Untitled Texas Attorney General Opinion ( 1943 )

M
h
OFFICEOFTHEA'ITORNEY GENERALOFTEXAG
i AUSTIN
iWGWINN
wlaumou-
Bonorable Qmn Ii.Davidson
County Attorney
liookleycounty
iavellend,Tom38
Dear Sir:
\
tax attorney.
160 the folloving
8lonexr' Court of
ea into a eontreat
The oontraat fol-
love& the 8
to terW.nete on
The tax colleotor in
torney nov seekdoommlsslona for the last four moathe of the
aontreat.
You lnqulre:
al. Ia the eatlon of the foxmer Tex Calleot-
or in not payi= the oomml,s*ione for the last four
months of the oontract comluaiveI or vould the
706
C&lrrloner8~ Court, if reid Court vero oonvlnoed
the clsim vers just and unpsld, have authozlty to
revi*e ths act8 of ths ¶%x Collsator after the ox-
plrrtlon of the Contract?
'2. If 8aid Commi8riamrr~ Court vere author-
loed and 8ev fit to allw the alaim, vhat vould be
the oorroat pxooedure for payi- sald olalm on the
ooml88lon8 Sor the oounty a8 veil as State Delin-
quent Taxes upon vhloh old&~ ir based?'
The contract in quertlon provideo, inter aliar
NClau8e VIII. Plrmt Party agree8 to pay to
SekcoadParty 88 oostpenmtlonior the lzvloes here-
under required 7& per oent (not to exaeed fifteen
(15) per oent) of the amount oollooted 0r all de-
linquent taxer, penalty and lntezrestOf the year8
covered hereby, aotually oolleoted and pald to the
oollwtor of taxe8 durlrq the texm of thla oontraot,
of whloh Second Part7 18 inetrumentalin oolleoting
a8 evldencmd b7 copie8 of oOmunloatlon8, tax
notlaer or abbrtraot8 filed vlth the tax aolleotor
prior to the payssnt of ruoh tax, lnaludlrrg aollo+
tlon of teze8 on property not appearing on the e8-
reo8ment rolls nor 8hovn delinquent but vhlah vould
have bvsn so lhovn haU lt been propsrly asseoasd,
dlrowered br 8oid Second Party, a8 and vhen ool-
leeted, follov%ng the end of ecrshmonth vlthin the
period of tblo oontraet, .?crcwdingly a8 the oolleot-
or maker up hia monthly report83 . . . .
N. . . .
‘Clause XI. At the end of laoh month, or le
moon thereaftere8Ou tax oollector 8hall have
mede up hi8 report 8hovlxq colleotloni,m&e for 8uch
month, said Second Party shall have acsess to raid
report find8hall by coaparlson of the seme vlth hi8
ovn files or record of aervlce, oople8 of which he
has filed with the tax aolleotor,make up in trip-
lic&te e report of oollectlomiout of vhioh he 18
entitled to ooami88ionunder the term of thl.8
contract. Seaond Party 8hall alao have aoae88 to
the collwtorfs reaeipt8 for 8wh oolleotloneend
ahall, in hi.8reporto to be made on forms furnished
707
Honorable Sum ii.~vldson, page 3
by the Coaptroller,8hou each geer and the taxes
collected therefor on a separate line,
After the report has been Signs& and svo&*ti by
Second Party, two aopfes of the same ahal be he-
llvrred to the 2%~ Collector, ona to be ettaohbd
to and sent vlth the Collectortsmonthly report to
the Comptroller,the other flied in the Colleotor's
offlce, and the Wrd copy to be retained by the
Beoond Party.
"Clalwe XII. Eaah aonth, after havlzq reoelved
coples of the oontroator~8 report es provided f0r In
the preceding seOtlon, and Oheoked the IlEt of
taxes shown therein vlth his ovn report and vlth
copies of oommueloation8filed vlth him, aliprovld-
ed for in Beotlon XIII of this oontraot, and after
having verified the oorreotnerrof ooumlsrloru
alrUne&, the oounty tax aolleotm is hmeby author-
lsed or&red and dlxeated to dedwt the above SW-
olfled per oent of said taxes, penalty aridinterest,
oi.8uOh amount a8 oan be anowed under the po&ty
a& interest restrloti0n, to Vbloh &a& Party is
entitled, and to pay the 88~ to him, tie88 other-
vise herein directed and to take his receipt as pro-
vided for on Form 107, Contrcrator'r Report, vhloh
vhen received in the Camptroller'soffloe vlll be
the Comptroller'srruthorlty to allow the raid tax
oolleotor br&dlt for-the amxmt so pal&j proiided,
thet the tax col;leato~ before oomplylqg vith the
prOViS4iOJlS Of this 8er;fiGII 8h8ll flF8t S&tSfy w
self that the 'J;iad r-tired of Bacond Party under
the ~rOV181OM Of Section X Of this ~OOtltrOOt MS
been approved and plaoed on reaord In the offloe of
the county c3erk; an8 it is here further provided,
that ShOti& my qUeStiOn ariSe @e@rding ~onrmi88iOn
claimed the tax collector rhall vlthhold the pay-
mmt of SUoh comml88lon or en amount equal thereto,
placing the s8me in esorov, and apply to the Btate
and county, aocordinglyaa they may be effeuted, for
lnfomatlon and direotlon as to the proper amount
of commlsaiondue to be allowed under the terms of
tM8 contreat.
