Untitled Texas Attorney General Opinion ( 1947 )

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.HonorableFarris'Pirtle~ Opinion~No,v-12 I' ,,'~ ~*.: ;,
County Auditor
FaInin Ccmntg Be: ~1sFannin County liable '. .:
Eonham, Texas .,. ~to Fannin County Levee '. ..'~'
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.':'f : ImprovementDistrict nojo. '.~;
1 for taxes which accrue6 5 .:-;,
on county land after ac- :'
quisition,anduse by the :; :,.~
county as a’ poor farm? :.
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'You have .requested'anopiniotitfrim us as.to'wheth-'``~'.'~. .'~
or or not Fannin County'must.pay.taxes which have been as- .: : .,
sessed'agains%Fan&n 0Ount.gproperty by Fannin County .kvee~ .'.':~:: ~-:
ImprovementDistrict No..l, The taxes involved ana allegedly
d.elinquent have been levied by the ImprovementDistrict sub-.: .,.
sequent to the counties ownership and use of the lad as a
.poorfarm* .,,~... ..: ...: :. ,. :'~ . 1
1.
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..... .~ Inthh very ex&lle& brief whio&a&ompa&ed. yo& '. ..~..
%equest, XI?.MaRae,.Gounb Attorney for Fannin County, pro-- "
ceeaed bn the assumption zhat the property involvea;is.being :':..:-';
used exclusively~forthe support'and-accommodation of the
poor* .0&c opinion,willtherefore neoessarily.be.:limited and. :': -". "
applicableonly 30 tbe~partioular ~$tict$i+ationas stqt~od. : ..\.
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,’ ‘]s&. L.&;i t .
a urei.&%ua&'tk the $&&s grantedit
_:. ,.;inSeotion 59, Article.16.0f':the~Constitutionof this State
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~hasprovidea for the estkblishmentof levee improvementdisz
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,."t&&s. Title.128, Ch. Vl,a,B,C.S, Articles 7996 ana 7998
; set forth two'plansfor levying taxes in these districts: K :-
the first based on assessed benefits; the second, on anaa
.;valorembesis. Both Articles proceed on the assmption that "~
..'.the taxing p-*er& of levee districts are limit,ea~powers.
Article 7996: We . e decree a'ssesgingbenefits a 0 o for all
purposes for which taxes may'be levied by, for or on behalf _ .:.
of.such district, a . ." Article.-7998:."In all levee':im-
provement districtsproviding'forthe levy of taxes upon.an :, '.'l"-
ad valorenibesis, the taxable property shall be assessed, .~
.etc,+ :," .(Emphasisadded) .. .~,
The implied limitationexpressed.'in"taxtibieprop-
erty" runs through various other Art$lss of Chapter 6, (See "
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Honorable Farris.Pirtle,Page 2
Ar$icles.SCO'+A, SeqtionsJ an& 2; Article 8012; Article
SOL3 ) 0
There is, of course, e primary limitation on
the Statess power to tax which is imposed both by its own
Constitution~andby the Constitutionof the United States.
The many taxing bohies,anaudts in the State are.neces-
sar~ilysubject to this fjrst limitationand to ~speoific
.constitution+ exemptionsfrom taxation. Likewise.;the
Legislature~un~erconstitutionalrestrictionsmay declare
additional.exemptions.
The ir7Stantcase is clearly within a specific
Cons$itutionalexemption..Artide 11, Se'otion9 of the
Const.itutionof ~tkeStat&.of Texas.~rea.ds
as follows:
"The property of-counties,cities and
towns, owned and h?.laonly for public pur-
poses, such as public buildingsand,the~',sites.'.'
theresor-..Fire..enaines~
and the furnittie
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offthe vendarg lien.,mechanic&or builders
.~lien,~
oqother 11&l, now.existing.``(Bnphasis
a.aaea) o
"This sectiqo.,.appears-to
@e self-ope&tive'and ab-
so&utsly exempts.from-taxationthe public property therein
:,referredto 0 o oR A &M-Consolidated Independent school
District v. Cit of+=. .Texas,~lJ+
3 T 348 (Cited with ap-
-+uEEinv
proval City of a Sheppard, 190 S.W. 25 486.)
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In addition the'lasti"is.-one
which.is covered by
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Legislative exemption;for the Legislature,pursuant to
hrticle.8, Section 2 of the Constitution(Wb ,Q 0 but the
Legislature~ms~,by general laws',exempt from.taxation
public property used for-publicpurposes 0 o ."I enacted
Article 7150 Section 6, and specifidallydeclared "Poor
Farms"~exemptfrom'texationo
.: In view of our premise that the property is wholly
devoted-to public use it is unnecessarytd,considertl??~
of decisions.thatdeal with whether or not specific'cases
meet the constitutionalrestrictionoftWpublic useno
Eonorabie Ferris Pirtle, Page 3
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We therefore answer your question in the negative.
In view of Article 11, Section 9> and
Article 8, Section 2 of the Constitution
of the State of-Texas, and in view of Article
7150, Section ~,‘R,C.S,,Fsuuin County is
not liable to Fannin County Levee Improve-
nent District iVo.1 for tsxes which accrued
on.coudy land after ecquisition'anduse by
~th.ecbunty 8" a poor fem.
.. Yours very truly,
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: : JT!!TOX'JEY
G- OF T]oEAS