Case Information
*1 . .
Eon. Wi.ll.iamScanl.sn
Assistant County Attorney
Callleron County
Brmnsville,Texas
Dear Sir: ,: opinion Bo. O-1654
Be: State and count+ taxes for 1939 agaainst reel estate agqu*ed after July 1, 1939, by the Brownsville Housing Authodty.
m your letter of lioiember. 16, 1939, you advise that the Bmmsville Housing Authority, organized under Article l269k of the Revised Civil Statutes of Texas, obtaj.ned by deed and by the erercise of its power of eminent domain, certaiqreal estate in the City of Brownsville, Texas, the title to which vested in the Authosity~ after July 1, 1939; that all taxes en such property to and.including the year 1938 were pai&, and that the Authority has set aside sufficient money to pay State and county taxes upon the promrty for the year 1939, should it be re¶uired to do so; that as af January 1, .1939, the title to this property was vested in private indiviawd.
From this state of fects, you ask the opinion of this depsrtment upon the question whether the State and county taxes upon these properties for the year 1939 me collectible.
Article 7151, Revised Civil Stat&es of Texas, 1925, provides in part as follows:
"All properties shall be listed for taxetion between January lst and April 30th of each year, when reN.red by the Assessor, with reference tathe quantity held ~~ or owned on the first day of January in the year for which the property is reQuirea .to be listed or rendered . .." Ey virtue of the prov.isiens of this statute, the ownership of property on the first day of January of a?ay year creates a ~liahility on the part of the owner for taxes levied upon such property for that year, WLnters vs. Independent School District 'd Event (Civ. App.), 9. W. and' the sale of such property shortly thereafter does not affect the rule. Childress County vs. State, 127 Tex. 343, 92 S. W. (2d) 1011.
HOZI. ~$~.~iarn scanlen, Page #2 (O-1654)
It is true that Section 22 of the Act under which the Brownsville Housing Authority is organized provides:
?he property of an authority is declered to be public property used for essential public and governmental purposes and such property and an authority shall be exempt from ell taxes and special easessments of the city, the county, the State, or any political subdivision thereof;..." However, whether a particular piece of property is exempt from taxation or not depends upon its ownership on the date as of which the taxes are assessed, and if, after such date, but before the tax is paid, the property is takenby eminent domain or bought by a body politic or corporate the property of which ia exempt from taxation, the tax as originally assessed is valid and subsisting, end the parson who owned the property on the data as of which the tax was assessed is legally bound to pey it. 26 R. c. L. 29%
The acquisitienoftitle tothese properties, of course, imposes no personal responsibility upon the Housing Authority for taxes due the State and the county, assessed against the indivia~i owners thereof as of January 1, 1939, Howher, there is involved in your -inquiry, of necessity, tha question whether the lands taken over by the Housing Authority are held by it subject to the valid liens, if any, of the State and county against such lands for taxes assessed against the' individual owners thereof as of Jenuary 1, 1939.
In view of the provisions of the Act under which the Housing Authority is created, we do not find it necessary to discuss the doctrine of merger, as applied to the present situation.
Cur Constitution, Article 8, Section provides as follows:
?he annual assessment made upon landed property shall be a special lien thereon; and all property, both real and personal, belonging to any delinquent taxpayer shall be liable toseizure and sale for the payment of all the taxes and penalties due by such delinquent, and such property may be sold for the payment of the taxes and penalties due by each delinquent, under such regulations as the Legislature may~*ovide."
?l'he lien of .the State, under the provisions of the Constitution, ariass out of the asaessmant of property, and does not exist-until that assessment is made." State vs. Farmer (SupraW Court), S. W.:541.
Hon. William Scanlan, Page #3 (0-l.6654)
It appaars that the properties involved in your inquiry were not acquired by the Housing Authority until after the expiration of the time provided by law for the making of assessments thereon. Applying the presumption that the officers of the State have performed their duty in accordance with the law, we presume that assessments were regularly made, prior to April 30, 1939, and prior to the acquisition of title to these properties by the Housing Authority, by the proper officers, so that the tax lien given by the Constitution came into existence prior to the time the properties were acquired by the Brownsville Housing Authority.
Article l269k provides in part as follows:
"Sec. 3 (1) Real property shall include all lands, including improvements and fixtures thereon, and property of any nature appurtenant thereto, or used in connection therewith, and every estate, interest and right, legal or equitable therein, including terms for years and liens by way of judgment, mortgage, or otherwise and the indebtedness secured by such liens." “Sec. 12. . . . Property already devoted to a public use may be acquired in like manner, provided that no ~real property belonging to the city, the county, the State, or any political subdivision thereof may be acquired without its consent." Sec. 20. All real property of an Authority shall'be exempt from levy and sale by virtue of an execution, and no execution or other judicial process shell issue against the same, nor shalleny judgmnt against an authority be a charge or lien upon its real property; . .."
“Sec. 22. The property of an authority is declared to be public property used for essential public and governmental purposes and such property and authority shall be exempt from all taxes and special assessments of the city, the county, the State or any political subdivision thereof; n . . .
The lien for taxes existing against such properties in favor of the State and the county is clearly "an interest in land." Section I2 of the Act provides that no real property belonging to the county or the State may be acquired without its consent, and Section 3 (1) defines the term "real property" in such manner as to include every interest in lands. The Act in our opinion expressly, therefore, prevents the Housing Authority from depriving the State or the County of ths benefit of liens for taxes lawfully fixed against for taxes due the State real propertieti and county.
- - Hon. William Scanlan, Page #4 (O-1654)
We trust that the foregoing sufficiently answers your inquiry.
Yours very truly AlTORIWi CWERALOFTRXAS s/ R. W. Fairchild m
R. W. Fairchild Assistant IMF:pbp/ldw
APFmvED DEC. 13, 1939
s/ Oerald C. Mann
AlTORlTEY -oFTExAs
APPROVED
OPllpIcN
CD
BY B. W. B.
CRAIRMAR