A Graying Profession

COMING EVENTSThe Heart of Texas Boundary Retracement at WulffCedar Creek Ranch in McCulloch County will be amodern day search for original survey corners. Byutilizing county record information, GLO field notes,working sketches and aerial photos, the original surveys can be positioned within a small search area. Thisarea has not been bulldozed, chained or root plowedlike many of the ranches in Texas, therefore providinga rare opportunity to find several of the original corners.JANUARYJanuary30First TSPS Quarterly Board MeetingCommittee meetings and Chapter Presidents' Forumin the AM – Board of Directors meeting from1:00 PM - 5:00 PM.Austin Marriott North2600 La Frontera BlvdRound Rock, Texas 78681Room Rate – 109Call 512-733-6767 to make your reservation.The registration fee includes 16 hours of instructionand the materials, “bunkhouse” lodging and meals.Should you wish not to stay in the bunkhouse, butrather find lodging in Brady, you have that optionwhich includes meals. If you need to arrive on Wednesday night or leave on Sunday, you may select thoseadditional nights. Visit the Calendar online atwww.tsps.org for more details on this seminar, andregister online today to reserve your place. Space islimited!FEBRUARYFebruary26-27TSPS 2016 SymposiumHosted by TSPS Deep East Texas Chapter 6The MCM Elegante Hotel & Convention2355 IH-10 SouthBeaumont, Texas 77705Room Rate – 92 (Room discount ends February 11)16 CEUs available for attendees. Well-developedcourse materials. Hands-on learning. Two new courses.Five courses specifically designed for theParaprofessional!. and if that's not enough, a Friday night eventTHE SHINE GAMES CHALLENGE"Run Faster, Jump Higher, Spit Further"APRILApril30Second TSPS Quarterly Board MeetingCommittee meetings and Chapter Presidents’ Forumin the AM – Board of Directors meeting from1:00 PM - 5:00 PM.Omni Austin Hotel at Southpark4140 Governors RowAustin, Texas 78744Room Rate – 129Call 512-448-2222 to make your reservation.Check out pages 26-29 and view the 2016 SymposiumBrochure online for more details and a registrationform, or register today online at www.tsps.org!AUGUSTMARCHMarch20-26Texas & National Surveyors WeekLearn more about this annual event on theNational Society of Professional Surveyors (NSPS)website at www.nsps.us.com. Also, check out details inBenchmark on page 7.March24-262016 Heart of Texas Boundary RetracementSeminarInstructors include: D.G. (Greg) Smyth, RPLS, LSLS C.B. (Ben) Thomson, RPLS, LSLS Bill O’Hara, RPLS, LSLS Davey Edwards, RPLS, LSLS, CFedS16 CEUs (includes 1 hour Ethics & 2 hours Standards,as approved by TBPLS)Wulff Cedar Creek RanchFarm Road 76525 miles North of Brady, TexasBrady, Texas 76825The Texas Surveyor/January 2016August5-6Annual Strategic Planning, Ray Wisdom BBQ &Third TSPS Quarterly Board MeetingTSPS will hold jam-packed gathering in August atCanyon of the Eagles retreat in the Hill Country,combining its Annual Strategic Planning session andThird Quarterly Board Meeting, with the annual RayWisdom BBQ & Auction for land surveyingscholarships!Watch the TSPS website for upcoming details!OCTOBEROctober12-1565th Annual Convention & Tech ExpoEmbassy Suites Hotel, Spa & Conference Center1001 E. McCarty LaneSan Marcos, Texas 78666Room Rate – 159/nightPhone: 512-392-6450Earn up to 12 CEUs and take part in all of the greatspecial convention events and the Tech Expo. Detailsarrive Summer 2016 . we’ll see you in San Marcos!Page 9

FROM THE PRESIDENTPAUL T. CAREYSales Tax on the “Surveying of Real Property”In 1981 the Texas Legislature passed what Gov. Anne Richards describedas an “Emergency Revenue Bill” called the “Limited Sale, Excise andUse Tax Act” which included the following Section:Sec. 151.0048. REAL PROPERTY SERVICE. (a) Except as provided bySubsection (b), “real property service” means:(1) landscaping;(2) the care and maintenance of lawns,yards, or ornamental trees or other plants;(3) the removal or collection of garbage,rubbish, or other solid waste other than:(A) hazardous waste;(B) industrial solid waste;(C) waste material that results froman activity associated with the exploraPaul T. Careytion, development, or production of oil,RPLS #4454gas, geothermal resources, or any othersubstance or material regulated by theRailroad Commission of Texas under Section 91.101, Natural ResourcesCode;(D) domestic sewage or an irrigation return flow, to the extent thesewage or return flow does not constitute garbage or rubbish; and(E) industrial discharges subject to regulation by permit issuedpursuant to Chapter 26, Water Code;(4) building or grounds cleaning, janitorial, or custodial services;(5) a structural pest control service covered by Section 1951.003, Occupations Code; or(6) the surveying of real property.(b) “Real property service” does not include a service listed underSubsection (a) if the service is purchased by a contractor as part of theimprovement of real property with a new structure to be used as a residence or other improvement immediately adjacent to the new structureand used in the residential occupancy of the structure.