Untitled Texas Attorney General Opinion ( 1966 )

Honorable G. Dixon Mahon Opinion No. C-775
District Attorney
County Courthouse Re: Questions relative to the
Ozona, Texas use of the same assessment
blanks, tax rolls, statements
and receipts for both an
independent school district
and the county or city, when
the county or city assess and
collects the taxes for the
Dear Mr. Mahon: school district.
You have requested the opinion of this office in regard
to the captioned matter. I quote from your letter making
the request as follows:
'Prior to the amendment of Article 2792,
or city taxassessor, in assessing and collect-
ing taxes for an independent school district at
assessed values greater than the values asses-
sed for city, county and state purposes, law-
fully assess and collect the district taxes
by using separate columns or separate portions
of the same sheets of paper which are used
for the city or county assessment blanks, tax
rolls, statements and receipts, or was it
mandatory prior to such amendment, and is it
now mandatory, that completely physically
separate assessment blanks, tax rolls, state-
ments and receipts be used for such district
taxes?"
We quote from the applicable statute, Article 2792,
Vernon's Civil Statutes, as follows:
"When a majority of the Board of Trustees
of an independent district prefer to have the
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Honorable G. Dixon Mshon, Page 2, (C-775)
taxes of their district assessed and collected
by the county assessor and collector, or by
the city assessor and collector, of an incor-
porated city or town in the limits of which
the school district, or a part thereof is
located, or collected only by the county or
city tax collector, same may be assessed and
collected, or collected only, as the case
may be, by said county or city officers, as
may be determined by the Board of Trustees
of said independent school district, and
turned over to the treasurer of the indep-
endent school district for which such taxes
have been collected. The property of such
districts having their taxes assessed and
collected by the county or city assessor and
collector may be assessed at a greater value
than that assessed for city, county and State
purposes, and in such cases the city or county
tax assessor and collector ma assess the taxes
for said district on separa9 e assessment blanks
furnished by said district and shall prepare
the rolls for said district in accordance with
the assessment values which have been equalized
by a Board of Equalization appointed by t$e
Board of Trustees for that purpose. . . .
(Emphasis added)
Prior to the amendment enacted by the 59th Legislature
of the State of Texas, the applicable part of the statute
read:
I,
. . . the city or county tax assessor
and collector shall assess the taxes for said
district on se-e assessment blanks fur-
nished by said district and shall prepare the
rolls for said district in accordance with
the assessment values which have been equal-
ized by a Board of Equalization appointed by
the Board of Trustees for that purpose. . . .'
(Bmphasis added)
We have been advised by the Office of the State Comptrol-
ler of Public Accounts, the office charged with administering
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Honorable G. Dixon Mahon, Page 3 (C-775)
the tax collection machinery of the State of Texas, that
assessment blanks are the rendition forms or sheets for
listing the inventory of taxable property which are pre-
pared and rendered either by the individual property owner
or the tax assessor. The assessment blanks are physically
separate forms and not merely blank spaces on a single
sheet of paper.
In considering the change of wording brought about by
the 1965 amendment to Article 2792, the word 'shall" connotes
directive,nessor something that is mandatory or required,
whereas the word 'may" has the connotation of permissiveness
or some degree of discretion.
It is, therefore, the opinion of this office, that
prior to the 1965 amendment, city or county tax assessors,
in assessing for independent school districts, could not
lawfully use the same assessment blanks or property inven-
tory blanks as those used for assessing for city purposes
or for county and state purposes.
It Is further the opinion of this office that under
the 1965 amendment to Article 2792 the use of physically
separate assessment blanks, or property inventory sheets in
the case where a city or county assessor is assessing for an
independent school district is permitted but not required,
and that separate columns on the same assessment blanks may
be used for assessing the different property values for each
taxing unit.
The primary concern of any taxing body in preparing its
taxing procedures is to insure that nothing is done to inval-
idate the tax levy or the assessment of the property evaluation.
