Case Information
*1 OFFICE OF TNE ATTORNEY GENERAL OF TEXAS AUSTIN ,‘- ‘.
FJ Ronorebls Char147 Lookhart
State Trearurer Austin, Texrr
I
Dear Slrr Opinion Elo. O-i32
rnon(e Annotated Ci+- ua the rou rubyit to
‘~mag ae8h- n their iarm, unt that vlll be on well, isetal- an4 otherwkre e- Are thee* he State Hate fax?* graph la ddotion R oi &tWle ?04?e, Btatutrr, read8 e tolZowr herein otherwire provided there arsrrrrd a tax of Ten (&Of) Centa ($100.00) Dollara or fraatlon drod thereof, over the first Two amarea ($200.00) Doilaro, on all noter mb ob21g4tloae 4eoucsd br ohattel mmt- gag4, area of trwt, me4h.anlo~e lien eontreot, ronaor”r lien, oonditional ml48 aontmat and all lnrtrumontr a 8lmilar whioh ire film3 or recorded U the nature
‘-. 70 Honorable Charley Lockhart, page 2
office of the County Clerk under the Reglstratlon Laws of this State; ?irorlaen that no tax ehall be levied on Instrument0 securing an amount of Two Run- dred ($200.00) Dollars, or less. After thr effective date of this Act, except as’herelnafter provided, no such instrument ahell be fllea by any County Clerk in thle State untll there haa been af- fixad to euoh instrument in aocordanoe xlth the provlalona of thlr eeotlon: providing further that !:’ should the lnatrument flied in office
County Clerk be eecurlty of an obligation that has prop- erty pledger? 8s aeourlty ln a state or Stater other than Texas, the tax ehall be baaed upon the reasonable cesh value of all oropertp pledged ln Texas in the proportion that sald droperty in Texsr beam to the total relue of the prorterty seourlng the obligation; end, provldlng further that, exoept as to renewals or extenslone accrued interest, the provlalone of this seotion ahal. not apply to lnetrumente there- tofore stamped uniier the provisions of thla Aot or the one amended hereby, end rhe.11 apply to in- given in the refunding of existing bond8 etrumenta or obllgntloas
where the preoealng of LO- ourlty was mtamDed In eooordanoe vlth this or the one emended hereby; provided further thst tax levied in this Pot ehell apply to only one lnstru- Bent, the one of the greatest denomlnatlon, where sever81 Instruments are oontemporaneourly exeouted to eeoure one obligation; and provided further when once stamped e8 prorlded herein, an lnatrument may be recorded in any number of counties in thir State vlthout ngeln being 60 stamped. This section ehell not apply to lnetrumentrr, notes, or other obligations taken by or on behalf of the United Stetee, or the Stste of Texae, or any oorporrte agency or ln~trumentallty of the United Statee, or of the Stete of Texee in carrying out a governmental In any Act of the Congreas of purpose am expressed the United State6 or of the Legleleture State of Texas, nor ohall prorislona of this aeotloa apply to obligations or lnetrumente seoured by lien6 on crone nnd ferm or agricultural ?roauots, or to liventook or farm lmplementr, or en abatraot of Judg- ment.#
As you will note from 8 reading of the above, aeohanlo’a llen oontraote ere within the etetute. We presume thet lnetrueents to which you refer are written flled under contraota 5433, R. C. S. or in oomollance with Artlole Seotlon 1 of Artiole *3 Honorable Charley Loakhart, nage 3
5460, R. c. s. Such Instruments clearly fall within meaning of the term meohenIo's lien oontract' ea used in the ete,tute quoted above. Said Aot provides 'except es hereinafter provided no ruoh lnatrument ahall be filed . . . until there haa been afflxed to suoh Instrument in aocordanoe with the QrOViEiOn8 thle reotlon.* Reed.lng down into the we f’,al nothing to take these pertlouler lnstruaente out of the operation taxing atetute. The lrrlgatlon well oould under no olroum- atanoes be conridered a farm lmclement or a farm or agrloul- tural product. While it le altogether orobablp that the equlp- ment when installed could not be olarned es "farm lmplementr' we do not find it neceesery to tleflnltely determine that quer- tlon. In our Conference ODinIon No. 3061 we held that where eeourlty 1s primarily kind whioh will confer ex- emption the mere lnolurlon of farm implements in the mortgage would not take out of the taxing etatute. Llene the Und you mention go not only to the lmprovenentn plaoed on the land but to the land ltaelf. Artloles 6452, 6488, 5459, 5460, Revised Civil Statutea. Aenoe, we enewer your queetion Sri negative.
Youre very truly ATTORBEX QEB-XRAL OF TEXAS ByL&CLII: alenn B. Lewis ORL: JO Aseletent