TITLE attorney-general

Letter Opinions

Revised Copy of LO#98-083.

LO#98-083. (RQ-1080). The Honorable Debra Danburg, Chair, Committee on Elections, Texas House of Representatives, P.O. Box 2910, Austin, Texas 78768-2910, regarding conflict among three amendments by the Seventy-Fifth Legislature to section 33.52 of the Tax Code.

Summary. Section 33.52 of the Tax Code, relating to judgment foreclosing a tax lien on real property, was amended by three different bills during the Seventy- fifth Legislative Session. The three bills, House Bills 2587, 2622, and 3306, deal with collecting from the proceeds of the foreclosure sale the current taxes and other taxes on the real property that are not yet delinquent at the date of the judgment. The three bills differ as to their mandatory or permissive effect and as to which nondelinquent taxes will be collected from the proceeds of the foreclosure sale. Because the bills make different substantive changes to the same Tax Code provision, they cannot be reconciled. House Bill 2622, which requires the judgment of foreclosure to order that the taxing unit recover from the proceeds of the foreclosure sale the tax for the current tax year and each subsequent tax year until the property is sold, is the latest enacted of the three bills, and with respect to Tax Code section 33.52, it will prevail over the other two.

TRD-9818473

Sarah Shirley

Assistant Attorney General

Office of the Attorney General

Filed: December 18, 1998

LO# 98-118. (RQ-1204). The Honorable Frank Madla, Chair, Senate Nominations Committee, Texas State Senate, P.O. Box 12068, Austin, Texas 78711, concerning whether county may assess permit and registration fees for drilling and equipping water wells.

Summary. Absent specific constitutional or statutory authority, a county may not assess a well permit fee or property development fee for the drilling and equipping of water wells.

TRD-9818472

Sarah Shirley

Assistant Attorney General

Office of the Attorney General

Filed: December 18, 1998

Requests for Opinions

RQ-#1224. Request from Mr. D. C. Jim Dozier, Executive Director, Texas Commission on Law Enforcement, 6330 U.S. Highway 290 East, Suite 200, Austin, Texas 78723 regarding whether section 141.065, Human Resources Code, prohibits a peace officer from simultaneously serving as a juvenile probation officer.

RQ-#1225. Request from the Honorable John Sharp, Comptroller of Public Accounts, Office of the Comptroller, Austin, Texas 78774, regarding authority of a chief appraiser to grant an extension of the deadline for filing an application for exemption.

TRD-9818476

Sarah Shirley

Assistant Attorney General

Office of the Attorney General

Filed: December 21, 1998