Case Information
*1 OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL OF TEXAS AUSTIN
Sonorabla Glenn Ca;ps
County Attorncly, I(eson Couatp
mason, Texas
S3ar sir: Gpinion No. o-6585
he: Legality of md th8 to be followed in a ‘60 h,#s your l&t
request an oplalon on the toll
n wsbool district 10s within ftr has been oondrtcted In a parlod of tire yeam, r rote of the reeident over the protect of the aoutlguou8 ooniwm so-1 axu- he event of the. attaohlng of the tsrri- iguous oomnou school district to said ependerrt aohool diatriot by said oounty board would the territory and property wlthia aald uom- &on school district attaohed in proportion to its aseeesed value for tha outstanding ‘bonded indebted- nese of the independent school district to which it is attached without a majority vote cltizen- the reaidsnt ship maid attoclad cmxmn school d&strict end/or the lndepeadent district ae a whole?
Honorable Glenn Cagps, pa&e 2
*lb. would the tax rate ror sohool purpose8 the independent sahool diatriot apply to the territory of the attached ocmson 8ohool diatrlct wcit.kmut a major- ity vote of the qualified reeldent oitieenship of the attached territory (preeent tax rate of 1ndepenUnt dls- trict being tl.00 on om hundred dollar amessed mlua- tion ror 8ohool purpotia8 and in oomuw eohool di8trlot attached $.lO (lO#) on the one hundred dollar raluution)?
"lo. tiould the valuation of territory and property within attached ooaam sOhoo1 district be fixed and a8- aermed for rohool purpose8 at value Ilxed as8888ed for oounty and etate taxe8, or at valuation au fixed and a8- aessed by independent school Uistrirrt for sobDo tax pur- pose87
"ld. Would County Board of 3ohool TrusSeer or Tru8- tee8 of Independent Gohool District hare authority to ap- ply valuation8 and tax zmte OS independent eehool dlatriot to territory of attaohed oommon eohool dlstriot?
"E. m'ould the County Board of ;ichool Trustees of teacon Countr, finding it neoe88ary ror the intereet of thm a~ohool ohildron, have authority under the provirion8 ot Art. Z9Ua or Art. 89U. to detaoh from a eontigu- ou8 eonumn rohool dimtriot add add the territory 80 detaohed to oontiguou8 independent scflool district, eald ooamn (iebool containing 1M rquare miles or more and heti~ no distrlot bonded indebtednelu'i
*eS. Would the oonsezt or approval of the mejorlty of the resident cltlzenrhlp or tlm trusteae said ooxtnon eohool dietriot, br petition, vote otherwi8e, be neac8- sary before the County Board of aohool Truetre8 ocluld legally detaoh territory from the o,mnon aohool dietriot and attaoh sake to independent sohool diezrict?
"eb. Gould territory eo detaohed from eomuin aohool independent aohool distriot bo dietriot aud attaohed for pro-existing bonded indebtedness of independent school distriot without majority vote of citlwn8hlp ot tarriiory detaohed or district as whole a8 enlarged?
“80. lould tax rate and ralui~tioas for tax pur- sob001 dlstriot bo legally applicable goeer, of iodqmndent to dataohed territory ooamoIL school dletrict without consent of majority of oitlzenehip of detached territory by vote, petition or othmwite?
-26. bould mticle 2741 or Article 2742a be ep- L plicable, or would or nhould the procedure as set iorth in ;,rtlCle 2941 or 27480 be rollouedV m3.%ou14 the county hoerd tehool Trust&err under the provlolons OS irtlole 2741 and 274tf, have authority, when duly petitioned, by e majority of the reeident oiti- zurshlp end the majority of the trusbeee of 8 ooatlguous oomm~n aohool district to annex the territow of @id oom- a08 school distriot to a aoatiguoua indegmadent eollool diatricb? “5a. When annexed, the of meid OOP- rorlld
anon aohool dietrict be for pre-exlatiog in- bowled debtedness OS iadependent eohool 4latrlot to whioh at- taohod without a vote of majority of unnoxed dietriot OT distriot voting aa a wholo?
“3b. H’ould tax rat6 0Ad ValuatiOar ot t;ixable property ror eohool pupoee 0r lndepenaent sohool dir- to l tmmxed oomn sohool diatrlot triot be applioeble without maJoritI vote of oitiaensh~lp ot aoaexed district or dlstrlat aa a whole?
“4. #here reoords of the rsotrrded field note8 cod deocription of Independent and Co.mon Sohool Gietrlote County have been lent or destroyed County Judge and/or the County Board of ~ohool Trustees bate been petf- timed of desire to order an election to oonmolldete or otmtiguoua uomnon school dlstrlota to e oentral amex (six) independent eolwol dietriot In county, and de- oontl&guous s%re to set forth rlelu notes and deacriptlon or OOWIKB~ eohool distriot an4 Independent sohool dlstrlot in eleo- tion order and natiaer, would the Comiiseionera’ Court under term of Artlele 2942 legally authorlxed oauee to be cede new mete6 and bound8 of said sobool diatrlote, hollowing original boundnrioe in 80 far %A# pmatiaable and can be ransonably aooerthined of oomwm arohool dle- tricte and independent sohool dfstri& of the County and approve saul~ &e true bmnndoriea of eatd school districta *4 IA s&id oounty and b%ve seid field notee and descrip- tions filed and reaorded in proper reoorde of the county.