(b-1) “Real property service” does not include a service listedunder Subsection (a) if the service is performed by a landman and isnecessary to negotiate or secure land or mineral rights for acquisition ortrade, including:(1) determining ownership;(2) negotiating a trade or agreement regarding land ormineral rights;Page 10(3) drafting and administering contractual agreements;(4) ensuring that all governmental regulations are compliedwith; and(5) any other action necessary to complete the transactionrelated to a service described by this subsection, other than aninformation service described by Section 151.0038.Added by Acts 1987, 70th Leg., 2nd C.S., ch. 5, art. 1, pt. 4, Sec.8.Amended by Acts 1991, 72nd Leg., ch. 705, Sec. 12, eff. Sept. 1, 1991;Acts 1993, 73rd Leg., ch. 1031, Sec. 19, eff. Sept. 1, 1993; Acts 1995,74th Leg., ch. 1000, Sec. 7, eff. Oct. 1, 1995; Acts 1997, 75th Leg., ch.1040, Sec. 13, eff. Sept. 1, 1997; Acts 1999, 76th Leg., ch. 1114, Sec.1.01, eff. Oct. 1, 1999; Acts 1999, 76th Leg., ch. 1114, Sec. 2.01, eff. Oct.1, 2001; Acts 2003, 78th Leg., ch. 1276, Sec. 14A.815, eff. Sept. 1, 2003.Amended by: Acts 2007, 80th Leg., R.S., Ch. 1266 (H.B. 3319), Sec. 1,eff. September 1, 2007.I believed then as I do now that these legislators knew as little aboutland surveying and surveyors as did the grounds keepers and landscapersalso included in this act. This is illustrated by the depth to which theyexplained waste disposal and left “the surveying of real property” standing without any further elaboration except to exempt those serving thehome-building and oil industry. The fact is that for the past thirty-plusyears, the Comptroller has struggled to determine what surveying services were included in “the surveying of real property” and are taxableand what surveying service are not. The Governmental Affairs Committee of the Texas Society of Professional Surveyors has invested hundredsor perhaps thousands of hours in an effort to achieve clarification. Just atthe end of 2014 the Comptroller determined that an elevation certificateshould be taxed. Until this time (for three decades) all topographic andelevation work was exempt. Even as of our last period of iterations withthe Comptroller there are still services that you and I are providing thatmight or might not be subject to taxation. There are current proposedrevisions cited in the last publication of the Texas Surveyor underconsiderations, now, in year thirty-five. Land surveying has not changedthat much since 1981, or since 1891 for that matter, yet we continue tostruggle with the Comptrollers’ Office to help decipher this misguidedlegislation.Legislators have no idea of the complexity of parsing taxable servicesfrom non-taxable services accrued in the process of providing surveyingservice on one project for one client. For instance; while working for adeveloper the surveyor will conduct a boundary survey (taxable) establish a benchmark (non-taxable), measure topography (non-taxable), stakeutilities and improvements for construction (non-taxable) prepare surveyplats (taxable), write a metes and bounds description on the boundary(taxable), write a metes and bounds description for a utility easement(?) The problem is that the personnel conducting these processes areoften combining their efforts. If the field personnel are collecting staticGPS satellite data for elevation and location while making the perimetersurvey and will use that data for topography and benchmarks later; is it(See From The President, page 11)The Texas Surveyor/January 2016

FROM THE PRESIDENTPAUL T. CAREY(Continued from page 10)taxable or is it only partly taxable? What part? The office personnel thatexamines the field data and processes the file is handling both components at the same time. The subdivision plat will have boundary information shown (taxable) and topography (non-taxable) It is practicallyimpossible to actually account for the split in the time that is spent on themultiple components of one project.In 2015 the Comptrollers website includes the following definition:Surveying is a real property service. It includes activities performed to determine or confirm the boundaries of real property,or to determine or confirm the location of structures or otherimprovements in relation to the boundaries of the property by theuse of relevant elements of law, research, measurement, analysis,computation, mapping, and land description. Examples includeboundary recovery, residential surveying, lot surveying, titlesurveying, as-built title surveying, and right-of-way surveying. Theterm does not include activities performed after taxable surveying has been completed to search the surveyed area for items ofarchaeological or historic significance. (Effective October 1, 1999,the owner of the residential property does not owe tax on surveying services that are purchased in connection with the constructionof a new residential structure. However, this provision for ownersexpires October 1, 2001.)