Untitled Texas Attorney General Opinion ( 1963 )

Honorable Tom Renyon Opinion No. C-81 Mstrlct Attorney Braxorla County Re: Authority of Commls- Angleton, Texas. sloners Court of Braxorla County to rent road equipment and/or enter into a lease-purohaseagree- re;; for euoh equip- Dear Mr. Kenyonr . You have requested the opinion of this offlce as to whether the Braxorla County CommissionersCourt has authority to reiit road eguQnaent or enter Into lease- purchase agreements for road equipment to'be‘used.,for County road oonstruatlon and malntenanoe,purposes. Braxorla County operates under the 'OptionalCounty Road &au of 1947, &ticle~6716-1,~ Vernon's Civil Statutes. Seotlon 15 thereof reads as follows: "Ali,equiyiuent, mater+als'and sup&' pllee for the oonstructlonand malnten- ance of oounty roads,and for the oounty road department shall be purohased by the CcmnlsslonersCourt on oompetltlvebids in oonfomlty with estlmates and speoi- floations prepared by the County Road Rngl- neer; except when upon reoomendatlon of the County Road Engineer and when in the judgment of the CommlsslonerrCourt It is deemed In the best Interest for the oounty to do so, purohases In an amount not to ex- ceed One lhoueand Dollars ($l,OOO.OO)may be made through negotiationby the Comls- sloners Court's duly authorieed repreclenta- tlve, upon requisition to be approved by the Coimnlssloners Court OP the County Audl- tor without advertising for competitive bids. Before any claims ooverfng the pur- chase of suoh equipment,materials and supplies aqd for any servi$es contracted -397- Hon. Tan Kenyon, page 2 (c-81 ) for by the Carrmlselon~rs CouPt, shall be ordered paid by the Co@nnlssloners Court, the CountyVRoadEngineer shall certify In writing to the correctness of the clalme~thereforand shall certify thatthe reapectlve equipment,materials and supplies covered by the olaims conform to speolflcatlonsapproved by,hlm and that the same respective equipment,materiala' and supplies were delivered In good condl- tlon and that any road department servloes oontraotedfor by the Connnlssloners Court have been satisfactorilyperformed. The provisions of this seotlon shall not be oonstrued to permit the division or reduc- tion df purchases for the purpose of avold- lng the requirement of taking farmal bids on purchases which would otherwise exaeed @,e Thousand Dollars ,, ($l,OOO.OO)." l'hlsofflbe has 'prevlouelyIssued OplnloiisO-6859 (1945) and M-1)4 (1953): Theae opln%ons dealt.with pdrtlcu- lar leases or lease-purahaseagreemedte. The oplnlona, without expresely approving, implledly recognlzed'thebasic validity of a,oontliaot];forlease 'or'lease-purchase of road mgohlnery by a WuMilaslone~rs,oo~. aR6wever,no specific 'statutoryprovision or,court interpretationha&been found whloh would expressly 'authorizea oomm#N3lonerscourt to enter Into this partloular type of 6ontr'sot. If such au- thority exists, It must be implied from the statutory pow- era granted to the o&nlrsloners oourt. Section 15, titlole!6716-1,supra, gives to the oam- ‘mlsslonersoourt:the authority to do all things connected with the.proourementof equipment,materials and supplles for the oonstruotlonand milntenanoe of oounty roada. The "There Is no reason to believe that. the.frsmersof the statute meant to restrlot the prooW&ment. of implements to a purohase. Of course, the word tpurohasella eseentlally applicable to the proaurement of material, for that, when used, beoomes a part of the roadbed,‘butimplementaand other equipment, Hon. TornKenyon, page 3 (C-81 1 which are snot exhausted In the work of constructlon,'maybe procured In other ways than by purbhase. The power obvl- ously conferred was to procure the lmple- ments, and the word 'purchase'was used as a mere direction as to the means of exercising the'power., The authority to purchase being the greater of the powers to be exercised, necesaarlly Included the leaeer power to lease or to accept as a donation." The reasoning expressed above Is sound and Is adopt- ed as the opinion of this office. It must be noted that Seohon 15 of Article 6716-l Includes a requirement that expendituresIn &%cesa of @,OOO.OO must'be made upon the basis of coinpetltl~e bid; ding. This requirement necessarily lncludes'any,expendlL ture made under a rental or lease-purchasecontraat. This $l,OOO.OO limit must be figured upon the total value of the .entlrecontract and not upon any monthly or annual payment. In thla oonneotlon, the constitutionalllmltatlon Imposed b$ Section 7 of Artiole XI of the Constltu~lonof TexaB,'mustbe noted. In the event a rental or lease-purohase Oontract'shouldextend beyond the pe?lod of one ye&r, It IS probable that a debt of the type dealt with ih this donstltu- tlonal ptiovlslon may be imeated,’In which event a bond lbsue or’ time w&rr&nts would be reQuli%d. If a contraot la~reetrlo- ted to the period covered by the annual caunty budget, the. restrlotlonsof thls:oonstltutionalprovision would not be- come operative. SUMNARY Under the provisions of the Optional County Road Law of 1947, Artlole 6716-1, Vernon's,Civil 'Statutes,the Contmlssloners Court has authority to rent road equlment and/or enter Into a lease-purchaseagree- ment for such equipment. If the total oontraot entered Into re- qulreS the county to expend a SUIUgreater -399- _ -. - Hon. Tom Kenyon, page 4 (c-81.) thar,$l,OOO.OO,competitivebids are required. , Yours very truly, WA&&R CARR Attorney OeneTal BY Maloolm L. Quick Aaslstant MLQ:ms APPROVED: OPINION COMMITTEE W. V, Geppert, ChaInnan Sonny Davle ICehisTaylor Edward Moffett V. F. Taylor APPROVED FOR TIiEATTORNEY QENERAi By: Stanton Stone -4OO-