Attorney General Opinion WW-0883

iBusTxrs IL*. TEXAU WILL WILSON ATTORNEY GENERAI. July 18, 1960 Honorable Robert 9, Calvert opinion No. MU- 083 comptroller of Publio Aooounta Capitol Station Ret Correct filing date for Austin, Texas the anrulril report of Tax Collectors under Artloles 1260 and '~336, V.C.S.,.and penalty under Article 133, Dear Mr. Celvert: Penal Code. Your recent letter requesta that we advise you the correct date for tax collectors to iile their 8nnuhl reports with your office, acoordlng to Artioles 7260 end 7336, V.C,S.,, and elao the effeot of Article 133* Penal Code, upon this dtitiy. Article 7260 d.lrects the tax aolleator to mike monthly reporta to the Comptroller setting out tax itemr aolleoted by Mm during the month, and, upon submitting auoh aronthly ,reports, pay over to the State Treasurer the moneyi 80, oolli#oted for the State. Section 4 of the Artlole then provides aa follows: “The Tax Collector shall pay over to the State Treaeurer all balance8 in his hands belonging to the &i&e, and fInallY adjust and settle his aocount with the Comptroller on or before the first day of M&y of each year, end to enable him to do 00, the Commlesloners Court shall convene on or before the third Monday in April for the purpose of examining and approving his final .Mitlement PaPere.” Arti 7336 aeta opt the ,dateF’when oertain taxes shall beer delinquent, and the penalties whiah shall .aocrue thqre- . Seotion (e) then pro!idea a8 follows: “The’ Amassor, iihd Collector of Taxes L ah&;lioy of the firet d8y of July of each i+ ml n sme unt a ai37Sict axea for t$ p%eding $eg $&!i unpaid, make up a list of the land6 and. lot 8 and/or property on which any taxes for such preceding year are delinquent, ,charglng againlst the same all unpaid taxer asssared ag8ln8t the omrsr . - Ronorable Robert S. Calvert, ?age 2 Opinion No. WW- 883 report annual before comply thereof on the rolls for said year. II . . . . . “Said list shall be made In triplicate and presented to the Commissioners’ Court for examination and correction, end after being so examined and corrected eaid list In triplicate shall be approved by said Court, One copy thereof shall be filed with the County Clerk or Auditor, one copy retained and filed bv the Assessor and Collector of Taxes, and one copy forwarded to the Comptroller with the annual settlement report of the Ai Since the latter statute requires that the delinquency be forwarded to the Comptroller as of July 1, with the settlement report which Is required to be filed on or May 1, it is impossible for the Assessor-Collectors to with the literal terms of both statutes. You advise us in your letter that the Comptroller has required since the flacal year ending June 30, 1938, that both the delinquent report and the annual report be filed as of the first day of July. It is our opinion that this is a correct requirement and shouldbe adhered to, for reasons which we shall set out. It Is our further opinion that Article 133, Penal Code, has no application to the reports r,equired to be filed with your office. Since both Articles deal ,with ,the same subject and relate to duties of tax collectors, they are in par1 materia and should be construed together. State v.- ~ri2;4~e~exi7;86iO;00 S.W.2.ld 813 (1947); Wintermann v. McDona S.W.2ad 167, lo4 S.WZGiZ-4 (1937). So co&truing them, ks pointed out, creates' an ambiguity in the conflict of dates. Obviously the Intention of the Legislature was to make jt thee duty of the Tax Collector In each county to provide the Comptroller with information, through such required reports, which would present a complete record of tax collections’ and property on which delinquent taxes were still due, as of a certain. date. Legislative Intent In enacting the. law is the law’ lt,self. City of Mason v. West Texas Utilities Co., 150 Tex. 18, 237 S W.2nd 273 (1951); Reed v. Waco 2=2nd 247 (Tex.Civ.App. 1949, err.ref.). Such intent will be given effect even though It involves a departure from the strict letter of the law, State v. m, Supra; Brown & Root v. Durland, 126 Tex. 20, 84 S.W.2nd Honorable Robert S; Calvert, Page 3 Opinion No. WW- 883 1073 (Tex.Com.App. 1935, Op. Adopted). We therefore believe that both reports should be filed as of July 1 of each year, We note that your office has, since 1938, required the annual settlement statement to be filed on July 1 of each year, along with the delinquent tax list. Where the interpretatlbn of a statute by the agency charged with its administration has continued unchallenged over