Untitled Texas Attorney General Opinion ( 1945 )

..
605
OFFICE OF-THE ATTORNEY GENERAL OF TEXAS
AUSTIN
G````~SELLERS
~,,``NLIQENm?*L ,-
~onortble c. a. Wild.
County Auditor ‘~ ,, ‘.
meoee county
,.
'Christi es
Wi huvb reooi red your roquest
The faots appear..
of Corp~a Chr
purpose of deiter-
ooome part ol .fhe
OSBB or this opinion, that
the manner required by
a are in all thing8 regular.
r:or @nnoxotWa, and we as- ,
tldod for in Artiols VIII, Se&ion %-a of the Consti-
tutlon or Te~aa: ::Thia Department bold, ,in Opinion Fro.
O-1132, that: ::
-he area nlthln the limlte oi'the City
of Corpus Christi is not entitled to such QX- ('.
emptlon ,awng the llrs or the grant nnaoby
Chapter 138, pagb 280, Qenbrsl Lana, 37th
Legislature.? I ,.~ ., .
&norablr C. J. Wilda - page 2
you wish to ,bo a%vised whsther the persons living
vithln this recently annexed territory are now antitied to :
the hOIUi35taOdeXeGptfO5 prOVfded for in the fWOtiOn Of tb
conatitutioa or Terao above XGf8FXea to. ,,
Cheptsr 138, pa@ 270, Cbnsrsl Laws, 37th Legisln-
two, prooitles, in part:
.. That for a prl0d Of taentg-five years oo.z.ncnoing
wlth the finoal yesr, beeinning S6ptember 1, 1921,
there ho and hereby,. are dcnetcd and &ranted by the
stats of Teraa, to the City of CorpW chriati the ‘,’
net amounts of all Btato ed veloren taxoa c0ii90t6a
upon the. Droparty and rrom ~ar~ona in counties at
Jim %ellsS Sin DOE& Brooks, El+erC, Willaay, and
Duval and all tha mt aixunts or sll W&s ad va- :. ‘.
loran tares OOllooted uporr the pzopartg and from .’
persons in tho County of iJuoaoa ;1ot heretofore
aonfietd to tha city oi Coryua Christ; by Act 0r
the Thirty-fif Ch Lagi``lature .oi the State of Tdxaa .
.&nom a8 lIouse Bill No. 69f,, iholudin(: such Sate
ad valoren taras as may’ba duo said oountiaa on ..
: the railroading etogC b%longlng to railroad aoa-
T peniaa nhlch shall be, smsrtalnad-ana apportioned
to eaid oountiea ‘as now provided by law.”
hrtials ,‘$fX, Il&tian’l-a, of the &&t&n OS
%XW, adopted in 1933,~ reads a18 follo;n,r
nThree Thousand Dollsrs (&3,C00.00)of the ,':
‘. assamsad taxable- value of all recldutioa homedteadi,’
as now defined by law shall bc axazpt from all.
taxation for all State purposen; provldad that
thin, exe~1ption &all not ba applicable to thet
porti6n of the Ytata ad wnloccm taxea levied
for sti3ts purpouo5 rf4tt;ce v:ithin C!lONYcoi?fitiae
or ‘other political nubd5vicions nov: recelvinq
my reniasion of Steto tnxan, until the expira-,
ti0n 0r 0~00 p0ri0a 0f TO~ISSIO~ . . .a ~II--
phrrsie added)
From the express
wordin& of thie Constitutional
AnIendmant it ia apparent thRt 9 QOUnty Ox othar politiUa1
subdivision is not to ba deprivad of the homestea& sxemp-
tion unlem, at the tlma of the adoption of aald Amab~ent,
i.e., *ucuat,26, 1933, suah oounty or politioal subdivision .
wei3receiving: a ramfasian of State taxee. The city or
607
a.
,-
C. J. slide
tlmorabls - page 3
corpus Christi wm co roaeioin& a rmieslon of toxas’at tba
tlce of ‘the adopti% of this Ammdsent, and on tha baais of
that taat this Dapartlant ruled, In Opihion No. O-1132, that
tns araa within the limits ai the aity wad) not entitled to
the exemption.
The power or authority of the City of Corrue Christ%
ta ohone its boundhrlas oanaot bs quastionad. 586 30 ~TSX.
Jpr;, ,72,’ Seotion 30, whfwe, this rule lo sat forth; ,, : ,,
.::.
’ Y-ha ‘hozne rula a~endmant and tho anabllna, aot ‘. .: ‘.
transtarred to the epwiflod citlas, through ths . ,,
; a&enoy,of' their quallfiad Potms, tha same power
which the Lagislature had tharetofors posoassad : ‘~”
to ohnn~s tcrrltarlol bcundarFee through the
amendment or adoption oi thdlr charters.. The ‘I
statute (r\rtlola ll75, 300. 2,~ V.A.C.S.) onumra-. ,:.
tine; oartplln powers of bona rule cities +$ve8 tbaa ,‘.,‘.
, authority to fix munioipsl boundary llnee en4 the ‘~ $.
anmxxatlon of additional territory lying adjacent .,,,. .’ .::
"r to tho oity, gacaorUing to suoh rulss as may be
‘povfclad by saltl ohart@r*. This provlslon super- ‘.
,ssQes tbd nrtiale of the”etatutae govarnln~ an- ” _ . .
nexations by alties gsnaral..lY,.lneofar 8~ cities ~.
