Texas Attorney General Opinion: JC-58 Page: 3 of 4
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The Honorable Yolanda de Le6n - Page 3 (JC-0058)
reasonably expended by the purchaser or taxing unit in the maintenance, preservation, and
safekeeping of the property, including but not limited to" items such as hazard insurance and
improvements required by building standards or lease terms. See id. 11. This enactment took
effect on January 1, 1998. Id. 14.
Again, the Code Construction Act provides that when amendments to the same statute are
enacted in the same session without reference to each other, the statutes must be harmonized if
possible. See TEX. GOV'T CODE ANN. 311.025(b) (Vernon 1998). If the statutes are irreconcilable,
the latest in date of enactment prevails. See id. For purposes of this provision, the date of enactment
is the date on which the last legislative vote is taken on the bill enacting the statue. Id. 311.025(d).
We do not believe that these two amendments to section 34.06(b) of the Tax Code can be
harmonized. Under Senate Bill 141, a taxing unit is permitted to retain costs and expenses of court,
sale, resale, and an amount equal to the amount the taxing unit has reasonably spent for the
maintenance and preservation of the property. After deducting those amounts, however, the taxing
unit must distribute the remainder of the proceeds as provided by section 34.02. Only two years
before, the Supreme Court had determined that section 34.02 foreclosed immediate distribution of
excess proceeds to the taxing authorities. See Syntax, 899 S.W.2d at 192. Senate Bill 141 retained
the reference to and did not amend section 34.02. House Bill 3306, on the other hand, deleted the
reference to section 34.02. Under House Bill 3306, the purchasing taxing unit, after paying costs
and expenses of court and sale and costs defined in section 34.21(i), is required to immediately
distribute the remainder of the proceeds to the taxing units participating in the sale on a pro rata
basis. As the Senate committee bill analysis stated:
[This bill] [a]mends Section 34.06(b), Tax Code, to require the purchasing
taxing unit to distribute the remainder of the proceeds to each taxing unit
participating to a certain degree in the sale, rather than distribute the proceeds as
provided by Section 34.02 of this codefor distributions ofproceeds afterpayment of
costs.
SENATE COMM. ON STATE AFFAIRS, BILL ANALYSIS, Tex. C.S.H.B. 3306, 75th Leg., R.S. (1997)
(emphasis added).
In sum, because Senate Bill 141 mandates distribution of excess proceeds pursuant to section
34.02 ofthe Tax Code whereas House Bill 3306 mandates immediate distribution of excess proceeds
among the participating taxing units, the two amendments to section 34.06(b) cannot be harmonized
and are irreconcilable. The last legislative vote on Senate Bill 141 was taken on May 23, 1997. See
S.J. OF TEX., 75th Leg., R.S. 2597 (1997). The last legislative vote on House Bill 3306 was taken
on May 25, 1997. See H.J. oF TEX., 75th Leg., R.S. 3734 (1997). Accordingly, under the terms of
the Code Construction Act, the amendments to section 34.06(b) made by House Bill 3306 must
prevail. See TEX. GOV'T CODE ANN. 311.025(b), (d) (Vernon 1998). Therefore, Senate Bill 141
was in effect only from its effective date, September 1, 1997, until January 1, 1998, when House Bill
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Texas. Attorney-General's Office. Texas Attorney General Opinion: JC-58, text, May 26, 1999; (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth274367/m1/3/: accessed July 17, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting UNT Libraries Government Documents Department.