Montana Attorney General Opinion 15-489

Opinion No. 489. County Commissioners-Taxation-De- Iinquent Taxes-Fe(leral Right-of-Way PI'operty, Agreement Not to Hold De- linquent Tans Against. There is no authority, either expres;; or implied, for the county commission- ers to executl' an agreement, if such it can be called. with the Federal Gov- ernment not to hold delinquent taxes against Federal right-of-wa~- property for power line from Fort Peck project. March 8, 1934. Your letter to us of recent date read;; :IS follows: "The United Stntes' GO\'ernment 'Val' I~ngineering Department have re- quested the County Commissioners of this county to gi\'e them a statement agreeing to hold the delinquent taxe;; now against said right-of-way prop- erty which is heing obtained by the go,'ernment for power line across this county, as well as others which power line runs to the J<'ort Peck project, and thinking this matter might have come up before I am writing to obtain an opinion from your office in regard to same, und see what the procedure is, in connection therewith. "The GO\'ernment is obtaining a right-of-way strip of land in this coun- ty as well as other counties for the purpose of pu tting in their power line and as aguinst most of this property, there are delinquent taxes. It appears thut they want un agreement from Cascade County, that they will not hold delinquent taxes against this l'igllt-of-way property." 336 OPINIONS OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL The principle is firmly established in this jurisdiction that the Board of County Commissioners may exercise oniy such powers as are expressl, granted it by statute and such as are necessarily implied from those express- ly granted. (Lewis v. Petroleum Coun- ty, 92 Mont. 563; American Surety CO. Y. Clarke, 94 Mont. 1.) The authority of the Board of County Ccmmissioners, then, to execute the agreement, if such it can be called, which the War Engineering Depart- ment of the United States desires must be found in the laws of the State of Montana or it cannot be said to exist at all. A close reading on our part of the pertinent provisions of our Codes and Session Laws does not disclose the existence of the particlar power sought to he utilized in this instance. '1'he Board of County Commissioners should govern itself accordingly.