Untitled Texas Attorney General Opinion ( 1944 )

OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY NERAL OF TEXAS
I GROVER
ATTORNEY
.
SELLERS
GENERAL
AUSTIN F
Mr. A. 6. Sutton
county Auditor
Anderson county
Palestine, Texas
Dear Slrr Opinion No. O-G
On Septenbor 1, 1 od to this office a
letter requestl~ the oplni ey General as to the
taxability of oertain pipe1 rson County Love0 Im-
proveuont Dlstrlot I?D. One. here set otltt
s deolared by said or-
ith ful& power to ef-
tion and improvement of
thorizca by the provl-
ne General IAUS of the 34 th
e State of Taxas’.
the k&x collector of this County haa
rate for the Levee Improvement tax
“However, there am now three pipelines running
through ths lovoe diotrict. The pipeline oompanles,
I understand, have aoquirod right-of-wags for their
lines from the various owners of the land In the levee
distriot but It lo contended that these pipellnos are
personal property and are not subjeot ‘to the lovoo
district benefit tax. Please advis% ms whether or not
these pLpellncs are subjcot to taxation for the benefit
” of the levee dlutrlct sn addition to the usual ad valorem.:
ta XCS l Also please advise mo whether or not it 1s the
duty of the tax collector to fix the rate on ad valoren
UP. A. E. Sutton, pa&e 2
.
basis and ass688 and collect these taxes, as provldsd
In Art. 7998, Texas EeYised Civil Statut6e.Y
In reply to our request for addltlonal faots, you
kindly sent us on Septeznber 15, 1944, a aeoond letter in which
you odviscd that this itiproveaent dlstriot wns established in
1916 and that the pipelines which run through the dlstrlct are
tho proport): OS private corporations. Attached to this letter
waa a copy of the order of the Comnissionera~ Court moating
and ostablishlng And6rSOh County Levee Inprovoment District No.
Olp.
SiuOe this b3Vek fmprovs.zent District was estabjished
In 1916, it ~66 noccasarily oreatad under the provisions of Chapter
146 of the General Laws of the Thirty-fourth LeSiolaturo of 1915.
This act wno specifloally repeelod by Aots 1925, Thirty-ninth
Legislature, Chapter 21, Pago 80, Section 66. But at the sam
tine and as a part of the same aot (Articles 8039 and 8040, V.A.C.3.)
th6 Lealslature saved an,1 continued in effcict tho provlslons of the
repealtrd aot as to levee irkprovenent dlstrlots already orSanlzed
and existing by virtue of Sal.1 repealed act. TbO court of ClVll
Appeals et Texarkona in Eopkins County Levee ImprovG2nent Distriot
Ho. 1 et el v. Salth (error refused) 266 S.:V:SOO, construed 1915
Aot aa a whole and held that:
Seotion one of sai? Aot provided for taxation Sor the
payment of bOi)ds if ohy ios~oii by the distrlot and also for the
levy and oollcotisn of tsxG3 for mrlint6hance and upkeep of in-
provamnts; nni that:
Seotlon seven of said Aot authorized the improvement
dlstrlot to provide funds for its legal purposes in euch manor
a8 such dlstrlct miSh:t dsen bset; and thet:
Seotlon 44 of said Act authorized the i%provenont
district actin{; through the comlssloncrs~ court of the rcopoctive
counties to levy ah& cause to bG assessed and oollcoted for m&&e-
nnnoe and upkeep OS levees and other improvements a tax on all
th6 property, real, personal and nixed within said dlstrlot. See
also 27 Tex. Jur. l+51. "The taxes my be levied on personal as
~011 as real property alt~~tedWthlII the district, both being
equally subjrct to d3zag6 from overflor.” Dnllas County Levee
District Xo. 2 v. Mooney, 109 Tax. 326, 207 S.71. 310.
:{o diatlnotion $6 to be male between real property end
persOna property owned by privste persona or by privoto corpore-
tlono for the paryostia of taxation by an4 for love0 inprovenant
- -
819
tir. A. E. Sutton, page 3
dietriots, and thus there would seem to be no reason to discuss
the question %s to whether or not the pipelines mentioned in your
letter oonstitute r,eal or personal property.
Article 8540, Vernon’s Annotated Civil Statutes, is
quoted as follows: -..’
“This Act is intenfied to take plaoe of all suoh
S%atutes ,repe%led hereby. All levee improvement dis-
trlots that ‘have been organized heretofore, or that
have availed themselves of the provisions of such
law, shall be governed by the provision% of this Xot,
and the plan of taxation therein provided for shall
not be affected or changed by this ILot, Any such
dlstriots which have not oompleted any improvements
begun under the provisions OP any tomor lnx shall
be governed in the issuance of bonds and the oom-
plction of’ saoh i,mprovenents by the provlslons of
the Act or Aats under whioh they were created; and
provided, further, that the repeal of Chnpter 146,
Aots of the Regular Session of the Thirty-Pourth
Legislature, shall not affeot any districts hereto-
fore created under the provisions of that ;iot, nor
districts Cr66t6d under any former laws hnving for
their objects the reolemation and protectlon of .
1an.a through a system of levees nnd drainage, and
which have not heretofore become conservation and
reclamation districts, but all rlehts, powers and
privileges Srantod such districts by the Xots under .
which they were org%nfze.l, snd amendments thereto,
are hereby directly preserved to such distriots.”
The languaga used in this Artiole leaves the legislative
intent somewhat unclear; but, assuming that I’,nderson County Levee
Improvement Xstrict No. One had not theretofore become a oon-
servation and reclamation district as provided by Arts. 8194 and
8137, V. A. C. S., its taxation plan, WG believe, would remain ao-
oordinv to the law under which it was organized. That law is Chap-
ter 148, fiats 34 Leg, 1915.
You are, therefore, advised that In our opinion suoh plpe-
lines are subject to taxation by and for the levee district and
that the Tax Colleotor, sotlng Sor and under the guidance of the .
Conm.issionoral Court, under the provisions or” Chapter 146, General
Laws, 34th Legislature, 1915, 3ay assees and collect such taxes.