The opinion
I’RE A~OR~Y GENERAL
OP TEXAS
PRICE DANIEL
ATTORNEYGENERAL
beeember 22, 1952
Hon. Har$ison .Hall OpinionNO. v-1559
county .Attomey,
Newton County R0: Authority of Klrbyvllle
Newton, Iha Consolidated Independent
School District to require
that schools taxes not be
collected by the Tax Asses-
sor-Collector of Newton
County, although the Tax
Assessor-Collector prepared
assessments and rolls prior
Dear Mr. Hall: to this notioe.
YOU r6p383t.the 0pin10n 0r this 0rfm UPON
the following question: Map the Board of Trustees of
a consolidated independent school district. composed of
territory in .two adjoining counties collect its t+xes
through ‘a tax collector appointed by the Board of Tras-
tees of the district notwithstanding the taxes may have
theratoiore been adsessed by the assessor-collector of
one o? the countiasl
Your question arises from the following facts:
“ti.Maroh 29, A.D., 1952, Kirbyville
Ind.‘~ S. bist. No. 905’of Jasper County,
and Call County Line Ind. S.,Dist., in-
volving parts of both Jasper and flewton
Countirr, Jpspr couuty hftvinf cttE;;l
of said County: Line Mst.
above:date thebe two S. Dists. were con-
eolidated’by election, forming w’hat is
.frd knrs; aa the Kirbyville ConsoUdated
. .
“In the years past, the Newton County
Tax Collector-Assessor, by agreement, has
bian collectiiig the taxes for the said
Comity,,Line School Dlst . and turning, same
ovef to the’schaol, aocbrding to the As-
sessments and roll& made up by the Assessor-
Collector of Newton County.
. .
Hon. Harrison Hall,, page 2 (V-1559)
“The assessment and rolls were made
out for this year by the Assessor-Collector
of Newton County. Thereafter, on the 29th
of Sept., pf this year, the Assessor-Collec-
tor of Newton County was notified by the
newly formed school dlst. not to collect
said taxes.”
!qe do not find It necessary to review the
steps leading up to the formation of the Kirbyville
Consolidated Independent School District as it pres-
ently exists. We assume that Its formation and its
existence Is In all respeots legal. This being true,
it possesses all the power and authority in the mat-
ter of ~the assessment and collection of its taxes
oonfrrred by the Legislature upon Independent school
districts in general and this without regard to the
prior procedure outlined In your letter aa to the
Call County Line Independent School District which is
now oonsolidated with the Klrbyvllle Consolidated In-
dependant School District,
‘IheXLz’b~ill~‘.CaMlldi4ted ::Wepei.~dent$k&r&l MS-
trlotiJ Mough St. BfXird bf ‘Trusteed, ~ssesse?::the mr
to;:eZi3ct_ to. izollect:~.tts3i.%ies .throug .:lts .o3n :tax::
collector. That It Is composed of territory In two
adjoining counties does not have the effect of separ-
ating, dlmlnlshlng, or dividing the powor which the
Board of Trustees has over the administration of the
afXalrs of the district including the power of assess-
ing and oolleotlng its Caxes. The power of the Board
of Trusters is~coextenslve over all the territory of
the dietriot.
Since the question you present 1s oonfined
to the authority of a colleotor of an Independent
school dlstrlot to colleot the taxes of. the dlstrlct
we do not Sind it necessary to deoidr the question o h
the correlative powor of thr County Assessor4ollector
to collect the taxes of the school district under cer-
tain oondltlons provided by statute nor do we pass upon
the validity of the assessment. It Is sufficient to
w that if statutory authority be found for the lnde-
pendent school district through Its Board of Trustees
to collect It8 own taxes and proceeds under such statu-
tory authority to appoint sudh collector, his authority
may not be quertioned. 18 therm such statutory autholc
IQ? We think there la. Articlea 2791-2792, V&S.,
prmldr in part as follarsr
Hon. Harrison Hall, Page 3 (V-1559)
“Art. 2791. . There Is hereby
created the off1ce~‘o.h assessor and collec-
tor of each lnde endent school district,
whether &sated i y ,speolal or generil law,
who shall be appointed by the Board of
Trustees thereof, and shall have the same
power and shall perfora the same duties
tilth reference to the assessment and col-
lsotltin tif taxes for free school purposes
that are conferred by law upon ,the asses-
sor and collector of taxes In and for any
Incorporated city town or village, or,upon
the person or officer legally performlng
the duties of such assessor and collector,
and he shall reoelVe such compensation for
his services ati the Board of Trustees map
allow, ekcept ln~cltles and towhs provided :
for not to exceed fotir (4) ppr oent of the
wide amount of ta%lrs kecelved by him. He
ahalL give bond In double the estllllated
a&ount Of taxes cofaing annu;?lly’lllto his
hand‘s ‘payable and to be approved by the
presic!ent of the Board,. conditionad for the
?aIithful’dlsqharge of his duties, and that
he will pay over to the, tieasurer oi the
B.oard all funds coming Into his hands by,
virtue ,of his office as such assessor and
.collqctor; , . .”
