Attorney General Opinions Issued

GA-0734: Honorable Tom Maness, Jefferson County Criminal District Attorney, calculation of the maximum time allowable for tax abatement under Tax Code section 312.204(d).

Summary: The maximum ten-year tax abatement period authorized under Tax Code section 312.204(a) may commence in a year subsequent to the year in which an agreement providing for the tax abatement is entered into by the taxing unit and the owner of the property subject to the agreement.

GA-0735: Honorable Armando G. Barrera, 79th Judicial District Attorney, authority of a county bail bond board to assess a fee to bail bond companies to recover the cost of employing a bail bond administrator.

Summary: A county bail bond board may not impose a fee on bonding companies to pay for the cost of employing a bail bond administrator.

GA-0737: Honorable Elizabeth Murray-Kolb, Guadalupe County Attorney, whether a municipality engaged in the process of annexing territory may use section 43.052(h) (1) of the Local Government Code under various circumstances.

Summary: While the statute would benefit from legislative clarification, we conclude that section 43.052(h)(1) of the Local Government Code does not require that a residence be located on each tract of the area proposed for annexation. An annexation undertaken pursuant to section 43.052(h) is not void if the municipality fails to adopt a three-year annexation plan. Whether a service plan requires a landowner to fund a capital improvement in a manner inconsistent with Local Government Code chapter 395 requires the resolution of questions of fact that cannot be determined in an attorney general opinion.

GA-0739: Honorable Richard R. Hicks III, Caldwell County Criminal District Attorney, whether premiums paid for group health insurance by the Caldwell County Employee Benefit Trust are subject to insurance premium taxes under section 222.002 of the Insurance Code.

Summary: Subsection 222.002(c)(5)(A) of the Insurance Code creates a tax exemption for certain premiums paid on group health, accident, and life insurance policies by a single nonprofit trust established to provide coverage for employees of municipalities, counties, or hospital districts. The Legislature has not defined the term single nonprofit trust, and the Comptroller of Public Accounts, as the agency charged with administering and enforcing the premium tax statute, has interpreted the term to mean a trust established for the single purpose of paying insurance premiums. Although the Comptroller's construction of this ambiguous phrase is reasonable, the Comptroller is too narrowly defining single purpose such that the trust can only pay insurance premiums. As long as the trust funds are used to further the purpose of providing insurance coverage for employees and their dependents, their use is not contrary to the limitations placed on a trust created under subsection 222.002(c)(5)(A).