OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL OF TEXAS AUSTIN Q- c. MANN -a- Bonorrblo Z, f. Cumin&m Countq Audi tar wavmro County Corrleanr, Toxar Dear Slrr rftrr obll- oteh/ a bond imur in nd all boadr lm mu olleotlon Oz delln- being oolleoted taxer II6fundb o ndlooount or a eb o o drlra fully re- laoto on them delin- dlted to the lnterert nd bood aooount, or ny lt ba e aohools looal ulntenanoo tuad n a sahool dlstriet has ntlrrd all s and there lr a balanoo l&t in the b a rl%nuit, d mar it bo tnnsierred to tha loo&l malntenanoe aoeount, and if so, by what prooed- urelw Ecoorablr t. T. Cunnlngbm, page 58 “At the time 0r tha laauanoa 0r aala bond8 and eaoh yaar tharuiter, so long as any o? aald bon48 are outstanding tha said oourt shall 1s`` a bond tax rlthjn tha limits hare- in rpeolfied, to pay tha Interaat on said bonds and r*deam earn at amaturity. The rate of mob tax ahall be determIned by the tmataea of the alatrlot and oountr superintendent and oertlrled by the oounty superintendant to the oommlsalon- era’ oourt and said oourt shall lerr the tax at said rate until l ohange la raoonrmendad by bald aohool or? loera.* Be also oall to your attention Artlole 87S4, Seotlon 1, wherein lt la provided that oammon aohool dlatrlots are a uth o r ized an a d valortea tax to 1 e.v one do lla r no t to lx o *ed on the one hundred dollars’ valuation o? taxabla property a? the dlatrlot ?or the rurther malntenanaa O? pub110 ?rea :;t$t: and the ereOtiOn and equipment o? aohool buIldIn6s Ssotlon 2, In aubatanoe, provides that oomon school katriota may levy a tax not to lxoead ?I?ty cents on the OM hundrrd dollars' valuation for the purohaaa, oon- struotlon, repsIr or rqulpment or pub110 irae aohool build- ings wIthIn the 1Imlta o? suah dlatrlot, and the purchase o? the neoeaaary altar thareror, auah tax to be ?or thhdparr;t or the ourrent lntereat on and prorlda a sinki olant to pay the prinoipal o? bold8 whlah said “8 Iatrlota are- authorized to laaue ror suah purpoaes~ Seotlon 3, states - “The amount o? amlntename tar, together with tha amunt or bond tax o? any dIetriot, ahall never exceed one dollar on the ona hundrad dol- lars’ taluatlon o? taxable propartf; and I? tha rate or bond tax, toogether with the late o? maln- tenanoe tax voted in the distriot shall at anr time eroeed one dollar on the on8 hundred dol- lars@ valuation, suoh bond tax ahall operate to reduao tha palntermnoe tax to the diiiennob betwaen the rate or the bond tax and one dollar.” It will be noted that Artiole S7S7 require8 tht a mf?io:ent tax shall be lotied to pa7 the lnter8at and to araate a sink& ?uad so long aa any o? the bonds are out- standing and unpaid. ~ogioallr it rollowa that I? the bon48 Ronorable E. 1. Cunningham, pa&e ,fS here been ?ully paid, and no further obll~atlon is due th e r eo that n, lu??lolont taxes hare been levied over a prlcd c? years to par auoh bonds and that l? there are outstanding delinquent taxes previously levied ror the payment of said bouls, aotualll, more tax was levied dur- ing those years than was neoesaary to provide for their redemption. This being true, we think that the conoluslon would be sound to state that the delinquent taxes, ii and when oolleoted, oould legally be credited to the looal malnta- nanoe Lund. As pointed cmt above, Artlole 2784, Seotlon S, provides that should the rate of bond tax, together with the rate of malntenanoe tax, at any time lxoeed one dollar on the one hundred dollara~ valuation, auoh bond tax shall operate to reduoe the smlntenenoe tax to the dl??erenoe be- tween the rate o? the band tax and the sum o? one dollar, Conversely, ii there 18 an authorized one dollar levy ror maintenanoc purposes, we think that the dlfrerenoe between the rate or bond tax neoeeeary and the one dollar would operate to Inoreaee the nalntananoe tax available ror the opra tlon or the sohool. In other words, auoh an amount as 1s not reoessarp to pay the ourrbnt interest on aAd provide l l lnklne, rUAd aurricient to pay the prlnolpal 0r bonds out- standlng would be available r0r malntenanoe purposes and oould thererore be properly credited to the looal nalnte- AnnoB fund. Cbvloualy, llnoe there are no bonds outstanding, there la no need ror aA Interest and sinking ?und and It wmia be- oome a useless and impraotioal operation to pursue the oolleo- tlon o? delinquent taxes with the objeot of orediting such as ware oolleoted to an Intereat and rlnklng rund ror aloh there 11s no longer ang purpose. We hare heretofore held it to be the duty of the dletrlot to l??eOt the OOlleOtlOA o? delin- quant taxer, whether cr not there am bonds outstanding, ?or the reason tlmt to fall to oolleot auob taxes an inequitable schedule or taxation would result; thereiore, in hanuo~y rith that oonoluslon we are or the ,opInIon that taxes hentorore levied should be oolleoted, aAd that when oolleoted EUJ~legal- 17 be credited to the local nmlntenanoe fund. Honorable t. t. CUAAIW$UU&&a&a fi The statutes authorize the levy of one dollu on the one hundrrd dollua~ valuation of property within the dlatrlot ?or malntenanaa of SohoolS bnd aut~rlze the uao or eo muoh or this lerr es lar be neoeaaary, not axcewlln& fifty oenta on the ona hundred dollars* valuation, to au- vloe bonded debt, Henoe, if a balanoa n0alna in the alnk- 14 rund arter all bOAdS hale born retired m think auoh rude oan properly be tranaierrod to the local am11ntenamo fUAd. Manifestly, suoh Sumlo as wore bllooated to the link- lpg fund prior to the full payment of the bonds whioh ex- ceeded the sum neoeeeary to pay the debt, properly should Mre been retained for local malnten&nce purposes. There, rore, id answer to your SeCOAd quertlon, we e&vise that after all bonds hare been retired we think the balanoe re- mSIS.lng In a Sinking fUnd created for the redmmptlon of bonds issued by a aohool dlatrlot pursuant to Artiales 8784 and 2787 or Varnon~a Amctated Clvll Statutes, may le@ly be transferred to tk:e looal malntcrmnoe ruti upon proper order exeouted by officera charged wlth reoelvlng SAd dlaburalng runca r0r t&r di3trlot. Tmstlng that we have fully anawered your inquiry, we are Vu7 truly yours a,-JM+--Q- Clerenoe f. Crone haalstant CEC-a ;.EF?ICVE: OCT 1C, 1940 ATTORNEX GEliERALC;FTEXAS