“4a. Kould said field notes 80 made be valid
field notes of the ,netes and bound% of the school dis- tricts within oounty an4 oould same be legzlly used wnen inade In election order and election notices in eleotion for consolidation or annexation of oontiguous eahool distriate under the provieions of .-rtiole 2806 end hrtfcle 2922a7"
‘ne ahall answer your queetione in their numerical order, using the %%me deeignation a8 that oontained In your letter.
artiole 2742m, 1925 Revise4 Civil Statute% was passed in’& and has been supereeded by nrtiole 2742ez1, passed in 1939. Thle latter the s%me oubject aot ombreoe8 matter oontained in Mtiole 2942m and being the latest expree- sion OS the Leglelature, 1s oontrolllng. *e advioe you to follow the prgvIsIona ot Article 2942e-1.
la. The added territory of said contiguous oommon sohool distrlot would not be liable In proportion to l@ aseeaee4 values for the out%tanding bonded indebtedneae of the independent echo01 4istriot until aster an eleotion wae held in the district as a whole aseumIng e,uoh indebtedneu. See Crebb v. Celeete Independent Sohool District, 140 9. W. page 528, et cetera.
lb. The tax rate for school purposes of the lndepen- dent eohool district wouid not apply to the territory of the at- tached oommon school dietrict without e majority vote of the quali- fied resident after taxpayer% of the district a% a whole. In other words,
thie 00?8[11on school district has been attached to the Independent school district, it would be neoessary to have an election throughout the dietrict ae extended, on the queetion of voting a uniform tax over the entire dlstriot.
lo. If the Independent dletrict has Its own t%l ae- sessor or its own tax aseessor and collector, the valuatioti property for school purposee could be assessed at a different valuation from that assessed for state an4 oountg taxes, but If the taxes :,re assessed and colleated by the County &mes8or’- valuations must be the sad* 8s those for 3tat.e Colleotor, an4 oounty purgouee. Of course, after the Independent district is enlarged by attachIn@, the added territory, an election .mst held In the dlstriot ae enlarged before any tar may be ool- lected on %Ay of the property in the district.
ld. In view ot answers to your questions la and lb, we answer this question lh the negative. However, if after the of the oomon school district Is attached to the indepen- dent sahool district, trustaes of the independent school district would fix the tax rate within the rate authorized by the quallrled tax paying voters of the enlarged district at an election held for that purpose, unless the rate voted is a speoiric rate.
The valuationa will be determined 5.n aaoordanoe with our answer to lo,, subject to equalication by either the Board of Equalization of the district or the county according to the method aeaaeslng the taxes adopted by the truataee of the independent school district.
2. The County Board of School Trustees would have authority under Article 2742a to detach terrftory from a contiguous oommon school district oontaining 126 equare miles or more which has ho bond.ed indebtedness, ii necessary for the interest of the eohool ohildren, and attach saxe to a eontlguous independent school district, provided that no common sohool dlstriat, when so reduaed, shall contain less than nine quare miles; provided reasonable notice is giveu to the public and to the trusteer of the dletriote atfeoted and sufficient opportunity ia given for all interested persons to be heard.
ea. The eonsent or approval oi the majority of the resident oitixenehip er the trustees of said eonmon eohoel district is not required, but mtiole 2748a does require that the truateea of the common school distriot and the independent school district, and the public be given notice of the hearing before the oounty board, after which hearing, the county may proceed to enter Its order.
2b. The territory so detaohed from the oomnon sohool district and attached to independent school dlstriot would not be for pre-existing bonded indebtedness oi the independent sohool district without majority vote of property taxpayers at an eleotion held to determine whether the enlarged district should assume the outstanding bonds of the Independent school district.
20. This question ie answered by our anewer to question ld.
26. The procedure set out in 2742a should be folloWed. *6 3. HO. Article 2742f does not authorlee the county board or school trustees to annex g of a oommon sohool dfstriot to another district. The proper procedure in such oasea would be have an eleotion in each district to authorize the consolidation of the district, pursuant to the govisions 0r Article 2806, a later statute than article 2741.
3-a, 3b. In view 0r our answer to your queatfon 6, It lm not neoeasary to antawer theae questions.
4. Where the records or the recorded field notes of a oommon or independent school district has been lost or dertroyed, we think the County Board of i;ohool Trustees should paae an order re-derining and re-eotabllshlng the diatrlot dlrtrlots, rollow- lng the original boundaries Insofar es praotIoable, and when this order has been paseed, it should be raoorded, together with the rield notes, in the proper records ot the oounty~.
4a. The answer to this q!~&%sU on 18 yea.
Trusting this satis~aotorlly enawera your questlone, we are
Your8 very truly A'lTOP3IZY GENE&&L OF TFXAS C. P. Glbron Assistant