'Clause XSII. In order that the tax oolleot-
or may be able to verify and attest the oorreotnesr
of ao~n~isslonsclaimed by Seaond P&rty, as evldenas
of rervloe und to entitle hlrmto the oa~Meloa8
provided for in th18 aontraat, Seuond Party 8hall
Sile with the tex collector prior to tkme of pay-
ment, oopies 0s auuh cceumunfwtion8,tu nOtiOe8 or
abstracts vhich -11 be premrved by the Eu ool-
lector in 8OIPbsy8tematlcal0rQr as vlll m&e them
easily OoOe881blefor the purpose of v0arimi08i or
fW SolBeOthM V8b O l8 the SsrpSMyhrVO illOa80
it beocws neoereary r0r the aounty end State to
buy in 8WJh propertieset tax 8ales1 ti8l.d oopy or
aoples eh811 el80 oontaia such i&.wmatlon or refer-
ence as vi11 enable the tax oolleotor to readily
locete the tax es it appears on his delinquent r0nlu
u&l/or delinquentreoOrd8.m
Under the term of the mntrwt the ill&q of sooth-
4 reports by the tu attorney 18 l xprese4 me&e 8 Oo3uUttenpPe-
Oedent to h&S receiving ampeJ&eation,for the tu @OlleOtor 18
‘author18e6, ordered aad dilated” to dedwt the attoIwx’8 mm-
mi88im. rr0fi3th0 tu r000ipt8 q %ft0p hov maefved
oopler 0s the camtreotor*e report. Noreover ““f C euse ,XIXI
lrbOd.ie@Still MOthOr SWh OOpditiOO by St&n& thet "to em-
title hiiEt0 the O~SSioIU p~?OVldndfOP in this 01~3tr~%t,
seoond Perty 8hall file vith the tat oolleotorprior to tl&s
or payment, p&es of rueh oo8muuloetlone,tBx notlaee or ab-
stract*. . . Also, a0 4 preatloal matter, it l.8only after the
tax ettorney has filed the required lnformatlonthat the tax ool-
leutor aud the Comptrollerore able to aroortairrthe proportion
of the total tax oolleotlonrvhloh the attorney~hor, been S.nstru-
mautal in obCeWng, aridthe nature sad amount thereof. =-11Y,
uutil this Infornatlon18 rweived, the tax oollsotor has no
basic for ascertainingvhat mount, If any, should be p&wed
In OSoPOV pend.i~ the SOkltiOl3 0s any diSpUt0 VhiaIl might uise
in oonnectionvlth the aom&sslonr.
SInoe the tax attorney Salle& to rariii these oan-
cUtIon for the laat row months of the oontreot,vs ore of the
opinion that your tax oollectorYes fioPreotln falliag to pay
00wif88iO~ iOr this P?Wiod. We are further of the opInIon that
Vtth respoot to the perrorumnw or these oondltlim8time is 0s
the easeme, and that such oondItlon8amnOt POV be 84tiSfied.
We quote from 3 Yllliston on Contreot8, ) 846:
?&en it le 8eId that timr,18 of the esoonce,
the proper llreanlng
of the phre8e Isthtthe per-
formanos by one paPty at the time 8pOOLflOd in the
I
F
c
oontraot or uithia theperiodapaoifud in the oon-
tract i8 886ential lp order to en&lo him to re-
-quire performanoefrom the other party.'
In 10 Tax. Jur., 4 239, p. 417, the 8uthor 8tate8t
'Whether or not time 18 of the e8aenue of a
contract dependa upon the lntantlon of the partfu.
