Untitled Texas Attorney General Opinion

Hon. Ken Jennings Opinion No. S-76
County Attorney
Mitchell County Re: Authority of the county tax
Colorado City, Texas assessor-collector to charge
and retain a fee for the pre-
paration of certificates respect-
ing the status of real property
Dear Mr. Jennings: taxes.
You state that the Tax Assessor-Collector of Mitchell
County is compensbted upon a salary basis and you request the opinion
of this office upon the following question:
“Where the Tax Assessor and Collector of
a county ,charges a fee for preparing certificates
to be used in abstracts of land titles, said certifi-
cates stating whether or not there are any State
and County taxes due on said property, is this fee
to be retained by the Tax Assessor and Collector
or turned over to the Officers’ Salary Fund? n
We think this question has been answered by the Supreme
Court of this State in the case of Nueces County v. Currington. 139 Tex.
297, 162 S.W.2d 687 (1942). In t&s case the Court said:
“The amounts of the fees coll.ected and retained
by defendant and not paid into the county fund in accord-
ance with the requirements applicable during the time
covered e . fi aggregate the sum of $4,662, the amount
sued for by the county.
“The entire amount thus retained by defendant was
admittedly received by her as compensation for the issu-
ance of tax certificates. Defendant’s position’(and she is
sustained in it by the Court of Civil Appeals) is that the
charges collected therefor were not received by her in
her offi,cial capacity. She concedes she was not entitled
to charge for the tax statements issued by her certifying
that taxes were delinquent, or past due and unpaid on the
lands or lots described therein, since she was required
by the provisions of article 7324, R.C.S. 1925, Vernon’s
Ann. Civ. St. Art. 7324 to issue and furnish to those desig-
nated therein tax statements so certifying. She contends,
Hon. Ken Jennings, page 2 (S-76)
however, that nei.ther artic:le 7324 nor any other
article ol the statute required her to furnish to any
one tax st:atemenis certifying.that all taxes had
been paid, on a particular lot or tract of land. She
contends;brieily, that inasmuch as there Wb.8 no
statutory duty on her part to issue to applicants a
tax certificate showing a tax status other than that
of delinquen&$ the service rendered by her in fpr-
nishing certificates showing a different tax StbhXS
Was a personal service; and that being b personal
service, she was at liberty to make b personal
charge therefor and thus supplement her official
compensation to the extent of the amount so chbrged.
Her contention was sustained by the courts below.
For reasons presently to be stated’ the holdings up-
on which the contention was sustained are erroneous.
“It is our conclusion that the fcer collected,
whether rightfully or wrongfully, were for services
rendered by defendant officially. It is bpparent on
the face of t& certificates themselves that they’were
issued offici&Ily. Each certificate carried the dasig-
nation, ‘Tax Certificate, State of Texas, county of
Nueces,’ over defendant’s name signed thereto, bS
‘Tax Collector, Nueces County, Corpus Christi,
Texas’; and upon each was impressed her seal of
office as the collector of taxes of that county.”
This case fustier bold,s th,at it is the duty of the tax
assessor-collector to issue a statement or certificate showing the
status of the taxes due upon any tra.ct of land or the absence of de-
lmquent taxies upon said land, regardless of the purpose for which
the certificate may be requ,ested, In brief, fees’coll,ected by the tax
assessor-collector f~or issuing statements in compliance with Article
7324, V.C,S., (ox under Articles 3939 and 72S8a, V.C.S.) are fees of
offi,ce and must be ar c:ounted for by the tax assessor-collector as
suc,h; and if the assessor-c,ollector, is rompenshted on a salary basis
the fees must be turned in to the Ofj,i.c:ers’ Salary Fund,
SUMh&IRY
---_-
Fees collected by the t~ax assessor-collector
for the issuance of: tax certificates showing the status
Hon. Ken Jennings, page 3 (S-,76)
of delinquent taxes upon any particular tract of land
should be turned in to the Of~ficers’ Salary Fund of
the county where the tax assessor-collector is com-
pensated upon a sa.lary bask.
Yours very truly,
JOHN BEN SHEPPERD
Attorney General
BY
Lq~l$&-J
e e
Assistant
APPROVED:
W. V. Geppert
Taxation Division
Willis E. Gresham
Reviewer
Robert S. Trotti
First Assistant
John Ben Shepperd
Attorney General