Texas Almanac, 1949-1950 Page: 76
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76 TEXAS ALMANAC.-19491950.
Article IX.-(Continued.)
as hereinbefore authorized, shall provide to
regulate the status, service, duties or com-
pensation of members of the Legislature,
Judges of the courts. District Attorneys,
County Attorneys, or any office whatever by
the law of the State required to be filled by
an election embracing more than one county.
Excepting herefrom nominations, elections or
appointments to offices, the terms whereof
may not have expired prior to the adoption
of this amendment to the Constitution, at
such time as a charter provision adopted
hereunder may be in effect (save as to those
offices which must continue to be elective.
as herein elsewhere specified), all terms of
county officers and all contracts for the giv-
ing of service by deputies under such officers,
may be subject to termination by the admin-
istrative body of the county, under an
adopted charter so providing, and there shall
be no liability by reason thereof.
d. Any county electing to operate hereunder
shall have the power, by charter provision.
to levy, assess and collect taxes, and to fix
the maximum rate for ad valorem taxes to
be levied for specific purposes, in accordance
with the Constitution and laws of this State,
provided, however, that the limit of the ag-
gregate taxes which may be levied, assessed
and collected hereunder shall not exceed the
limit or total fixed, or hereafter to be fixed
by this Constitution to control counties, and
the annual assessment upon property, both
real, personal and mixed, shall be a first
superior and prior lien thereon.
e. In addition to the powers herein pro-
vided, and in addition to powers included in
county home rule charters, any county may,
by a majority vote of the qualified electors
of said county, amend its charter to include
other powers, functions, duties and rights
which now or hereafter may be provided by
this Constitution and the statutes of the
State for counties.
(4) Any county operating hereunder shall
have the power to borrow money for all pur-
poses lawful under its charter, to include the
refunding of a lawful debt, in a manner con-
forming to the general laws of the State. and
may issue therefor its obligations. Such obli-
gations, other than those to refund a lawful
debt, shall not be valid unless authorized by
a majority of all votes cast by those resident
qualified voters of the area affected by the
taxes required to retire such obligations, who
may vote thereon. In case of county obliga-
tions, maturing after a period of five (5)
years, the same shall be issued to mature
serially, fixing the first maturity of principal
at a time not to exceed two (2) years next
after the date of the issuance of such obliga-
tions. Such obligations may pledge the full
faith and credit of the county; but in no
event shall the aggregate obligations so is-
sued, in principal amount outstanding at an
one time, exceed the then existing constitu-
tional limits for such obligations and such
indebtedness and its supporting tax shall
constitute a first and superior lien upon the
property taxable in such county. No obliga-
tion issued hereunder shall be valid unless
prior to the time of the issuance thereof
there be levied a tax sufficient to retire the
same as it matures, which tax shall not ex-
ceed the then existing constitutional limits.
(5) Such charter may authorize the gov-
erning body of a county operating hereunder
to prescribe the schedule of fees to be
charged by the officers of the county for
specified service, to be in lieu of the schedule
for such fees prescribed by the general laws
of the State; and, to appropriate such fees
to such funds as the charter may prescribe;
provided, however, no fees for a specified
service shall exceed in amount the fee fixed
by general law for that same service. Suchcharter as to all judicial officers, other than
District Judges may prescribe the qualifica-
tions for services, provided the standards
therefor be not lower than those fixed by
the general laws of the State.
(6) a. Subject to the express limitations
upon the exercise of the powers of this sub-
division to be authorized, such charters may
provide (or omit to provide) that the govern-
mental and/or proprietary functions of any
city, town, district or other defined political
subdivision (which is a governmental agency
and embraced within the boundaries of the
county) be transferred, either as to some or
all of the functions thereof, and yielded to the
control of the administrative body of the
county. No such transfer or yielding of func-
tions may be effected, unless the proposal is
submitted to a vote of the people, and, un-
less otherwise provided by a two-thirds vote
of the total membership of each house of the
Legislature, such a proposal shall be sub-
mitted as a separate issue, and the vote
within and without any such city, town, dis-
trict, or other defined governmental entity,
shall be separately cast and counted, and
unless two thirds of the qualified votes cast
within the yielding defined governmental en-
tity, and a mjorit of the qualified votes
cast in the remainder of the county. favor
the proposed merger, it shall not be effected.
In case of the mergers hereby authorized,
without express charter provision therefor,
in so far as may be required to make effec-
tive the object of the proposed merger, the
county shall succeed to all the appropriate
lawful powers, duties, rights, procedures, re-
strictions and limitations which prior to the
merger were reposed in, or imposed upon,
the yielding governmental agency. Particu-
larly, it is provided that the power to create
funded indebtedness and to levy taxes in
support thereof may be exercised only by
such procedures, and within such limits, as
now are, or hereafter may be, provided by
law to control such appropriate other govern-
mental agencies were they to be Independ-
ently administered. Such mee mergers may be
effected under proposed contracts between
the county and any such yielding govern-
mental agency, to be approved at an election
as hereinbefore provided for In orde oer to in-
crease governmental efficiency and effect
economy the county may contract with the
principal city of the county to perform one
or more of its functions, provided such con-
tracts shall not be valid for more than two
(2) years.
b. In case of the partial or complete merger
of the government of a city operating under a
home rule charter, with the government of a
county operating hereunder, those city char-
ter provisions affected thereby shall cease
to control, and the county charter provisions
shall control.
c. When any embraced incorporated city or
town elects to merge its governmental func-
tions with those of the county under the pro-
vistions hereof, such charter may provide for
defining or redefining the boundaries of such
cities and towns, provided, however, that in
defining or redefining the boundaries of such
cities and towns, such boundaries may be
extended only to include those areas con-
tiguous to such cities as are urban in char-
acter; and as to such cities or towns and for
the benefit thereof the county, in addition
to the primary city and county tax herein
authorized and any other lawful district tax,
may levy and collect taxes upon the property
taxable within such city or town as defined
or redefined, within the limits authorized by
Sections 4 and 5 of Article XI of this Consti-
tution (or any amendment thereof), for in-
corporated cities according to the population,
provided that no tax greater than that exist-
ing at the time of such merger or for any
added purpose shall be imposed upon any
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Texas Almanac, 1949-1950, book, 1949; Dallas, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth117167/m1/78/: accessed April 23, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.