fee Aooount. So&lea 3 relates tu th0 budget.. It is our oplnioa that the student lotlvlty bulld- lng ussSfee authorizedby, Artlole 26030 for the JmrtQf bondi'sod the unlon.?be~auth~lsed by ArLrtl0Xe~25&d far operation, malntenance,~andl~wement~ of~the Union Bulld- lng ore separate an&ap~t ?rom;ad lrdepemlent of, eaah other. The latter oould be olassed as a aurrent+mpense fee to take care of the burrout operation and malntenanee costs and day by day lmprowmsnts. The former is a fee to pEEt;he requlrewnts ~8 bonds lssued for oapltal'~we:.. In ~fact,if ls'recognlsedIn Article 2603e ltsel? by thi ?ollowlng language that the fees authorized there- under are separate and distinct ?rom other authorlsed fees: "The fees and oharges so fixed for the use of any such bullding or buildings shsll not be oollected after paymsnt in fill shall wre been completed forthebulldlng or btildings for which said fees shall be pledged. Thereafter the right of said respective Boards to ?lx charges and Se68 shall depend on laws Other than thls A& as hereby awnded.~ This language shoprr~thattheSeeauthmlsedbyArtl- cle 2603~ is totally dlstlnot fram the fee oovered by Artlole 25896. Ttiebullding use'fee is collected us&r Artlolo 2603~ for the payment of ths uapltal ~wemmtsti oas@ot be collected after myment has been oompleted. The tuilonbulld- lug fee smy be c6llected cash year regardless.o?whether there Is indebtednessagainst suoh bulldiag. It is our opinion that, whllo both theee fees mt can,‘Mthln the limitationImposed by Seotlon k of Artiole 2694, they do not otherwlse llmlt eaeh other* Your th3.H question Is, therefore, answered in the negative. &a. ~bsop~lus s. hints - pago 6 (v-9&) .- ThkBoard of Rogbats or The Unlverslt of Texas ry ls~no bar u(mder&tic10 2603e for tL PP-0 of flaanoi~ the ropalr bad lmprwewnt or, bad the aolistruotloa0r eddlt10nsto, tlm union Building lo- aated on the om, aad levy aad oollect a student letlvlty bullding use fee for the paymsnt of the re- qulremmts of such bonds. Any such bull&lag use fee would have to some within the limltatlons of fees imposed by Section 4 of Article 26546. Suoh bulldlng use fee oollected uader Article 2603d'woul.d not be llndted b the Union Bullding fea authorlsedby Artlole 2531gd. APPROVED1 . ~. ,Yoursvery truly, CWlos D. Wstheiis PRICR IMHIEQI aeoutive Assistant AttorneyGeneral Joe R. GreenhIll First Assistant QHB-8