The case of Miller v. Vance, 107 Tex. 485, 180 S.W.
739 (1915), held that separate property renditions and pre-
paration of separate rendition sheets did not affect the
validity of the tax assessed in that manner. The case of
Rhomberg v. McLaren, 21 S.W. 571, (Tex.Civ.App. 1893) held
th t the failure to make separate tax rolls for a school
d&rict, taxes for which were being collected by a city,
would not affect the validity of the taxes. Therefore, we
are of the opinion that the failure to use separate assess-
ment blanks or property inventory blanks prior to the 1965
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Honorable G. Dixon Mahon, Page 4 (C-775)
amendment to Article 2792 would not invalidate the taxes
assessed.
In regard to the question as to whether separate tax
rolls, statements and receipts must be used, or must have
been used prior to the 1965 amendment, we again quote from
Article 2792 as follows:
II. . . If said taxes are assessed by a
special assessor of the independentdistrict
and are collected only by the city or county
tax collector, the city or county tax collector
in such cases shall accept the rolls prepared
by the special assessor and approved by the
Board of Trustees as provided in the preceding
Article. When the county assessor and collector
is required to assess and collect the taxes of
independent SChOQl districts, the Board of
Trustees of such school district may contract
with the Commissioners Court of said county
for payment for such services as they may
see fit to allow, not to exceed the actual
cost incurred in assessing and collecting
said taxes; and when the assessor and collector
of an incorporated city, or town, as herein-
before provided, is required to assess and
collect the taxes of independent school
districts, the Board of Trustees of such
school districts may contract with the gov-
erning body of said city for payment for
such services as they may,see fit to allow,
not to exceed the actual cost incurred in
assessing and collecting said taxes."
As the Board of Trustees of an independent school dis-
trict is authorized to contract with the county commissioners
court or the governing body of a city for assessment and col-
lection of taxes, it would seem that the respective county
and city assessors and collectors should be able to use the
sane tax rolls, statements and receipts as those used for
city and county and state purposes. The stated purpose of
the 1965 amendment to Article 2792 is to enable taxing auth-
orities to achieve more efficiency in their operation. (See
Emergency Clause, Acts 59th Leg. R. S. 1965, p. 1579, ch. 685)
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Honorable G. Dixon Mahon, Page 5 (c-775)
To achieve more efficiency the political subdivision per-
forming the service for the school district should be able
to combine assessing and preparing rolls, statements and
receipts for the two bodies so long as ,the school tax rates,
assessments and amounts are readily distinguishable.
Where the assessed valuation for the independent schoo
district is higher than the assessed valuation for the cite
or for the county and state it is advisable that provision
be made on the~tax rolls, statements and receipts to show
the different valuations and rates to avoid confusion in
the minds of the taxpaying public.
SUMMARY
-------
Prior to the 1965 amendment to Article
2792, Vernon's Civil Statutes, a city or
county tax assessor, in assessing taxes for
an independent school district at values
higher than those assessed for city, county
and state purposes was required to assess
the school district tax by using physically
separate assessment blanks, but the failure
to use separate blanks did not invalidate
the taxes assessed. However, the use of
separate tax rolls, statements and receipts
was not required.
Subsequent to the 1965 amendment to
Article 2792, a county or city tax assessor
is permitted, but not required, to use com-
pletely physically separate assessment blanks
in the assessment of school district taxes.
A separate column on the same assessment
blank may be used in assessing values for
the different taxing units. The use of
separate tax rolls, statements, and receipts
is not required.
Very truly yours,
Assistant Attorney General
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Honorable G. Dixon Mahon, Page 6 (C-775)
APPROVED:
OPINION COMMITTEE
W. 0, Shultz, Chairman
Gordon Cass
Robert Flowers
Pat Bailey
Marietta Payne
APPROVED FOR THE ATTORNEY GENERAL
BY: T. B. Wright
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