Untitled Texas Attorney General Opinion ( 1946 )

753
OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL OF TEXAS
AUSTIN
.
Ron. A. T. Prlbble
County Attorney
Hills county
Ooldthvaite, Texaa
Desr Slrr Opinion No. O-7166
same )Qildlng~ Na$ the proceeds of sn
' lnsurance',poI&cy vhtFh vere collected vhen a
h uildlng in (I &owon school district vas destroyed
b$. fire, b,e'us&ito pey off outstanding bonds?"
'..,_ \J,.' .~
Article 2753, Vernon's Annotated Civil Statutes,
rends as fQ&&ovs:
"The trustees of sng school district,
upon the order of the county trustees prescribing
the terms thereof, vhen deemed advisable, may mske
Hon. A. T. Prlbble - Page 2
sale of any property belonging to said school
diatrlct, and apply the Proceeds to the purchase
of necessary grounds, or to the build- or re-
pairing of school houses, or place the proceeds to
the credit of the nvellable school fund of the
aistrict.” (Underscoring oura)
We think it lr clear that under the provisions of
the above article the school trustees could purchase or
build e nev building vith the funds derived from the sale
you mentioned. We assume that the trustees have determined
there is no need for addltlonal grounds or a nev bulldng and
that they have complied vith the provlslons of the article
tid placed the proceeds to the credit of the available
school funda of the dlstrlct. It then rests upon us to
determine for vhat purposes the available echo&l fund of the
district may be used.
Article 2827, V. A. C. S., subsections 1 and 2 set
out the purposes for which State and county and the loca.1
school funds may be used. These, tvo sections read as
follovsr
“Sec. 1. The State and county available
funds shall be used exclusively for the payment
of teachers’ and superlntend&ta8 selarles, fees
for taking the scholastic census, aud lnterest
on money borroved on short time to pay salaries
of teachers and superintendents, when these ssla-
rles become due before the school funds for the
current year become eveileble; provided that no
loans for the purpose of payment of teachers shall
be pald out of funds other than those for the
then current year.
“2. Lacal school funda from district
taxes, tuition fees of pupils not entitled to
free tuition and other local sources may be l?sed for
the purposes enumerated for State and county Punds
and for purchaeing appliances end supplies. for the
payment of insurance premiums, janitors and other
emplcyea, for buying school sites, buying, bullding
and repairing and ranting school houses, and for other
purposes necessnry in the conduct of the public
schools to be determined by the Board of TNstaes, the
accounts and vouchers for county districts to be ap-
755
Eon. A. T. Prlbble - Page 3
proved by the county superintendent; provided, that
when the Stnte available school fund in any city or
dlstrlct is sufflclant to mnlntaln the schools
thereof ln eny yeep for at least eight months, and
leevs 0 surplus, such surplus mey be expended for the
purposes mentioned herein.”
As ve read the above two sections of Article 2827.
It is our opinion that the county evalleble school fund of the ‘-
district could be spent for only those purposes enumerated i.n
Subsectgon 1. Neither the construction of buildings nor the
peymant of outstnnding bonded indebtedness is amoe the
authorized uses. Hovever, Subsection 2, dealing with the local
echool funds derived from district taxes and other local sources
may be used for “~rchaalng applis,ncas and eupplles. for the
payment of insurance premliias . . . and for oiher piwposes
necessary in the conduct of the public schools to be deteraned
by the Joard of TNstees. . . .I’ Subsection 2 of the Article
further provides that *hen ttie Btete avelleble school fund in
any city or district le atiflclent to maintain the schools for
at least eight months, and leave a surplus, such surplus may be
expended for the pur~oaes mentioned in the subsection. This
deparr;sanr, in construing the effect Of this language held:
“The statutory euthorlty concerning
use of such surplus State available funds is
therefore, in our opinion, broad enough to permit
use of such funds in retirement of bonded lndebted-
ness of 8 school district.”
It is our opinion therefore that the funds you
received from the sale of 6 school building, having been pl&cad
in the district’s local funds account, lpeybe expended for the
retirement of bonds vhlch vere issued for the purpose of,obtein-
lng necessary funds to construct the building.
In msver to a question regarding the uses for .
vhlch money collected 8s fi?re insurance on the school building
destroyed by flra,thia department held, Ln its Opinion No. 3-454,
es follows:
“Our pnsver to your first question la thst
the money collected 8s fire LnsumU’lce on the school
building destroyed by fire is 0 local fund and ten
only be used for those school purposes enumersted in
section 2 of Article 2827.”
756 *
Hon. A. T. Prlbble - Page 4
In vlev of our mover to your first question
end our rensons therefor, ve nnsver your second qucstlon
in the cffirm6tive.
Truatlng the above ful17 nnsvers your questions,
ve are
Yours very truly
ATTORNEY
QEIGRAL07 TEXAS
-I‘\ /- A
E. n. D&&in -
Asoietnnt