Untitled Texas Attorney General Opinion ( 1946 )

OFFICE OF THE AlTORNEY GENERAL OF TEXAS AUSTIN QRGVERSCLLCRS GEIIW Arroana~ Honorable Ross Doughty, Jr. County Attorney Uralde County Uvalde, Texas Dear Sir: Opinion ICO.a-7320 R8: tihether~the Join From your reques $ollowlng facts, upon wnic or Gollege Astrict on lng tne Tax kssessor- Assessor end Collector tue Junior Lollece. At _ ed to accept tne ?LxI+`` same appear on the rolls. Honorable Ross Doughty, Jr., Page 2 A Joint colrntyJuaior Co110 l is lutnotfsed by Sestioa 17 of Artials 2815h in ths foflowing tenusr of contiguous 'Any. . . oorrbinntion oountles in the State, having a taxable property Yaluatlon of not less than Mine BWl.ll~nFire.Hundred Thousaad (#9,500 OUO.00) Dollars sod hating a scholaatiopep&ion sf not ks than seYsn thousond (7,000) the school year, and not fewsr than I+OO)students in the last four years of the classifiedhigh school or high schools wit&in the proposed territoryduring the nsxt preoedlugschool year, may, by Yots of the quslifiedtoters of the proposed terri- Wry, ostahllsh and ma1ntd.n a . . . joint oounty Jualor Col1sge.e Seotion .22 of this act provides t&r "All tax88 levied for a County or.join8 County Junior 'CollegeDistrict shill be asssss- ld and oolleoted in the mamer provided in Sections 7a axad7b md such Sol..loator,eash mnth shall plaae suoh funda with the Treasurer .of such-Uounty or joint%ounty College M8triat.Y The Sections 7a and 7b referred to oontaln ths follouing proYl‘ionsr *Sea. 7a. The irssesso`` snd Oolleator of '.sushJuafor College District shall assoss the taxes md aolleot thesame irrths manner now pmxidbd-by law for the aollestion of ad valerem taxes County k8sessors and. Collsotorsand _’ wh sr e t% lre is not herein corrteinod any speoifia proviiion or directioh as to how snything,~conucct- ld with the assessmeAtand oolieotion of taxes shag1 be done, then the pro~isioaa of ths General Law shell preyail. The Board of Eduaation of said Distriat ahall have the power, and is here- by auti.orisad to appoint three resident citisens Honorable Row ~Coq&ty, Jr., .?'aFe 3 of the said District to act as a bard of Equalizationt.3equalite tne values of all property subjeot to taxation ii.said Xstrict and ssld Doard shall qualify in tilesaw man- ner and shall ptrfom tna same duties as is authorized to be performed by the Board of Squalitetionappointed by the City Council of Cities and touns incorporatedunder the &mare1 L‘?l‘'of this stats. 'All taxes provided for by tnis Act shall bsaome due and payable 0.1the sme dste as the taxes in the IndependentSchool Listriot pro- vided the boundaries of the Junior Collage Us- triot sre coteminus with the IndependentSahool Distriob. Sf the boundaries of the Junior Gollsge District are not cotsnsinusuith the IndependentSo&o1 Dirtriot, then the taxa& of said District ohall beooae due and payable ou ,the same date as~is Drovidod for taxes due to .' State md County. Said taxes shall be And re- -ia a first and prior lian upon all the lscd and other.propetig sgainst WKIQU the 6ame were assessed. In cawa sua$ tax mall beoom deliu- qusnt thsra shall ba added the same penalty and the same shall draw Interest at tne srme rate and fm;;3the s&as date as Is provided in aase or taxes beooming dslinquent.tqIndependectSohool Distriots under t&a Oeneral Laws.” 'See. 7b. In lieu of the tinner of assess- q eot,ahd collection of taxe8, as provided in Sestion 7a@ the.Bard of Education of suah Junior College.Di6trict map provide for ths assessment., equaliaation,and oollection of _,_, taxersin tne manner following, to witr e.