f E L%.TTO N&+ GENE OF TEXAS Honorable William J. Burke 'Opinion No. C-131 Executive Director State Board of Control Re: Construction of H.B. Austin, Texas 86, the Appropriation Bill, regarding "other operating expenses." Dear Mr. Burke: You have requested our opinion on the construction of H.B. 86, the A proprlation Bill for the fiscal years ending August 31, 196fi-65 respectively, as regards certain items of expenditure commonly identified as "other operating expenses." You state,that prior to this~request aertain expenses authorized as "current and recurring operating expense" by the current Appropriation Blll,and necessary to the operation ,,,of the Board ~of Control have been charged to 'other operating expense," Account #28 of the Comptroller of Public Aacounts' Expenditure Classification. However, you ask If such expen- ditures may properly continue and, ~if so, how they should be accounted for in view of the following language in Section 9, page III-89 of H.B.,86: "The term 'current and recurrlng~operat- ing expense' as used in this Article shall mean and include only Items set out in the Comptroller of Public Accounts' Expenditure Classlflcatlon,~effective Septem!er 1, 1959, and numbered from - 26 20 through -* (Emphasis ours ). Your request:reveals that the expenses heretofore charged to "other operating expense" Include the following: Advertising expenses (sales of SUPplUS property, etc.); Purchase of blueprints, reference books, and subscriptions to trade publications; Pest control; Testing and re- charging of fire extinguishers; Laundry and towel service; etc. An examination of the Comptroller of Public Accounts' Expenditure Classification reveals that expenses of a charac- ter enumerated above should properly be placed in Account#28, Hon. William J. Burke, page 2 (C-131) "other operating expense," if they are allowable expendl- tures. The paramount question, therefore, arises: Did the Legislature intend to eliminate all expenses not proper- ly Includable within the Accounts #20-26? While the nature of these expenditures is one of a miscellaneous character within the scheme of the classifl- cationsof expenditures, nonetheless we agree that they are expenses of a type necessary to the~operatlon of your of- fice. Although in some~instances, such as laundry and towel service, they are minor, In others, such as the advertising expenses of sales of surplus property, these expenditures are essential in order to carry out required functions. In view of the obviously necessary nature of such Items In order to properly carry out the duties and obllgatlons imposed on the Board of Control/we are unable to conclude that the Legis- lature intended to'exclude expenses of this nature and hold that the reference to Accounts &o-26 is erroneous. In reaching this result, we observe that a similar pro- vision of the previous Appropriation Bill, 57th Legislature, First Called Session, Section 11, page 163, S.B. 1, contains the identical language of the section in question except that it states "and numbered from 20-29." Also, we note in H.B. No. 86 a complete lack of any further language repudiating the use of the Comptrollers' Expenditure,Classification which has been effective since September 1, 1959. In fact, the several references to such~classlficatlon within H.B. 86 other- wise indicates an intent to incorporate such established clas- sification Into the Appropriation Bill for the years ending August 31, 1964-65. We also call four attention to the rule of statutory construction set forth In 39 Tex.Jur. 186, Statutes, Section 98, which states: ,I. . . obvioua errors or mistakes of a clerical, grammatical or typographical nature may be disregarded." . . . See also the cases there cited. While we do not express any opinion as to the proprie- ty of any particular item listed previously, we do conclude that the Legislature did not intend to exclude expenses of a nature enumerated above, and that they are properly "CUP- rent and recurring operating expenses" which should be charg- ed to Account #28 as defined in the Comptrollers' Expenditure Olas,sifibatibn;. -653- Hon. William J. Burke, Page 3 (C-131)~ SUMMARY "Other operating expense" items previ- ously charged to Account #28 of the Comp- troller's Expenditure Classification are not excluded from H.B. 86, and you should continue to charge expenses of this nature to such Account. Yours very truly, WAGGONER CARR Attorney General By' a$ Paul Phy Assistant PP:mkh:ms APPROVED: OPINION COMMITTEE W, V.'Geppert, Chairman John Reeves Howard Maya Llnward Shivers Norman Suapez APPROVED FOR THE ATTORNEY GENERAL By: Stanton Stone -654-