%'heqtW8tiOtti8 POlOlV& UpOn OOM~del’RtiOA Of t&8
langulge u8ed and the attendant oirounutmoes. Or-
dtMFil$' time 18 flOt Of the B888DO8 Uld aI3 intMi-
tion to make it 80 nu8t be cle4rlg mM1fe*te&"
We f&l that ruoh P nurife8tatiOni8 p?e8eRt ia the
astiant contract. In both Cleuee VIII and Clause XIII ue find
the reqtalremantthat oopier Of 00PIPUUiO~tlOlX8, tax notwe or
abstraot8 be filed "prior to th8 PrySent of 8Wh tax," Vhlle
In Clause Xl we fintl the furtheter
rewirement that Um tu kt-
torimy' monthly report be aomplled and beliverod "8t the end
of eaoh month, or a8 8oon thereafterau th8 tar ooneata ehan
have wide up hi8 report rhoviag oolleotionrmade for rush month."
Uplicit in the8e requirements6nd expliolt in the languqe em-
ployed 18 tha fact that tardy oonformtmoetherewPit& motid dir-
rupt aridto a large extent thwart the mtirt, mhems establl8hed
by the oontraot for the aocortlinlng and dedwtlng of the at-
tOlWy'8 Coloi88im8.
Iknwover, under thl8 contraot the nttoFnay*8 O-8-
sioru uere 'i'& per cent *of tha amount colleoted of al2 &e&a-
quent taxer, psnelty and lntera8t of the year8 oovtiredhereby,
aotunlly oolleoted and paid to the oolleotor of t-8 &mm
the tsm of this oontraot." Clearly under thi8 p~ovlalon and
under the remainder of the aontraot it W*8 oontwlp~ted that
8UCh oorrmiraton8 be paid and deduatad from the tax monegrractual-
ly reoslved Q8 a HJ8tit Of the attOrIWy8 OffOrtbr title16 7335,
V. A. C. S., Morrison v. Lane, 157 9. X. (2d) 466 (Clv. App.
The ttsCsrt8inin& Of such lnOnSy8 the a<hOrity fO2’ the
%&ioz`` therefrom,and the obtalnlng'ofcredit for the de-
duction fltromthe State’8 share of such funda all %re sxprerrly
predicated upon the tax attorney'sparforlsaaoein a timely
t88hlon of tho8e condition8VhMh the contract made 8 pre-
rOqti8ib to hi8 reoelviag comperucltion.His failure to gmr-
fOlW such GOUditlOnsmake8 it lllIVO88iblo no%?t0 adh&'e to the
term8 of the contraot by oompeluatinghim from the tax receipt8
for Whose collectionhe might have been r%8pOIWlble,since
such reoslptr have long rri&m been repprted by the tax oollect-
or and trWttsd to the appropriate tat+ and oounty fwwis.
B
710
Honorable &IQ & IhVid80~1, pa&$@! 6
noreover, even if thi8 had not o0otarred, it would now be
possible to a8certaln the taxes collected by the attorney
since no Copies of notice8, eto., have been filed to make
polrsible such aacertalnment, While t0 allOU 8UCh AOtlC88 t.0
be filed at the prerent t&me would be to open the door to
which the contract sought to prevent -- the filing of purpo
ed n&Ices and oomxunicatloa8to thore person8 who had atie&
paAd their tiUe8. Finally, the oontraot it8ol.f contained an
orpro tertinatlon date, Eeuamber 31, 19421 the pre8enae of
8uah a date evldenoerr the intention Of the paPtie and prorid-
led ample notice to ti attorney that all act8 required to be
done thereunder should be coinplated at that time. Consequent-
ly, we feel that the intention of the partie and the alxcum-
8tume8 attendant to the formation and operation 0f the oop-
tract oompel the o~aolu8ion t-t tm wa8 of the e8euaoe with
re8puat to the parfmmanoe of the 00nditlon8 relating to the
mmp6n8ation of the tax attommy.
Since the tu attorney har never. 86timfied ruab aan-
dltion8 and is now preoluded from rati8fyu them, it follmi8
that ha has not and aennot obtain a legally enfoFcrable olaim
h~:8Hockl%; W&y8~lth rIBspOt to the aaPrrl88loru vhiah
the oourttyauditor aazmot approve
8UQh &.tU (&tiCle8 166i Md 1661, g. c. 8.) end th0 0-W
SiCUWX’8’ OOWt 1s WithOUt t0 OX'&* it8 PpjWOVti.
Cameron county v. Fox, 2 S. W. p.): Howard v.
ii8Ild8I’8OXl
County, 116 S. W. . Thi8 OOD-
tth8ilXl arake Wltl8Oe88Uy M &X8WOF t0 YOUr 8OOORd qW8tiOIk.
Trusting that the foregoing fully an8wer8 your in-
gulry, we are