(a) If the boundaries of said Junior Gollee;eDistrict shall be tm MM or substw- tially the ssw, as that of an Indeyndent ~%~@ol Distriat, ha+inp; an Assessor and Sollsotor of Taxes then auah Distriot may have the taxes of their Districtwsesaed and wllected bp the ksseseorlandColleotor,fTaxee of such lndepen- dent Sshool Oistriat and heve ‘UC:;ta.xescqw'lizsd by the Bond of Zqua.Liaatio,r of suci~Independent ;iohoolDistrict. Honorable Roes Coughty,Jr., Faea 4 “(b) iiheres city fia6ass=ned control of ltr 8ohool.saud usea ~theAssessor and Collector of Taxes appointed and paid by the crityle here- by authorized to nave their texes aseemied, equalArced, and cqllected by t14eseme Qoard that a5sessea, equ:;li5es, and collects alty taxw. 5(c) The board of hd;roatlohof such Junior College Distrlatl If they prefer to cl080, may here the taxes 01:tneir &strict assessed and colleated bg the Aaoessor and i;ollectw of Coua$y Taxes in tileCounty lu w.Lcn 5ald X5- triot shall be situated, 0:'collected only by the Assessor end Collector of County Taxes, and in ouch event, auah tsxes shall be aaseszed and collected by aafd county officers, as.the case may be, and turned over to the Treaaurer of the Junior College iH.etrict 'forwhioh such tax68 nafe been aollected. The property oft .suahClstricts having:their taxes aeseaaed and aolhatrd by the Assessor and Collectorof Couaty Taxes shall not be a55essed at a greater Yalue than that asseesed for County and State purposee. If aaid tsxes are.asseasedby a Speoiel.Ahsessor of the Junior College District, or hall be asseseed by tha special Assessor of the IndependentSahool Xiitrict 11;the xmaer above set out and are aollected only by the County Tax Collector, the property of raid District may .beassessed at a greater ot'leas Yalue than that assessed for titeteazd Gouuty PUQO~SS a-id Ghe As5ea5or and Collectsr'of County Taxes in such aaseb shall acaeptthe _' rolla prepared by the Special ksseaaorQo by the Aeseaor of tileLdependent school District, as the case w-y be, and approved by the Board of Eduoatkm, a5 provided in ti1iSSection. ilheathe Assessor F.ndGoilectur of County ‘raxeri is required to asseas and collect the taxes of a Junior C;ollegeGlatrict, ke snaL11receive tiie sa:.epe,rcer,tage as for State and Zourity'Taxet;." Honorable Ross Doughty, Jr., :'age5 Thebe seotiona per&t t&3 ass055itiF end .oollectlngof the junior college district's t,exeoby a~ aaaeeaor and aolleotor other than its mm if: (1) Tine boundariesof the jur.iorcollege dlrtriot me the same or aubstmtially the eaze as :.hat of an fixdependentsot1001dietrlct :~vin~ ah asse.s~.~:- and collector; or (2) Toe district is lowted witiiina city which has aseumed control of Its sc::ools,:.ndwJ.ic;. XX an asbam30r and collector of tcxea; or (3) T.ict district Is situat+;dentirely wttXn one oounty. The district you lhquire atu& does mt. z*!etand amply with any one of the co.Gltlons ;rm.cribcd by ihc etatute. The law does riotcontt+late~t&at such a district, lbLU have'more than oze aa8easor and collector as would be wc&~aary If the County Aasassor aad Ccllector of 'Jvalde County performed those fun&Ions for tilatpart of the dis- trict located.and lying in Uvalde County. Th6 law guarda jealouslythe uniformity of diatributlonof the tax burdui throughaiateaoh taxing unit, and If the propertiee,oft&is diatrlat inquired about were aeseeeed by three different. a8aeasorc'andequalised by three different boards of equal- iaation poaslbly operating on-three different theoriee it ie highly unlikely that~therevroil2.d rasclt a'~reat,deal of *qual%ty ia assessimnt. fou'are advised, therefore; that it is the oi;in.lon of this department that the County Assessor and Collector of Uvalde County is not authorieed to act as the Assessor nnd Collector of taxes for tne Junior College District In Uvalde County nnd oonaequentlytaustdeullne to act In au@. capcity. The validity of the formation of the junior college dlatrlct ln question Is not before us and us are expressing no opinion ther6on. Yours very truly ,. ..