Case Information

*1 ERTTORNEYGENERAIL lF%-EXAS ‘%UWNN 11. TkXAB

PRICE DANIEL ATTORNEY GENERAL c Femary 21, 1947

Honorable William N, Hensley

Criminal Dlstriat Attorney

San Antonio, Texas bpfnfon Boo V-41

Re: Proper orffcer collecting the de- linquent taxes which have accrued before a Water Control and Im- provement DfatrPot s pursuant to the pm- visions of Article 1066b s authorizes Tax Collector of the municipality within which ft fs wholly located to act fn its behalf as Tax Colleotor, Dear Mr. Hensley:

You have asked for an opinion from this Depart- ment regarding the proper officer for colleetfng the de- taxes due Bexar County Water aontrol linquent and Im- provement DPs t riot o Prior to the authorization of the Tax Collector of the City of San Antonio, The Bounty Tax Collector had acted Pn behalf of the Water Control and Pm- o The problem may be phrased fn ques- provement District Vhen the Tax Collector for the tion form, as follows: City of San Antonio is authorized by the tiexar County Wa- to eat fn its behalf, ter Control and Improvement Dfstriet pursuant to the provisions 1066b, does the Cfty of Article act only concerning suah taxes as acorue from Tax Collector and after the date of suah authorization or haa he the ad- taxes whfdh ditional duty of collecting were due before said authorization was given?*

Prior to the enactment of Article 1066b, stat-

utory directions levying, assessfngSp and Bolleating taxes for a Water Gontrol and Improvement District were of Chapter 3A of Title to be found in various Articles In addition to those provisions, by virtue 128, R.C.S.

Article lOg6b certain alternative methods are provided where the Water bontrol and Improvement District is located en- tirely within the boundaries of another municipality or *2 - Page 2 (V-41) Hon. William N. Hensley 0 Article 1066b became effective June 18, 1945, and, as yet, has not been corn trued by the cdurts of the State. Our construction of the statute must there- fore be determined from its own terms viewed fn the light legfslative intent to be ascertained not only from the language of the statute itself but also from the relation of the statute to other artfcles and with regard for similar statutes and decisions thereunder,

The first paragraph of Section 1 of Article

1066b empowers various dfstrfcts and municipalities authorize by ordinance or resolution the Tax Assessor, of the munfcf- Board of Equalization and Tax Collector pality in which it is located to act in its behalf.

This general power fs not ;Pn question here as the Tax City of San Antonio Collector recognizes its ex- istence and questions only the extent of the duty lm- posed as a resalt,

Paragraph 2 of Section 1 deals with assessment

and has no bearing on the present question,

The relerant parts of paragraphs 3 and 4 of

Section 1 are as follows:

“When the ordinance or resolution is passed making available their servfoes, * said Collector shall collect the tax- & ‘and assessments for, and turn over as to the depository soon as colleoted of said munfcfpality or district or to such other authority as fs authorized to receive such taxes or moneys so co11 cted, and shall per- of Tax 8 ollector of said form the duties municipality or district so availing itself of his services0 “In all matters pertaining to such Q D 0 0 Tax Collector o o e the

collections shall be D a e authorfzid’ to act as and shall perform 0 b D the duties of 0 a s TAX Collector Of, and according to the ordinances and resolu- tions of the munfcfpalft so avall- or district itself of a D 0 .lzJ s services, and aooord- fng fng to law.” First of all, therefore, there must have been an authorization by ordinance or resdlutfon by the Water con- trol and Improvement District, It will be assumed that *3 (V-41 1 Hon. William N. Henslsy - Page 3 such authorization was glvenp and that the Tax Colleator for the City of San Antonio was fully empowered therein *to aot as 0 0 D and perform 0 0 o the duties of e 0 0 Tax Collector of 0 0 0 the 0 0 0 dlstrlat,”

What, then, are the duties of a tax oolleetor

for a Water Control and Improvement Dfstriet? SpsoffP.., tally they are provided for in Artfolea 7880-33; 7880-40; 7880-54; 7880-53; 7880-56; 7080-50; 7080-59; 7880-67; 7880-68; 7880-72; 7680-111; 7880-135; 7880-147-z Seotfon 9,

It is noteworthy that the dlstrlot may be al- lowed alternatives as to who shall act as its tax ool- leotor. It may have its own Tax Assessor