~Afoh hsQe adopted or anendec¶ their. oharters
under the .hom rules amendment ‘am donoerneb.a
.. The.ohRrtar of ,the. Clt$ of Corpus Chrlati’ (Speoial
Lwss, Jlet Laeialature, Rogulm S%sslon, Chapter 33; page 304,
III amendad April’ 30, 1926,~anUAovembar 18, 1939).proqidef,
Artlola I, Section 2:
*.
. . Any territory adnittad into the City’~’ ,.
shall boor its roportioniita part of nil tnxsa~
levied by the Cf ty and its Inhabitants shall
have all the prlvllewaa and he subSactto of1 ,~ ‘:
the duties or othsr lnhsbitants of tha Cit.&”
ArtiOle n, 86CtiOll 2,' Oi ZlSfd OhQl'tW ~l’OVfd%Sl
L
x1; addition to tho ‘powers harein
other& &mtta, the city shall have all powars. ”
enlr;lerat8,d in Artlala 1175, Raoieoc! Statutes or
Texae, 1925, aa her&ofora amended, as thou&h “’ ~.;
suoh statute were sat forth harain.*’
.” ‘``,.~
flaarabl% C. J., ‘iriM% - page I
Saotlon 2 of Artiole 1175, R.B.~provlhesthst the
eltlee gcvarned thereby e&all haQ@, aeon5 othar poWer%t
vho poaor to iii the. bowdar: lmta 0r ‘said ,,.
city, to provfue ror tha exter.slm 0r aal4 boundary
lizits an4 the am%x%tlon of additional territory
adjadant to noid oity aoaordlq to ouch rules es
nay bs ,7ro?lSecI by es 1d c!!sWir.”
The ~roQielon% of Section 2, of Artlole 1175, a54 0r
&icl% I, Seotlcn 2 of the Charter of tha City~ of CorFua Qlrieti,
rsr,ufre that, in addition to having all pl~llages of fnhnbi-
tmts of the olty, the inhabitants of territory t+mxeC shall”
be 5ubjcCt to all thy Guties or othoz Inhabitant5 City.
0r tihe~
``1~454 in those 4utl55 ia the duty to yap State ad vcloran
taxes on the oalua of 6he r55~45no5 hoxeotoe4 without enp
OXt?QtiOit.
Thin fa lh confornity with the eaneral rule 0P law
that the m%r.@r %ff%Ott?4 by mnexstloa is ooayletai TJ.Y.
the ‘.
absenoe of nom5 lsglslattve or ohavtor reatrlotioe, annnoxstiou
a&es the ncw~ttrrltovg a part ,of the City ror all purposes;
the annexed torrltoxy ion%% all .idaatitp it may hAv5 had sepa- -
rate ah4 apart Zrosl the city ti-Whloh it Is attached. 30 Tax. ~,
Jar. 80, SBO. .36~ !dtIdrey V. Cax! 73 ,Tex. 538, ll St 5&l.
At page 862 of Voluine I, tio``uillln, Mtiiotpal Cor-
poratlons, (24 Edltlon, Ebatloh 31,1, It in saia: ”
W.. . Existing dabto of this oorporetim am-.
traotad bafore tha liceits wera axtend&, unleos otJW!-
wise pxo~i4o4 by law, are chargeable upon tha c&de4
torrltory a5 Well 5% that o``pr%h%;or4adby tha boun-
daries before thoy uer6 altered or %xten4%4.”
The liability of owner8 of proporty In terrltopy
nawlg lnalu454 Within 0 tiualo,lpal corporatloe to =ay taxen
for ths pur~oee of paying pre-exiatlng l:~d%bte4n%se of the
corporation arlaaa fro= the benefits of lsoal ~ovormaht
obtained, .and 5s usually nupports4 by the ecloltnblc aocsl-
derotfon that the populn*aoh ah4 taxable valua ol the pro-
pcrty has boon inoraaacdby prexlruity to the munlalp%llty)
and by reason that thel peraoasEO brought In at once %OQufr%
en lntortnt ln all the publio property b%lo@n& to the
@ublolpallty, whether paid for Out Of pr%VlOut3 taxes With .
prrvlous bond!, wbloh have been satisfied CJTwith the ~prooaede
,- I
” .’
.
nonoreble C. J. Wilde - paaa 5
of bonds still. due. Tonep v. Maoon, 119 Ca. 83, 46 S.E. 80.
Tharafore, the- merger of tha smexea territory klth ..
me City Of Corpus Christ1 is complete, and suoh territory la
now a pert oi that pOlitiOa1 eubdlvlsion whlah was recelvlng
8 r~ia~lon at the time of the ndoptlon of Section l-a ot
uticle VIIX oft the Constitution , .md ooffioa within the exoopt- ‘~
1~ to the erenrptlon oontained tharein.
In eddlt’Ion to the reason8 above stated, we feel that
the property owners in ‘the annexed tarrJ.tory hove lost the
right to ths exaqtlon by rao6on of havlnp, wolvod It. This .’
torrltory wes adaitted to tba City OI' Coqus ChrIstI upon LIA
sleotlon. Under theae olruumstenoes, the inhsbitants, o? the
annexed territory voluntarily assumed tiie obligatlons’ot
oltizens of Corpus Christ&, one 61 which Ia the obligation
t.o pap State nd valorem taxes on the value of a residenoe
honrestea~ ylthout an0 exemption.
Trustlig that the foregoing fully an8wers youp ,~ ., ‘-
inquiry, we are; .
'Yoursvery truly