Untitled Texas Attorney General Opinion ( 1939 )

OFFICE OFTHEATTORNEY GENERALOFTEXAS
Honorable i.. ii.Thoarpon
county Auditor
kbllsrm, Texan
Deer Sir‘:
cad ow+adbo pomoa.8 or
a b wR 8a t
r8om sor 8aboa. Qwrpma8
fuads of *aah
araiaa 8ad rrli&oanod
romi~ aaa d&in th8
aam are lrne8ted la bowl8 or mrtaager, or
inlandorother propsrtruhloh hubcmn
an6 ekmllhenaf'terboboughtfabp8u6h
InstltutlaM mdsr fon~ol5ura oalef4mad.
to satisfy a? profeot such boa48 or ma%-
gages, that auoh oxmaptlon of 6U8h lead
end pmgartq ahaLl.aontinuo only ror two
Honorable L. R. Thompson, Page 2
yaers after the purchase of the same et
suoh sale by suoh lnstltutlonsend no
longer, end lnstltutloneof purely pub110
oharlty; snd all laws exempting property
from taxation other than the property a-
bove mentioned shell be null end void."
&tlole 7150, Revised Clvll.Statutesof Texas, de-
scribes the property whloh shall be exempt from taxation snd
Seotlon 1 thereof, as amended ln 1931, oontains a desorlptlon
of the followlw propartr as balng so axampt:
Wll publio oollagas; publla aoad-
8d08
a ndf h u
lnb o nr urih
t nd8
or imitu-
tloas of le8arningand rallglon not usad
with a view to pro?lt and whan tha saw
are lavested la bon46 or nortgage8. and
all'mmh buIldIngaused aw1usiTel.yana
owmd by paraonm or assoolatlonsor pm-
.‘ 8oas for sohool Qurpoa6a; ~p&nl,aaa.?that
when thelandorotharproparty-has
baen 02 shall hareafter be bought la b
suoh lnstltutlon8under ioraolosura.sJ as
made to satisfy or protaot bonds or mortk
6-8 la whioh said eaA-t itlndsarw
lnvesttsd, that moh exem~tlon oi.auoh laa6
andpmpertyah&lloontlnua fkmtwo yaars
artier the purohafm 0r the aem at suoh
sale by suoh lastltutlonsend no lowr."
It tba propertywbloh you mention 18 not to be t&ml
authority ror the extmption8LU8t ba rouna within tha l~pm8sed
provl8loas or~mlole 8, seotion e 0r tha constltutlon. Tha
burden Of showing that an eXem&?tiOn fI%%Btaxation Wi8ts -8tS
upon the partr'who olalms it.. Xorrls fe Lops Star Chapter,
Wo. 6, Royal Aroh Masons, 5 S.W. 819. Tha~above oonatltu-
tlonal provielon pamits the Legl8lature to extsnd tha axamp-
tlon rrom taxation to only two olassee oi real property ba-
longlug to edueatlonalinatitUthU8,,to-tit~ bulldlngsusad
exoluslvelyror sohool purpose6 and ror~a period 0r two year8
after BUrohase those lad8 whloh have been bou at$lao~now-
in6 ~peolos~m thereon Of bonds or nwtgfigeq P -
dowment funds had been Investad. Unleae lend belonging to.
an oduoatlonsl Institutionfalls within one of the above two
HonorableL. ii.Thompson,Page 3
classirloatlons,It ia not exempt from t.sxatlon. Such ex-
emption is not extended to lands oonstitutlng8 part of the
endowment fund or any such oollege or eohool. .hn interpre-
tation which muld bring about such en exemption is pm-
oluded by the ioct that the constitution exempts the two
classes of reel property mentioned above and then provides
that.all lawa exemptingproperty from taxation other then
the plpperty above mentioned shell be null end void. In
the case of Morris v. Lone Star Chapter No. 6, Hoyal Arch
Alasone,5 S. W. 519, it YBB held that the exolu8iveuse 0r
a building for oharltablopurposes meant the aotual an6
dlreot UBO for the purpoae8of the aseooiation aulnota
use bp others iiw reveauealthough that ravenua muyhava
been exolu8lr~4 a4ppmgrlatedtar the4objeot8 0r.oharitr.
Our eamvorto yuur:questien,therefore, i8 od~oe8iully ln
the negativa.
APPROVED J-EL 6, 1939
t