Untitled Texas Attorney General Opinion ( 1948 )

day 26, 1948
Hon. LaVern I. McCann Opll-donNo. V-588
County Attorney
Hockley County Re: Fees of county tax
Levelland, Texas collector for collec-
tion of county-wide
school maintenance
tax Article 2744e-3,
Vernon's Civil Stat-
utes, as amended.
Dear Sir:
We refer to your recent letter from which we
quote:
"Hockley County comes within the
provisions of Art. 2744e-3, having an
assessed valuation of taxable property
according to the last approved tax rolls
of not less than seventeen million dol-
lars end a population according to the
latest Federal Census of not more than
Twenty-One persons per square mile. By
proper election procedure; the people of
the county expressed their approval of
the County Wide Maintenance Tax ana the
Commisvlonerlv Court entered its order
and levied a twenty oent tax on the Hun-
dred.Dollarv valuation of taxable pro-
perty.
"Collection of the tax began and
at this time the .tax collector iv wlth-
holding one-half'of one percent of the
amount collected gs his fees of office.
The rest of the tax money has been turn-
ed over to the proper schools. There IV
no litigation In the matter but there are
some who disagree with his being entltleil
to the money as a fee of office. I sln-
cerely request an opinion from your of-
fice concerning the matter. It iv my
opinion that he iv entitled toa fee In
Hon. hVern I. McCann, page 2 (V-588)
the collection of the tax.
Brief of Law
"Art. 274&e-3 Section 4 of the Re-
vised Civil Statutes states the follow-
ing:
"IIt shall be the duty of the Com-
missioners Coart; after such tax shall
have been voted, st- the time other ~taxes
'Tarelevied In the county, to levy a tax
under this'law of not to exceed Rrenty
' .:'(?O#),'
Cents on the One Hundred Dollars
:,:'valuat$on
Xn saza county for that year.
Such taxed'&all be assessed by the Tax
.t$ssesvorand'collected by the Tax Assessor
as other Taxes are assessed and collected.'
"ht. 2744e-3.Section 11 oftthe Re- "
vised
;. .~Clpil~:,?~a``utelr~:statesthe ~f~ollo+.ng:
“‘Taxes thus levied by the Commis-'
sloners Covt, shall,be asses,sed,a.ndcol-
lected ins``~ccordance~‘.with 'aqplicabl~e, laws. '
llIi-~'
y:,gp-$!!~;&:*,;, ,the.:l
,,& of'th;
secti&& ~quoted,,"above thatthe tax .ls, to
be assessed~'bnd','collected 'in.amordance
with applicable,:latisI,. From.those,laws the
Tax Assessor.and,Foll,ecto~+$s,:' eutlt.ledto
a fee 'far,._th.e'."cdil'``t.~on
.oof.~
'taxe'a. ,,,'T.t
,~
":,'
sebme'Itli&; :+$F,:,J939;,$?t``~;'``~?lsed,.~,~iv;L1",
``:.
Statutes~,
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:.,,;*~:&; <:,.y
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" ,.Ti;;&.ahalp.$&.A&p~& r it&.'e'oij&Lf j
,:~
tion bf.ta'keszas;&nDensation:.fory'theser-‘::~:!~
vices of'the"c’ollector, be'gkming with the"
first day of September of each year, five
per cent.on the first t&en,thouvand,dol-
lars c'ollebted~f,or the'State;"and four,,per
cent.ou,the~.next.,``,ten'thousand
~dollars so
collected'.forthe; State, a&¶ arm Peru cent
on all collected over112 Tex. 209, 246 S.W. 654.
In view of the foregoing, It seems apparent
that the Legislature did not intend to allox county as-
sevsorv and collectors of counties in which a county-
wide school district had been created under Article
2744e-3 any compensation whatever for performing the
duties of assessing and collecting the taxes of such
district, otherwise It would have clearly provided for
such compensation as It had done In each of the three
preceding similar statutes so enacted.
Accordingly, it is our opinion that no commlv-
slon or compensation may be allowed the county avsessor
and collector of taxes for either assessing or collec-
ting the taxes of a county-wide school district under
Article 2744e-3, V. C. 9.
SUMMARY
No commission or compensation may be
allowed the county assessor and collector
of taxes for either assessing or collecting
the taxes of a county-wide school district
under Article 2744e-3, V. C. S.
Yours very truly,
ATTORNEY GENERAL OF TEXAS
- ATTORNEY GENERAL
BY
Chester E. Ollivon
CEO:mw Assistant