Do employees of a private firm hired to collect a Texas taxing unit's property taxes have to register as tax professionals?

Texas AG Opinion JM-918: Must Private Tax Collectors Register With the State?

Plain-English summary

Some Texas taxing units, instead of running their own tax office, hire a private company to do the collecting. The company sends out field collectors to chase down current and delinquent property taxes, and company officers supervise the operation. The Board of Tax Professional Examiners wanted to know whether those private employees have to register with the Board, the way government tax professionals do. It matters because registration is the gateway to a state certification requirement, and getting the answer wrong could either burden a private firm with paperwork it does not owe or let uncertified people handle public tax collection.

The Attorney General's answer is a conditional yes, and the condition is the interesting part. The registration statute treats two groups of tax workers differently. For people who appraise property, the rule is flat: they register, full stop, and the Board already registers the field appraisers and supervising officers of private appraisal firms that contract with appraisal districts. For people who assess and collect taxes, the rule is narrower. The statute requires only two kinds of collection people to register: the chief administrator who runs the taxing unit's assessment or collection functions, and anyone else performing those functions whom that chief administrator decides to require to register. That second category is not automatic. It hinges on a judgment call by the local tax office's top official.

So for the staff of a private collection firm, the answer runs through two gates. First, are they actually performing assessment or collection functions? If a firm is collecting all of a taxing unit's current and delinquent taxes, its field collectors and the officers directing them plainly are. Second, has the chief administrator of the taxing unit's tax office required them to register? If yes to both, they must register with the Board. If the chief administrator has not required it, they do not. The Attorney General was careful to say he was not passing on whether these collection contracts are proper in the first place; the question was only about registration, and on that the local administrator holds the switch.

Currency note

This opinion was issued in 1988. Later statutes, court decisions, and AG opinions may have changed the analysis. Treat this page as historical context, not current legal advice. Verify current law before relying on any specific rule mentioned here.

The registration and certification scheme for Texas property-tax professionals, then found in article 7244b, V.T.C.S., has since been recodified into the Occupations Code, and the Board of Tax Professional Examiners itself was later abolished, with its functions transferred to the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation. The categories of who must register and be certified, and the mechanics of how collection contracts and staff are treated, have been revised in the process. The basic idea here, that mandatory registration for collections staff can turn on whether the taxing unit's chief tax administrator requires it, reflects the statute as it read in 1988, but anyone dealing with tax-professional registration today should work from the current Occupations Code provisions and the licensing agency's rules rather than the article 7244b language cited here.

Who this opinion affected (as of 1988)

Private tax collection firms: The opinion told them their field collectors and supervising officers might have to register with the Board, but only if the contracting taxing unit's chief tax administrator required it.

Chief tax administrators of taxing units: The opinion put the decision in their hands. Their choice whether to require the firm's collection staff to register is what triggers the obligation under section 11(2).

The Board of Tax Professional Examiners: The opinion clarified how to apply section 11(2) to contracted-out collections, distinguishing it from the automatic registration of appraisal-firm personnel under section 11(1).

Common questions

Do a private collection firm's employees automatically have to register?
No. Registration for collection staff is not automatic. It applies only if the chief administrator of the taxing unit's tax office requires them to register, and only if they are performing assessment or collection functions.

Why are appraisers treated differently?
Under section 11(1), appraisal personnel must register regardless, and the Board already registers field appraisers and supervising officers of private appraisal firms. The collections category in section 11(2) is written more narrowly and depends on the chief administrator's decision.

Who is the "chief administrator" who makes the call?
The tax assessor-collector, tax collector, or other person designated by the taxing unit's governing body as the chief administrator of its assessment or collection functions. Every taxing unit has one.

Did the Attorney General say whether hiring a private firm to collect taxes is even allowed?
No. The opinion expressly did not address the basis for such contracts. It answered only the registration question.

Background and statutory framework

The Property Taxation Professional Certification Act created the Board of Tax Professional Examiners and requires certain persons engaged in appraisal, assessment, or collection of taxes to register with the Board and proceed toward certification (V.T.C.S. article 7244b, sections 4, 11). Section 11 lists three categories of persons who must register: (1) chief appraisers, appraisal supervisors and assistants, property tax appraisers, appraisal engineers, and others with authority to render judgment on, recommend, or certify appraised values to an appraisal district's appraisal review board; (2) the tax assessor-collector, tax collector, or other person designated by the governing body of a taxing unit as the chief administrator of the unit's assessment functions, collections functions, or both, "and other persons who perform assessment or collections functions for the unit whom the chief administrator of the unit's tax office requires to register"; and (3) all persons engaged in appraisals of real or personal property for ad valorem tax purposes for an appraisal district or a taxing unit.

The Act treats those who appraise property differently from those who assess and collect taxes. Under section 11(1), all listed appraisal personnel must register, and the Board accordingly registers field appraisers of private appraisal firms and the company officers who supervise and direct appraisal operations when the firm contracts with an appraisal district. Section 11(2), governing assessment and collection, is narrower: it requires registration only of the chief administrator of a taxing unit and of those who perform assessment or collection functions for the unit whom the chief administrator of the unit's tax office requires to register.

Applying that to the members and staff of a private collection firm, two questions must be asked: are they performing assessment or collection functions, and has the chief administrator required them to register? If the answer to both is yes, they must register with the Board. The Attorney General did not address the basis for the collection contracts themselves, discussing only whether the firm's personnel must register. He noted that every taxing unit has a tax assessor-collector, tax collector, or chief administrator (Tax Code sections 6.21 (county) and 6.22 (other taxing units)), and referenced the county tax assessor-collector's constitutional role (Attorney General Opinion JM-833 (1987), relying on Tex. Const. article VIII, sections 14 and 18).

