Untitled Texas Attorney General Opinion ( 1942 )

THEAIToRNEY GENERAL
OF TEXAS
RonorableRugens Brady
CountyAttorney
Greenville,Texas
Dear Sir: OeinionNot O-4311
Re: Validityof action taken by
independentsohwl distriat's
board of equalization$n
month.ofOotober.
We have your ,lstterof April 15.~1942,requestingan opinion
of thiird+artment, 'andwhich reads a6~follow~:
~..
'An Indepsndent'Roh~ol Divtridtin this oburity
organi,sedunder the generallau throughtheir..duly
appointedspecial‘tnva6sefmor and aolleotorassessed
propertylaaatedinsaid,distri& for taxes beed.upon : 1
the value of~the land as of January1,.1941. ~A~board
equalizationiras'appointed by the trusfeesof the ~$a-
dependentsohoul districtand.meton Oatober,lS;a941
for the purposeop equalizingtaxw 3n the diafriot.
The.taxpayera m&e duly notifiedof the time and plaae
of the meetinggf the equalizationboard and had due
opportunityto appear .&fore same on the date set..
Onb taxpayern&w oontandsthat becausethe,taxrolls
shouldhave be&ready for aolleotion'onOctober1st
and the equalipationbard did not meet until Odtober
15th the taxes'areQlegal and he:is not bound to pay same.
"The statute8providetha.t.the,lan as applicable.
to the oolleotionof taxes af inoorporatedcitiesand
towns shall be applicablelikewiseto oolleotionof
taxes of independentrohooldistricts. Article8IQ43
and 1044 RCs provide~for.the oolleafionand asssesment
of taxes in ai.tiesand towns. Artiole 1049 provides
that the city oounoilshall~ annuailyat their first
meetingor as soon thereafteras'praotioable appoint
three oommissioners saoh a qualiftddvoter, a resident
and propertyouner~of the cityrho'shallbe styledthe.
board of equalization..At the same meeting said council
shall fix the time for the meeting of suoh board. Artiole
1049~&ate8 'The'Boardof Rqualizatiunshall oonvene
annuallyat the time $0 fixed to reosiveall the assessment
lists or books of the~assessorof their oity for examination,~
Hcnorable.Sugene Brady, page 2 04311
correction, equalization, appraisement and approval.'
Article 1051 provides that any person may file with said
board at any time before the final action of said board
a oomplaint as to the assessment of his property and
said board shall hear said complaint.
"The question presented here as I see it is must
the Equalisation Board of an Independent School District
meet at any particular time during the year, or is this
requirement met by the equalization board meeting at any
time during the calendar year?
"It is generally held that the statutes that regulate
the time when the assessor shall make out his rolls, end
thetime whenthe board of equalization shall certify to
their ocrrectness,C,are
directory and not mandatory. In the
absence of any law decreeing when the assessment shall be
made, or when the board of equali~zationshall meet, or
when the rolls shall be prepared, these matters are under
the ocnticl of the local authorities. If the only statu-
tory requirement is that the'taxes be laried during the
year, delivery of the rolls tothe collector may be made
at any time duringthe;yearr,; 37:Texas Jurisprudence, 1012;
"The statutes'herdtbfcre quoted donot &quiie.the ;.
board of equalization to meet any prtioular,time during '.
the year. It only requires,that the board shall convene“. ...,.
annually at a time fixed by the governing'bbdy. This
being true I think it would olearly.follcw that all else'
being regular'the fact that the board of equalizationdid "
not convene until~October 15 would not invalidate .the taxes.'!.
We agree with'your conolusicn and have little to add'to'the.
reasoning by which~itis reached. We might mention that e&n though
the time for the sitting cf,such a board of equalization be fixed in
the manner that county ccmmissioners' courts are required to meet
as boards of equalization in the month cf May of each year;suoh
wculd not, in our opinion, invalidate the assessment. From Mr.
Sutherland in his work on Statutory Construction (2nd'Ed.), Section
612, page 1117, we quoter
"Provisions regulating the duties of public officers
and specifying the time for their performance are in that
regard generally directory. Though a statute directs a
thing to be done at a particular time, it does not necessarily
follow that it may not be done afterwards. In other words,
as the cases universally hold, a statute specifying a time
within which a public officer is to perfOXYsan Official act
regarding the 'rightsand duties of others isdirectory. Un-
less the nature of the a&to be performed, or the phraseology
cf the statute is such that the designation of time must be
Bcnorable Eugene Brady, page 3 o-4311
considered as e limitation of the power of the officer."
. Again this same author observes, in Section 611, at page 1142
"Those directions which are not of the essence of the
thing to be done, but which are given with a view merely
to the proper, orderly and prompt conduct of the business,
and by the failure to obey the rights of those interested
will not be prejudioed, are not ccmmonly to be regarded as
mandatory; and if the act is performed, but not in the
time or in the precise mode indiceted, it will still be
sufficient, if that which is done accomplishes the sub-
stantial purpose of the statute."
This canon of statutory construction is illustrated by the
cese of Graham v. Lasater, 26 S. W. 472, holding that under Sayles
Civil Statutes, Article 1517a. Subdivision 1, providing that the
County Cmmissioners' Court shell convene snd sit as a Board of
Equalization on the second Monday in June, or "as soon thereafter
practioable before the first day of July," does not render a oontin-
uation of their proceedings into July a nullity.
Yours very truly
ATTORNEY GENEBAL OF TEXAS
By S/Glenn R. Lewis
Glenn R. Lewis
Assistant
CRL:db:wc
APPROVED APRIL 24, 1942
s/Grover Sellers
FIRST ASSISTAET
ATTORREY GLNERAL
Approved Opinion Ccmmittee By BNB Chairman