a long Deriod of time. that inter- pretation is entitled to great weI ht. Co=. v. 011 Well Drilling-Co., 25 % Associated Indemnity S.W.2nd 523 (Tex.Civ.App. 1953),affld 153 Tex. 153, 2a S.W.2nd 697 (1954); %lvert v. Fl sher , 259 S.W.2nd 944 (Tex.Civ.App. -.2nd 496 (Tex.Civ.App. 1957). administrative Interpretation during the past 22 years is entitled to such weight. and furnishes further support for our opinion as stated aGove. Article 133 of the Penal Code provides as follows: “If at tht end of any month the collector of taxes shall fail to make to the Commissioners Court hjs itemized monthly report of all tax collections for the county, or pay over to the county treasurer the amount due by him to the county, or if he shall fall to make out and post, between April 1 and 15 of each year, a list of delinquent or insolvent tax payers, he shall be fined not less than three hundred nor more than one thousand dollars. Each failure is i separate offense.” This is the wording of the Article as contained in the revised Penal Code of 1925. was p. 91, Acts of 1893. Its original source stated therein This is the same original source as Article 7260 and also Article 7263, Revised Civil Statutes, which latter article reads as follows: “The tax collector shall make out on forms to be furnished for that purpose by the Comptroller, between April first and the fifteenth of each year, list (sic‘ of delinquent or insolvent taxpayers, the caption of which shall be, tha ‘list of delinquent or insolvent taxpayers . I In this list he shall give the name of the person, firm, company, or corporation from whom the taxes are due, in separate columns; and he .shall post one copy of these delinquent or Insolvent lists at the courthouse door of the county, and one list at the courthouse door, Honorable Robert 9. Calvert, Page 4 Ojinion Ilo. UW-863 or where court is usually held, In each justice precinct in his county; and the tax collector, upon the .oertlPicats of the commissioners court that the persons appearing on the insolvent or delinquent lists have no. property out of which to make the taxes assessed against them, or that they have moved out of the county, and that no property can be found in the county belonging to such persona, out of which to make the taxes due, shall be entitled to a credit on final settlement of his accounts for the amounts due by the persons, firms, companies, or corporations certified to by the commissioners court, as above provided for .‘I Note that Article 133 of the Penal Code assesses a penalty upon the tax collector should he (1) faj.1 to make his itemized monthly report of tax collections fork the county to the Commissioners Court, or (2) fail to pay over to the treasurer the amount due or (3) fall to make ‘out and post a list of delinquent and insolvent taxpayers, between April 1 and 15. These first t it d ties assigned him under Article 7260. The thi;: obEyzu%g r~ifers to the duty assigned him by Article 7263; that IS, compiling a list of delinquent and insolvent taxpayers, then posting one copy at the door of the county courthouse and one at the place of court in each justice precinct. These are not the lists previously discussed which must be filed with the Comptroller. The apparent purnose of such posting is to apprise the persons, firms, and cor- porations listed thereon of the fact that th~ere are unpaid taxes in that county chargeable to them. Doubtleesly :;he posting date of these lists is set between April 1 and April 15 so as to give the taxpayers listed thereon ample time within which to make payment if they so desire before the time set for the annual settlement report. Since the list referred to in this Article is separate and distinct from the lists previously discussed . which are required to be filed with your office, it Is apparent that the penalty provisions therein would not enter into the question of the correct filing date for such state- ment s . SUMMARY -, The tax collector’s annual settlement report and list of lands, lots and property on which taxes are delinquent should both be filed with the Comptroller of Public Accounts on July 1. Honorable Robert S. Calvert, Page 5 Opinion No. WW- 883 Article 133, Penal Code, concerns separate duties of the tax collector and hence is irrelevant to such filing date. Yours very truly, WILL WILSON Attorney General of Texas JRI:jip APPROVED: OPINION COMMITTEE: W. V. Geppert, Chairman Arthur Sandlln John Phillips John L. Estes Wallace Finfrock . REVIEWED FOR TXE ATTORNEY GERERAL By: Leonard Passmore