Untitled Texas Attorney General Opinion ( 1959 )

ORNVEY GENERAL OFTEXAS Honorable J. M. Fal.kner opinion IO. ww-6c6 Commissioner Department of Banking Re: Authority of the Finance Cam- Austin, Texas mission to expend a portion of the funds af the BankIng Department for the purpose of participating in the building Dear Mr. Falkner: Program. You have requested an opinion of the following question: Pnreuant to the provisions of Chapter 1, Title 16, Revised Civil Statutes of Texas, can the Finance Commis- sion pleage and oauee to be expended a portion of the funds of the Rankihg Department for the purpose of part&l- pating in the building program of the State of Texas? Artic,le342-112, Vernon's CivilStatutes, provides as follows: *The Cammissiotierahal& from tima to time aB di- rected by the Finance Ccnmnission,submit to such Ccnmuiesion a full and ccrmpletereport of the receipts and expenditures of the RanklngDepartmentsnd the Finance C~mnissionmay from time to time examine the financial records of the Bank- ing Department or cause them to be examined. In addition, the Banking Dep&&nent shall be auditea from time to time by the State Ad.itm in the came manner ae other State De- partments, and the actual costs of such audits shall be paid to the State Aud)tor fmm'the funds of the Banking Depart- ment. Fee@, penhlties and revenues collected by the Banking Departmtit-from every source whatsoever shall be retained and held by said Department, and no part of such fees, penalties and revenues shall ever be paid into the General Revenue Fund ~ofihis state. All expenaee Incurred by the Banking Department shall be paid only from such fees, penal- ties and revenues, and no such expense shall ever be a charge against the funda of this State. The Finance Can- mission shall adopt.,and from time to time amend, budgets which shall direct the purposes. and prescribe the amounts, for which the fees, penalties and revenues of the Banking Department shall be expended; and the Finance Commission Honorable J. M. Falkner; page 2 (``-608) shall, as of December 31, 1951, and annually thereafter, report to the~Covernor of the State of Texas the receipts and diabursements~of the Banking Department for each calendar year; and shall within the first sixty (60) days of each succeeding Regular Session of the Legislature make a report to the appropriate committees of the House and Senate charged with considering legislation pertaining to banking.* (Emphasis ours). Section 51-b of Article III of the Constitution of Texas creating the State Building Commiseion and the State Building Fund provides, in part, a8 followe: ” . . . The State Building Fund ehall be expended by the Commission upon appropriation by the Legislature for the uee8 and purposes set forth in subdivison (c) hereof. "(c) Under such terms and oonditions 88 are now or may be.hereafter'provided by law, the Commission may acquire necessary real and personal property, salvage and dispose of property unsuitable for State purposes, modernize, re- model, build and equip buildings for State purposes, and negotiate and make contracts necessary to carry out and effectuate the purpoees herein mentioned." Under the provisions of Article 342-112, the State Banking Depart- ment is required to retain and hold all fees, penalties, or revenues it derives, and it provides that all expenses incurred by the Ranking Department shall be paid from the Banking Department funds as directed by the budget adopted by the Finance Commission. One of the necessary expenses of any State agency is to provide adequate office space for the effectual operation of such agency. This may be accomplished by renting office space, purchasing buildings for office apace, or contra+ng for the actualconstruotion of office space, pro- vided monies are available for such purpose. It is therefore our opinion that the participation of the Finance Commission in the state building program would be within the enumerated purposes for which the Banking Department funds may be spent. Since all monies of the Banking Department must be retained by it, the expenditure of the Ranking Department funds could not be made by the State Building Ccmmission. Therefore, any contract entered into for the construotlon of office space of the Banking Department would have to be executed by that agency. You state in your letter that the Finance Commission desires to budget a certain amount of the Ranking Department funds for the purpose of erecting an office building to be occupied by several departments making similar contributiona to the construction of such offlce building by the State Building Commission. Honorable J. M. Falkner, page 3 (ww-608) We have examined the provisions of Section 51-b of Article III of tie Con- stitution of Texas and the provisions of Title 16 of the Revised Civil Statutes of Texas, 192.5,and can find no provision prohibiting the Finance Commission from furnishing office space for the Banking Department by this method. On the contrary, it is our opinion that if the Finance Commission determines that this method of providing office space is the most efficient means to accomplish the purpose, it is specifically authorized to do so under the provisions of Article 342-112. SUMMARY The Finance Commission is authorized to parti- cipate in the State Building Program and budget Banking Department funds for the purpose of erect- ing an office building to be occupied by the Bank- ing Department as well as other agencies of the State. Such contract should be executed by the Banking Commissioner upon authorization of the Finance Commission. Yours very truly, WILL WILSOIi Attorney General of Texas John Reeves JR:wb:zt Assistant APPROVED: OPIIiIOFI COMMI!rrEE Gee. P. Blackburn, Chairman Riley Eugene Fletcher C. Dean Davis Elmer McVey Paul W. Floyd, Jr. REVIEWEDFOR THEATTQ- GERJZRU.. BY: W. V. Geppert