City of Wichita Falls v. ITT Commercial Finance Corp.
Cases that cite this one
11 later published cases cite this decision. The 9 that cite it most often are listed here.
- Lyda Swinerton Builders, Inc. v. Cathay Bank (Tex. App. 2013)
- United States v. Boardwalk Motor Sports, Ltd. (5th Cir. 2012)
- Jostens, Inc. v. Hammons, Jr. (District Court, E.D. Texas 2020)
- Domain Protection LLC v. Sea Wasp LLC (District Court, E.D. Texas 2019)
- City of El Paso v. Mountain Vista Builders, Inc. (Tex. App. 2017)
- 2012 Properties, LLC v. Garland Independent School District (Tex. App. 2015)
- Central Appraisal District of Taylor County v. Dixie-Rose Jewels, Inc. (Tex. App. 1995)
- State, Cty. of Bexar v. Southoaks Dev. (Tex. App. 1995)
- Crutcher v. Continental Nat. Bank (Tex. App. 1994)
This list shows which later cases cite this one. It does not say how they treated it, and no review of that has been done. Not a substitute for Shepard’s or KeyCite — verify before relying.
Opinion
The three taxing units in this case, the City of Wichita Falls, the Wichita Falls Independent School District, and the County of Wichita, sued ITT Commercial Finance Corporation for collection of delinquent taxes and for conversion of property on which the taxing units claimed a tax lien. The court of appeals affirmed a summary judgment in favor of ITT and assessed all costs of appeal against the taxing units. 827 S.W.2d 6. We reverse the portion of the judgment of the court of appeals assessing costs.
Section 33.49 of the Texas Tax Code provides:
(a) Except as provided by Subsection *66 (b) 1 of this section, a taxing unit is not liable in a suit to collect taxes for court costs, including any fees for service of process, and may not be required to post security for the costs.
Id. at § 33.49 (Vernon 1982) (footnote added).
With certain exceptions not relevant here, taxing units are exempt from court costs in suits to collect delinquent taxes. Id.; see also Leander Indep. Sch. Dist. v. Texas Conference Ass’n of Seventh-Day Adventists, 679 S.W.2d 487 (Tex. 1984) (per curiam); Manges v. Freer Indep. Sch. Dist., 728 S.W.2d 842 (Tex.App.—San Antonio 1987, writ ref’d n.r.e.); Arnold v. Crockett Indep. Sch. Dist., 688 S.W.2d 884 (Tex.App.—Tyler 1985, no writ). Therefore, a majority of the court grants petitioners’ application for writ of error and without hearing oral argument, reverses the portion of the judgment of the court of appeals assessing costs against the taxing units. Tex.R.App.P. 170.
. Subsection (b) pertains to the cost of publishing citations, notices of sale, or other notices. Tex. Tax Code Ann. § 33.49(b) (Vernon 1982).
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.