RQ-0579-KP
Requestor:
The Honorable Paul Bettencourt
Chair, Senate Committee on Local Government
Texas State Senate
Post Office Box 12068
Austin, Texas 78711-2068
Re: Interpretation and application of Tax Code chapter 151 to out-of-state resellers
(RQ-0579-KP)
Briefs requested by February 28, 2025
For further information, please access the website at www.texasattorneygeneral.gov or call the Opinion Committee at (512) 463-2110.
TRD-202500604
Justin Gordon
General Counsel
Office of the Attorney General
Filed: February 19, 2025
Opinion No. KP-0482
The Honorable Daniel M. Gonzalez
Dimmit County Attorney
103 North 5th Street
Carrizo Springs, Texas 78834
Re: Authority of a county commissioners court to use county labor and equipment to open and close graves in private cemeteries (RQ-0541-KP)
S U M M A R Y
Under Chapter 791 of the Texas Government Code--the Interlocal Cooperation Act--a county may not agree to perform a governmental function or service for a cemetery organization unless the cemetery organization is a local government, an Indian tribe, or a state agency.
Pursuant to Health and Safety Code subsection 694.002(a), the commissioners court of a county "shall provide for the disposition of the body of a deceased pauper." To the extent a county proposes to establish a burial program that extends beyond the disposition of the body of a deceased pauper, it is not authorized under chapter 694.
Health and Safety Code section 713.021 authorizes a commissioners court to establish by resolution "a perpetual trust fund to provide maintenance for a neglected or unkept public or private cemetery in the county." A county that establishes a perpetual trust fund is not relieved from the prohibition against using county employees or equipment to open or close graves when those graves are in a private perpetual care cemetery or a cemetery maintained by a religious or fraternal organization.
Opinion No. KP-0483
The Honorable Marco A. Montemayor
Webb County Attorney
1110 Washington Street, Suite 301
Laredo, Texas 78040
Re: Whether a taxing unit is entitled to recover attorney's fees pursuant to Property Tax Code section 33.48 in certain circumstances (RQ-0544-KP)
S U M M A R Y
Section 33.07 of the Property Tax Code authorizes a taxing unit to impose a penalty to defray the costs of delinquent tax collection. The section 33.07 penalty is solely for the purpose of providing compensation to a contract attorney.
Section 33.48 of the Property Tax Code provides that in a suit to collect a delinquent tax a taxing unit is entitled to recover attorney's fees. However, a taxing unit may not both recover attorney's fees under section 33.48 and impose the section 33.07 collection penalty.
A court would likely conclude a taxing unit that contracts with a private attorney to enforce the collection of delinquent taxes may--in lieu of imposing the section 33.07 penalty--initiate a delinquent tax suit after February 1 but before July 1 of the year in which the taxes become delinquent and recover section 33.48 attorney's fees.
For further information, please access the website at www.texasattorneygeneral.gov or call the Opinion Committee at (512) 463-2110.
TRD-202500621
Justin Gordon
General Counsel
Office of the Attorney General
Filed: February 19, 2025