liArt. 2'792.. . . When a majority of
the Board of Trustaes. of ati Independent dls-
trlct prefer to have the taxes of their dls-‘,-
trlct ,assessed and collected by the county
assesSor and collaetor, or by the city asses-
sor and oolleotor, of an Incorporated city
or town lti the limits of which the school
dlstrlot or & part thereof Is ,located, or
collected only by the county or city tax*
collector same may be assessed and collected,
or ooJ.l’eo &ed only as the oase’map be, by
.said county or cl?q off leers , as may, be deter-
mined by’,the Board of Trustees of said lnde-
pendent school district and turned 6ver to
the treasurer of the Independent -school dls-
,tryp,nfor which such teams have been collected.
.
.-~ ~,rhla Papartment_- has herrtorqo, in Opinion O-
1407 (1939,), ruled as rollowsr
. -
Hon. Harrison Hall, Page 4 (v-1559)
“There can be no question but that
an lndependant school dlatplot which has
pro erty In two diiferent counties oould
ampPoy one colleotor to oolleot Its tax49
Sri .both of said aountlos.n
We do not think that the fact that the taxes
have heretofore been assessrd on a roll prepared by
the County Arsessor-Colleotor 7 of one or both of the
asressor-collrotors~ of the two counties In which the
Consolidated Indepeddetit School Dlstrlat has
‘mllltates against the oonclnslon we have
the Kirbyvllle Consolidated Independrnt
School Distrlot through Its Board of T usteer, has. the
authority to oollsat Its ow’n taxes. 2 Statutory author-
It rxists’ for the oolleotlon by an iade endent tax
00I leotm, aotwlth9tandlng thi assessmen e was madr b
the County Tax Asrersor-Colleotor, In other words, &m
asssssor end oolleotor may be different, depending upon
the rleotion mad@by the Boa d of Trustees as to how
the s@trr 19 to be handled. 3.
In otbrr words the Kirbyvllle Consolidated
Independent Sohool District 19 ln effrot a nbw lndepe’nd-
rut dlstrlct unaffected b thr prior diatrlots entering
lntg Its oonsolldatlon. % the absenor of an eleotlon
by ti independent sohool district to avail Itself of the
statutory prlvllege of having Its ,tue’s ~essessed and ool-
looted by the County Tax Assessor-Colleotor, It possess-
ea the power to have its own assessor and oolleotor. I~t
appears. from the rmdisputrd fact8 dlsolosed by our let-
ter that the Klrbyvlllr Cdnsolldatrd Iiidmpendent Sohool
.District desires to oolleot Its own turs whlah negatives
lnteirt to have.them oollratrd by the Tax Assessor-
%leotor of Mawtonbounty.
An indi~endent sohool dlrtriot has au-
thority to designate and appoint, by appro-
prlatr order or ordlaauoe of the Board of
Trustees of thr dl&rlot, a tax ls9 e sso r ~
oolleator for the district or it may alact
to have this duty performeh by the County
Assessor-Collector. The fact that a previous
assessment has barn madr by the Cotity Asses-
sor-Collrotor does hot preclude suoh lnde-
pendant school dls~rlot f9o.m aolleotlng the
‘Hon. Harrison Hall, Page 5 (V-1559)
taxes assessed through the collector of
the in$ependent school ‘district upon the
roll made by the County Assessor-Collector.
APPROVED: Yours very truly,
W. V. Geppert PRICE DANIEL
Taxation Division Attorney General
E. Jacobson
Exeautive Assistant
Charles D, Mathews
First Assistant
By&
.eo3i+
. Assistant
LPLtwb