Requirement that county provide facilities and items enumerated in Section 49.510 should prevail over requirement of Section 52.270 that collectors in counties included in classification of Section 52.260(14) should pay expenses of his office and other costs of collecting the revenue, as to items and facilities enumerated in 49.510.

COLLECTOR OF REVENUE: Requirement that county provide facilities and items enumerated in Section 49.510 should prevail over requirement of Section 52 . 270 that collectors in counties included in classification of Section 52.260(14) should pay expenses of his office and other costs of collecting the revenue, as to items and facilities enumerated in 49.510 . COUNTIES ; COUNTY OFFICES: January 19 , 1962 Honorable w. T. Scott, Supervisor County Department Department of Revenue Jefferson City, Missouri Dear Mr. Scott: 30 Your recent request for an opinion of th~s office reads as follows: "Our department respectfully requests an official opinion on the following matter= "Section 52.270 of Mo. RS states 1n part aa follows: "'The collector of revenue in any county within the classification of subdivisi on (14) or section 52.260 shall present for allowance proper vouchers for all disburse- menta made by him on account of salaries and expenaes ot his office and other costa of collecting the revenue, which shall be allowed as against the commi ssions collected by him;' "our question is, with regard to collectors in counties covered by subdivision (14) of Section 52.260, what specific items should be classified aa expenses of his office, and, other costa or coliecE:ilg the revenue . The statute you cite was brought into existence by Senate Bill 214 of the 7lst General Assembly . The form of Section 52.270 in effect immediately prior to the time when -2- Honorable w. T. Scott Senate Bill 214 became law did not include a provision of the same nature as the one you quote, although we find that earlier statutes on this subJect did have such provisions. The requirement that the collector "pay all salaries and other costa of collecting the respective revenues" found in Section 52.260 (14), R.S.Mo. 1949, was eliminated by Senate Bill 62 of the 70th General Assembly. Shortly after Senate Bill 62 ot the 70th General Assembly became law, this office issued an opinion at your request on the effect of that bill. In that opinion to JOU, dated December 30, 1959, it was held that payment of the operating expenses of collector•• offices in third class counties within eubdiv1a1on (14) of Section 52. 260 would thenceforward be governed by Section 49 .510, wh1eh ie the general statute relating to payment of expenses of county oi'f1cea by the county. Section 49 .510, R.S.Mo. 1959, provides as followaa "It ahall be the duty ot the county to provide offices or space where the officers or the county may properly carry on and perform the duties and functions or their respective offices. Said county shall maintain, furnish and equip said offices and provide them with the necessary stationery, supplies, equipment, appliances and furniture, all to be taken care of and paid out of the county treasury of said county at the time and in the manner that the county court may direct . " The determinative issue herein then is the effect of the new Section 52. 270, R.S.Mo. Cum. Supp, 1961, on the application of Section 49.510, R.S. Mo. 1959 . In an opinion issued by this office under date of April 3, 1959, to the Honorable Richard B. Snider, this oftice held, in effect, that Section 49 .510 prevailed over the then existing provision requiring the collector to pay the expenses or hia office insofar as rental or office apace was concerned. The position taken ln that opinion, a copy ot which is attached, was that Section 49.510 placed a clear and unambiguoua requirement on the county to provide the facilities and supplies enumerated therein, which requirement would obtain in all instances where it was not expressly overruled by another statute. -3- Honorable w. T. Scott Consistent with that opinion, we believe that the items and facilities enumerated in Section 49 .510 are not "expenses of his office and other coats of collecting the revenue. " Hence, your que•t1on is answered in negative terms in the sense that the expenses relative to securing the following items and facilities would not be chargeable against the collector' • commiss1onaa office apace, the maintenance, furnishing an4 equipping of the collector' • office with the necessary atationery4 supplies, equipment, appliances and furniture. Section 9.510. However., as recognised by the laat cited opinion, there may be a4ditional expenses which the collector would be obliged to p&J. An example or aueh expenses would be salaries of deputies and clerical hire, as contemplated by Section 52.280, R.S.Mo. 1959. Without attempting to catalogue every possible type of expenditure which would be included in the phrase "expenaea of his office and other costa of collecting the revenue" aa used in Section 52.270, R.S.Mo. Cum. S~p . 1961, let it be said that expenditures for 1tema and rac111tiea enumerated in Section 49.510 are not to be ao classified, but that other operatina expenses not included apecifically or by neceaaary implication in that section would be chargeable aga1nat the collector's commiaa1ons . CCI1CLUSI Clr Therefore, it ie the opinion of this office that the application of the provision in Section 52.270, R. S. Mo. Cum. Supp. 1961, requiring collectors in counties within the classification or Subdivision (14) or Section 52 .260 to pay tor office expenses and collection costa, should be limited to expenditures other than for the items and fae111t1ea to be furnialled by the county under Section 49.510. The provision of Section 52.270 in question ahould be invoked to require payment out or the collector•• commission or itema such as aalar1ea or deputies and clerks as well aa other expensea incidental to the performance of the collector's ~ct1on and not otherwise provided for. This opinion, which I hereby approve, was prepared by my Asa1atant 1 Albert J . Stephan, Jr. AJS:BJ Yours very truly, THOMAs P. lloLITCil Attorney General