Citations

Statutory and constitutional authority:

• Property Taxation Professional Certification Act, V.T.C.S. article 7244b, sections 4, 11 (registration with and certification by the Board of Tax Professional Examiners)
• V.T.C.S. article 7244b, section 11(1) (appraisal personnel must register), section 11(2) (chief administrator and required collections/assessment staff must register), section 11(3) (appraisal personnel for a district or taxing unit)
• Tax Code section 6.21 (county tax assessor-collector); Tax Code section 6.22 (tax assessor-collector or collector for other taxing units)
• Tex. Const. article VIII, sections 14 and 18 (county tax assessor-collector; appraisal)

Prior Attorney General materials referenced: JM-833 (1987).

Source

• Landing page: https://www.texasattorneygeneral.gov/opinions/jim-mattox/jm-918
• Original PDF: https://www.texasattorneygeneral.gov/sites/default/files/opinion-files/opinion/1988/jm0918.pdf

Original opinion text

Best-effort transcription from a scanned PDF. Minor OCR errors may remain; the linked PDF is authoritative. The scan rendered the statute number several ways (for example "724433" and "7344b"); the correct citation is article 7244b, V.T.C.S., used throughout.

THE ATTORNEY GENERAL OF TEXAS

June 20, 1988

Mr. Sam H. Smith
Executive Director
Board of Tax Professional Examiners
P. O. Box 15920
Austin, Texas 78716

Opinion No. JM-918

Re: Whether the registration requirements of article 7244b, V.T.C.S., apply to personnel of a private collection firm that has contracted to perform property tax collection services for a taxing unit (RQ-1159)

Dear Mr. Smith:

The Property Taxation Professional Certification Act created the Board of Tax Professional Examiners and requires certain specified persons engaged in appraisal, assessment, or collection of taxes to register with the board and proceed toward certification by the board. V.T.C.S. art. 7244b, §§ 4, 11. You inform us that several taxing units have entered into contracts with a private collection firm providing that the firm collects all current and delinquent property taxes levied by the taxing units. You ask us the following question:

When a taxing unit does not, in fact, employ an assessor/collector or collector, and instead contracts with a private firm for all functions related to the collection of current and delinquent property taxes, are the field collectors of the firm and/or the company officers who supervise and direct collections operations for the firm required to register with the Board of Tax Professional Examiners?

You have not asked, and we do not address, the basis for such contracts. We only discuss whether persons employed by a private collection firm under contract to assist in the collection of taxes must register with the board.

Section 11 of the act sets forth those persons required to register with the board and provides the following (emphasis added):

The following persons shall register with the board:

(1) all chief appraisers, appraisal supervisors and assistants, property tax appraisers, appraisal engineers, and other persons with authority to render judgment on, recommend, or certify appraised values to the appraisal review board of an appraisal district;

(2) the tax assessor-collector, tax collector, or other person designated by the governing body of a taxing unit as the chief administrator of the unit's assessment functions, collections functions, or both; and other persons who perform assessment or collections functions for the unit whom the chief administrator of the unit's tax office requires to register; and

(3) all persons engaged in appraisals of real or personal property for ad valorem tax purposes for an appraisal district or a taxing unit.

V.T.C.S. art. 7244b, § 11.

You inform us that the board, pursuant to section 11(1), registers field appraisers employed by private appraisal firms, as well as the company officers of those appraisal firms who supervise and direct appraisal operations, in those instances in which an appraisal firm enters into an appraisal contract with an appraisal district. Essentially you wish to know whether the board, pursuant to the underscored language of section 11(2), must register field collectors for a private collection firm and the firm officers who supervise and direct their activities, in an instance in which a taxing unit enters into a contract with the firm "for all functions related to the collection of current and delinquent property taxes."

The act treats those who appraise property differently from those who assess and collect taxes. Pursuant to section 11(1), all those who appraise property must register with the board. As for those who assess and collect taxes, however, section 11(2) of the act only requires registration of (1) the chief administrator of a taxing unit[1] and (2) those who "perform assessment or collections functions for the unit whom the chief administrator of the unit's tax office requires to register." With regard to members and staff of a private collection firm, two questions must be asked: (1) are they performing assessment or collection functions? and (2) has the chief administrator required them to register? If the answer to both questions is yes, then such persons must register with the board.

[1] Every taxing unit has a tax assessor-collector, tax collector, or chief administrator. Tax Code, § 6.21 (county); Tax Code § 6.22 (other taxing units). Regarding the constitutional authority of the county tax assessor-collector to assess and collect county taxes, see Attorney General Opinion JM-833 (1987), relying upon Tex. Const. art. VIII, §§ 14 and 18.

SUMMARY

In an instance in which a taxing unit has entered into a contract to obtain assistance in current and delinquent tax collections from a private collection firm, the field collectors of the firm and the firm officers who supervise and direct collections operations for the firm must register with the Board of Tax Professional Examiners, pursuant to section 11 of article 7244b, V.T.C.S., if the chief administrator of the taxing unit's tax office so requires.

Very truly yours,

JIM MATTOX
Attorney General of Texas

MARY KELLER
First Assistant Attorney General

LOU MCCREARY
Executive Assistant Attorney General

JUDGE ZOLLIE STEAKLEY
Special Assistant Attorney General

RICK GILPIN
Chairman, Opinion Committee

Prepared by F. Scott McCown
Assistant Attorney General