Case Information
*1 OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL OF TEXAS
AUgllN
Honorable C. Lyne Miller
county Attorney
Bee county Beevills,
Texar
In your letter of , $0~ requested our opinion on the f
home to the
arolman January rs anseared aald ian Churoh of Beeville yew 1942 or alp ror betveen Jenuaq 1 and April 30 of each rear,
vhen required by the amee~or, vlth reference
to the quantity held or ovned on the first day
of’ January in the year for vhioh the property
is required to be lluted or rendered. Any property purchased or acquired on the first d&y
. ‘Cf.’ Eonorablo C. LJns Wller, ?am 2
of 3.srwcry shall ba lietod by or for the par- eon puwhaelng or coqulrln8 it. If any pw9erty has by muon of any epooial lrv, ooatrrot or or ha8 been olalmd isa 1, been usapt to be ex- emptod fro0 taxation for 8~ period or l-it OS tl.me, and l uoh period of exemption shall l xplro botvaen January 1, and Deoember Jl of my Jear, ecid property shall be reeeeeed end listed Sor taxes as other pwpertyf but the taxer assessed agakrat sold property shall be for only the pro .
rata of taxes for the portion of euoh year re- Slalning. Aote 1909, p* 373.* By Artiole 7152, Y.A.C.S., the ovner of real ee- to list or render it for taxation.
tate 1s required Should he fall to do SO, Artiole 7205, V.A.C.S., makee it the duty of the Aaeeaeor to llrt and assess the same in “The nBae of the ovner” If euoh nBp(t be knovn.
With respect to the enforaemont of the llabillty of the taxpayer, Artiole 7272, V.A.C.8.. states as follovsr
“All real and perron pwperty held or ounad by any peruon in t&la State shall be llablo for all County Tuee dua by State the ovner thereof, lnoluding tax on nfi ee- tate, psreonal property end poll tax; and the Tex Colleotor l hall levy on any punanal 0~ real property to be r0Upd in his oouuty to eal+fy all delinquent taxw, say lav to the - oontrary notvithet8ndiag~ . . . .’
By virtue of the ~wrieione of those statutes, the o~tnenhip of~property on the firet day of J6mmry areatee a 9ereanal liability on part o? the ovnar for tuee for that year, and the sale thereof shortly rrtervardr does not affeo t this llabtlity . Itumble Oil and Beilnlng Company 7.
State (Clo. App.) 3 S.Y. (sd 5591 Caevell & Co. v. Habber- (Clv. App.j, 87 S.Y. 1 csttle 9 11 Wintare 0. Independent Sohool Dlatrlot Clr. App.) 208 8.X. 574; Chlldreee County f. dtate 26) 1011; Cranfi1.l Broe. Oil Co. v. f Cerlsoh k% f%v: zEp:jy*5 I S.W. (26) 81 (error reiaeedl; Jteroantlle Co. v. State (Civ. App. , 10 S.Y. (26) 3 035 (error refieed) .
Jkmorable C. Lyne Niller, page 3
As to the dormer owner18 liability for tmoe, 40 Tez&r Jurlaprudenoe 1 70, page 104, states the follovingr li the ovner should sell the pro-
“Thus perty b&ore the date on vhlch the tex becomoe due he is liable therefor and to any penalties or interest that have aoorued, although aa be- tvesn euoh ovner and the purchaser, he may be entltlse under the oontract of sale to recover over from the purohaeer.”
In the light of the above authorities ve think your loaal tax aeaeeaore oorrectly aeseeaed taxes on-the property in question against ovnsr aa of January 1, 1942, regardless of the faot that the property subso- V8s quently acquired by the Presbyterian Church and is POW be- $.ng used In suah a vay that It is exempt from taxation under the provisions of Artlole 715Cb, V.A.C.S., and ve feel that personal liability for the 1942 taxes on thle property rests solely on euoh owner.
Notice, hoverer, that uncl6r the provisions of Section 15 of Artiale VIII 0: our Conatltutiox~t
“The annual aeaesnment made upon lpaded sro- perty shall be a special lien thereof; and a,11 property, both real and personal, belon&.ng to any delinquent taxpayer shall bo liable to eel- zure and sale Sor the payment of all the taxes %nS-penalties due by such delinquent; and such property may be sold for tha payment of the taxes and penalties due by such delinquent under . . . .-L...-euoh regulations as the legislature soy provide.’
Llkevlre, Artlole 7172, V.A.C.S., provides: ---~ __ “All tcxse qon real property shall be a
llen’upon eooh property until the same ehall have been paid, And should the aeeeeeor fall to aaeeea any real estate for any one or more years, the lien shall be good for every year that he should tall to as8eee ior3 he may, Ixr-Umtlng property for texes any year there- after; aaeeee all the back taxes due thereon, aooording to the provielone of this title.”
Honotiable 0. Lyne Killer, Page 4
As vae said by the Court In Caewell v. Rabber- zettle, auprc, bt 912:
“This lien attaohee and the taxoa beoome an lnoumbrsnoe on the land from the date lla-
blllty Is fixed on the ovner, vhlch Is the let day of January of the year, although the amount of arid tuee is not fixed and determined until some time subsequent thereto.”
Consequently, although the Presbyterian Church is uader no personal llablllty for the payment of 1942 taxes upon this property, it did aoqulru the property at a time.
vhen it vae burdened vlth a speoial lien to l eoure the pay- ment of euoh tues.
Dasplte the faot that Artlole 7150b, V.A.C.S., provides the follovlng exemption for churoh property used az “There is hereby exempted from taxation any a parsonagei property ovned exolualvely and ln fee by a ohuroh for the exoluslve use as a dvelllng place for the BidStry of euah ohuroh and vhloh property ylelde no revenue whatever to euoh ohurohl provided that such exemption shall not extend to more property than is reasonably necessary for a dwell- ing place and In no event to more than one acw oi’ land.
Aots 1931, 42nd Leg., p. 67, ch. 44. [ l”, it is OUT opinion that this Article in no vay affeots the existence or valid- ity of any tax llsne attached to the property prior to its aaquleitlon by the churoh. Such llena continue and may be enforoed In the ueual manner despite the prorpectlve tax exemption of the property.
Although the authorities the dleouesloa above have been addressed speolfloally to the question OS State and oounty taxez, you vi11 notice that, by the operative effect8 of Articles 10608 and 1043, V.A.C.S., liens and llabilltler Independent school dletrlots for taxes levied by oosmoa school dletrlcte,
aad incorporated olties and the same as are thoze for State and tovnr are to be treated aounty taxes.
Speolflaally mevering your question, it 18 our opinion the Presbyterian Churoh of Beevllle is liable that for no portion of the 1942 taxes on the property Ln quee- tlon, but that the property vaz burdened vlth a lien Sor
;, Bonorable C. Lyne Hlller, Page 5
such taxes at the tlme of its acquisition by the chtiroh a& that such lien may be enforced despite the present 1 ovnorshlp and utilication of the property by the ohurch. .
Trusting that the foregoing fully answers pour ,I lmulrj, we am
,i Vex-y truly yours
:
ATTORNEY (+EtUtRICt OF TEXAS .!
R. De- Moorhead AssletEu.lt