Untitled Texas Attorney General Opinion ( 1940 )

509 ,. OFFICE OF THE ATA-ORNEY GENERAL OF TEXAS AUBTIN ’ z”-,y” ‘. ,. EonorablhCeo. E. Sheppard Oozptrollerof Public Locounts Austin, Texas t the appropriations ital Statlstioe nlon No. O-l.394 A. Cavis, State he special Vital ropriotionsin th Ltq$.slature, he State Eealth cnles the Eaalth Cepartnent tics feea deposited in the t t::osefess be apalled to atlstica fees In the last he expendituresfron the Kill you kindly give nieyour to whether or not these fees should be trans- ferred to the Goneral Rmonua Fund to apply against tho costs of the Vital 5tatlsticsEivisior~?~~ You state that our Opinion Ko. O-1394 *denies the t'e*ltb Departnent the use of thz vitcl statistics feea deposited tficspaaial fund. ?er:knpaa nore aaaurota steten;entof tLat lti certof our holdin& in OplnlonNo, O-l.394would be that the mnorakile Geo. X, Sheppard, pagr I? vital statlstios fees collected are to be deaoslted in the Special.vitol statistice fund and applied to the payment of salarieo provided for in the appropriation to the Bureau of Vital Statistics. Insofar as these fees are l.nsuffiaiant to pay all the solaries of the bureau authorized by the appropriation bill, payment thereof’ is to bs supplemented from the General Revenue Fund. We underattid from your letter that no withdrawals whatevsr were made during the last f’lsaal year from the Vital Statistiob Fund, but -t&t all eXpenditUr8S of the Vital Statistics Bureau wer6 paid out of the General Revenue Fund. In order to rectify this situation, it is our opinion that you should ns you sueqst, transfer the manias depoeited in the Vital StatistiCa Fund to the General Revenue Fund to apply agabst the expendituresof the Bureau of Vital gtatistiae. That such is the l~nttntion of the Legislature is to be fourd In the follo~~ii:g provision of Seotlon 2, Bouse Bill 613, Act3 1939, (which appears ae Rule 54a of Art1016 4477, 7eraon*S Civil Statutes) : * all EUU~fees shall be kept by the State Treasuie; in a special and separate fund, to be known aa the VVitnl Statistias %md*, ad the amounts so deposited in tkis fund may be used for def’raying expenses inaurred in the enforoement and ogerotlon of this Act .* Yours very truly Assistant