Ats2;aI;; 7880-54);, or “rnstead of prooeedfng for the as- of taxes in the equallzat%on and oollectlon manner aisewhere in thls bet provided for, the directors or the dfstrlot nay prorfde therefor by aontracte for suoh serviaes wlth the CowlsslonersP Court of each coun- ty in which property taxable by the distriot is sltuated;w is one in whioh the (Artiale 7880-33)., If the eltuatlon is aided by a town, oity, or munlolpal corpora- tion, the duties levy, assessment, and oolleatlon are performed by the offlaers of the munfolpal corporation. 7880-135) 0 Likewise there is a special set of (Article provisions where the district is wholly wlthfn one eoun- 7880-1472) 0 Regardless of the particular (Article tJr.- selected or required, however> in each fnstanee course the offloer chosen or in certain fnstancea his deputies, duties of tax collector pertorms all for the dlstrlet, If the County Tax Collector should continue oollect taxes due the district while Cfty Tax Collector aats as to present and future taxesB the district would, in effect, havs two tax collectors at the same time; whereas s as pointed out above, past legls- latlve enactments havr provided alternative methods dn& office of tax eollsotor, fflllng Clearly from ~ftti’ language~lcle 1066b la an alternative and being au& intended slmllarly it may be deemed that the legislature There is further support this complete assumption. view fn the provlsfon previously quoted that “In all matters pertaining to sueh 0 ti 0 eollectlons D 0 Q the tax co&leetor (emphasis added) shall be authorized to act o Q 0w It is true that the various provisions relating to who shall act as tax eolleotor for a Water Control and Improvement Dfstrfet and those further ones whleh prescribe

. .

Hon. William N. Hensley - Page 4 (V-41)

the duties of the one so acting (previously cited) are specific and delfmlt the partfoular office they define; but there is nothing to indicate that the duties of a tax collector aotlng for and ln behalf of a Water Control and Improvement District are irrevocably attached to any one office. A well known example of statutory provision for transference of duties of tax collector from one of- floe to another is found in Articles 7245 and 7246, R.C,S* s in counties having less than ten thou- which provide that sand inhabitants the sheriff of such county shall be the of taxes but that each county hav- Assessor and Collector ing the requlslte population shall elect its own Assessor and Collector of taxes. Where a sheriff has been acting as Assessor and Collector, pursuant to the above provl- slons, and thereafter an Assessor of taxes is duly elected, surely no one would contend that the sheriff should oontlnue to collect taxes of his regime after the lnstallatlon of ths tax collector. A new city or county tax collector assumes the duty of city or county collecting taxes that were delinquent be- fore he took office, Various decisions in oases involving collection of taxes by cltg or county collectors for In- dependent School Districts have recognized that the Legfs- lature has the power to devolve additional duties upon a public officer without thereby oreatlng an additional of- floe. In these cases the tax collector 1s sald to a& in his capacity as county or city tax collector as an offleer of the county or city (not as an officer of the dfstrfot), and that therefore thergs no infringement of Artlele 16 @1 40 of the Constitution of the State-of Texas D Taylor v0 Brewster Counte 144 S,W. (,2) 314; First Baptfst~ Church v, ..~ _,.~ City of Fort Worth, Teik$, Comm, Ape, 26 S.W. (2) 196- Prultt v. Glen Rose Independe’~%~~ch~ol ~Dfsti.%cfct ‘Nti.~U’l”’ 126~ s .w, .yZV~.. Tex. 45, 84 S.W. (2) 1004; Adamson v9 State, 171 121 D Aft& orooer authorization and once the dutv of aet- lng as Tax Cbllictor for the Water Control and Imbpvement District has become attached to the office of Tax ollector the City of San Antonio, it 1s difficult for the writer to see how, ln view of the foregoing analogies, a division of duties contra to the normal course could have been fntend- ed,

The legislative purpose in enaotlng Artlole 1066b 1s clearly set out in Section 6, the emergency clause, whloh reads as follows:

“The iact that there are many overlapping muafeipal- in State ltles and districts of Texas,eaeh with its and collecting agencies S causes hard- separate assessing shlp and confusion to the taxpayers and adds to the ex- pense of assessing and collecting taxes and the fact that *5 k-41) Hon. William N. Rensley - Page 5

there is now no adequate remedy provided by law for relieving said conditions, creates an emer- gency D o o iitc,” General and Special Lawa, 49th Legislature, p0 611,

This purpose would seem to be defeated to soma lf an entirely omitted proviso be read into the aet extent to the effect that before one collector oan aOt for the Water Control and Improvement District two collectors mu& act at the same time. True fn this ea.88 there would be no as both the County and reduction of existing offfeers City Tax Collectors will continue to function despite Lh8 transference of the duCy; but it would be fllogfcaP to al- low the division in th8 present Case and deny in the it in which case has had its own assessor and oollec- tar. Then the difficulties in the way of sustaining the of duties division seem insurmountable to the writer; not only would the dfstrfet have followed two courses choosing a tax collector when as previously pointed out the legislative provisions are clearly alternatives, but also tha district would be left with an officer who clearly ia not the Tax Assessor as defined by ArtPePe 7880-54, whose creation must then spring from inference rather than statutory enactments, and whose exact duties and responsibflltfes could only be ascertained by eonjeo- ture n

Tha Tax Collector of th8 City of San Antonio, by virtue of the authorization by the Bexar County Water Control and Improvement Dfstrfetkpursuant the provisions of Article 1066b, VOA.C,SO, 1s the proper officer to collect and is charged with the duty of colleetfng the taxes due said district, fa- eluding th8 taxes which were delinquent before sueh authorization.

Yours very truly ATTORNEY GENERAL OF TEXAS MP/mj/lh:jrb