Texas Attorney General Opinion: KP-0028 Page: 1 of 3
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KEN PAXTON
ATTORNEY GENERAL OF TEXAS
July 13, 2015
The Honorable Bob Wortham Opinion No. KP-0028
Jefferson County Criminal District Attorney
1085 Pearl Street, 3rd floor Re: Whether a Type C municipality may
Beaumont, Texas 77701 levy an ad valorem property tax
(RQ-0006-KP)
Dear Mr. Wortham:
On behalf of the mayor of the City of Taylor Landing, Texas (the "City"), you ask whether
a Type C general-law municipality may levy an ad valorem property tax.1 In a letter attached to
your request, the mayor states that the City has a population of 272 and provides various municipal
services. Durkay Letter at 1.2 The mayor asks whether the City may impose "a traditional
ad valorem tax," but he is uncertain whether the City has that authority under the principles
discussed in Attorney General Opinion JC-0291. Id. at 1-2. That opinion advises that the power
to tax, which belongs to the state, can be exercised by a political subdivision only when the
constitution or the Legislature has expressly granted taxing authority to the political subdivision.
Tex. Att'y Gen. Op. No. JC-0291 (2000) at 4 (determining that a political subdivision may levy
an ad valorem tax only if the constitution or the Legislature has "plainly and unmistakably
conferred" such authority). While that opinion concerned a county development district, the same
principles govern the taxing authority of a Type C general-law municipality. See Tex. City v. J.L..
Martin Inv. Co., 222 S.W.2d 139, 141 (Tex. Civ. App.-Galveston 1949, writ ref d) (stating that
"municipalities are strictly limited in the exercising of their taxing power to the powers expressly
granted them by the constitution or by statute, either expressly or by necessary implication");
Vance v. Town of Pleasanton, 261 S.W. 457, 458 (Tex. Civ. App.--San Antonio 1924) (stating
that general-law municipalities "have no -power to levy or collect taxes upon property within their
'See Letter from Honorable Bob Wortham, Jefferson Cnty. Crim. Dist. Att'y, to Office of the Tex. Att'y Gen.
at 1 (Jan. 20, 2015), https://www.texasattorneygeneral.gov/opinion/requests-for-opinion-rqs ("Request Letter");
Letter from Honorable John J. Durkay, Mayor, City of Taylor Landing, to Honorable Bob Wortham (Jan. 13, 2015)
("Durkay Letter") (attached to Request Letter).
2The 2010 decennial census lists the population of the City of Taylor Landing, Texas as 228. See U.S. Census
Bureau, U.S. Dep't of Commerce, 2010 Census of Population, http://factfindercensus.gov.
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Texas. Attorney-General's Office. Texas Attorney General Opinion: KP-0028, text, July 13, 2015; (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth1050997/m1/1/: accessed July 17, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting UNT Libraries Government Documents Department.