- http://www.window.state.tx.us/taxinfo/taxpubs/tx94 157.htmlThe ongoing bureaucratic calisthenics only reinforces my argument.It causes me to examine the very fact that land surveyors are the onlyprofessional group in Texas required to collect sales tax on their services,taxes levied on their interpretation of government documents (research,like landmen and abstractors), on their opinions formed by their relianceon history and litigation (analysis, like lawyers) and on their illustrationsand explanations of their findings (drawings and descriptions, like engineers and architects). Such a levy should have appeared to be contrary tocommon sense on its very inception, but with a sympathetic majority inboth houses and with this Governor, a tax increase or new tax, altogether,was a slam dunk, passing both houses without any debate and signed bythe Governor the moment it hit the desk.But this tax is wrong, wrong on many levels. First, the government ofthis state authorizes the counties and cities to tax, year after year, theproperty owners of this state, all of whom will eventually need a survey.In some counties a homeowner will pay property taxes equal to the valueof their property before their mortgage is paid off and continue payingthem indefinitely, thereafter. Since a survey is often a necessary and mostcertainly a wise component of home or property ownership, it seemsonerous of the government to collect over eight percent of the surveycost, from the taxpayer, for this property owner to exercise wisdom inmanaging property on which the government is and has already collectedyears of property taxes. The land owner who buys a survey is, either,solving a conflict between himself and his neighbors or exercising prudence by his desire to know where to build something before beginning.This land owner should not be penalized for meeting his or her civicduty. These responsible land owners are doing the community a serviceby providing information to the community as a whole because in theprocess of providing our services to one owner we are marking or iden-The Texas Surveyor/January 2016It causes me to examine the very factthat land surveyors are the only professional group in Texas required to collectsales tax on their services, taxes leviedon their interpretation of governmentdocuments (research, like landmen andabstractors), on their opinions formedby their reliance on history and litigation (analysis, like lawyers) and on theirillustrations and explanations of theirfindings (drawings and descriptions,like engineers and architects).– Paul Careytifying the lines of all the adjoining owners, and possibly others, and ofany public property for all to see. These responsible land owners shouldbe receiving a tax credit instead of a being penalized.Additionally, and perhaps even more egregious, the government is taxingthe Professional Land Surveyors’ time. Surveyors generally do not itemize materials like pins, stakes, flagging, paper or ink. Surveyors collecttheir fee based on the usefulness of their product, the function of a document for its intended purpose (like attorneys) or the public establishmentor a boundary monument based on research, observation and experience.Our first obligation has always been to the public. Today, every Texassurveyor must sign an oath to protect the public with every year licenserenewal. So in essence, the government is taxing time. Historically thiswould be referred to as indentured servitude, or better defined in thiscase as “villein socage;” servitude of a specific nature not suitable to oneof honorable rank.Sales tax on land surveying is, in fact, double taxation on the property owner as well as the surveyor. As I said, the land owner will payproperty tax as long as there is government and should not be taxedfor responsibly maintaining his or her boundaries and in many casescomplying with local regulations governing construction or development(for which they will also be paying a fee (yet another tax). The surveyorwill pay sales tax on every wood stake, every steel stake, every pieceof flagging, pens, pencils, every sheet of paper, every computer, everyprinter, every ink cartridge, every hand tool, all office furnishing and awide assortment of expensive instruments and vehicles before producingone single survey. Then the surveyor will pay property tax, taxed again,on all of these items that are used to conduct the surveying business, an-(See From The President, page 12)Page 11

FROM THE PRESIDENTPAUL T. CAREY(Continued from page 11)nually. The surveyor will pay state and federal taxes for every employeethat works on a survey and pay taxes on the fuel, phone service, internetservice, gas and electric power, vehicle registration (tax) and licenserenewal fee (tax) to maintain the license to make a single survey. and, by the way, is that “emergency” over yet. I’ve noticed that legislation providing tax cuts and governing boards, all have expiration dates,“Sunsets;” why is it that “emergency revenue bills” have no expirationdates, lumbering on through misinterpretation and reinterpretation fordecades?No part of the relationship between the surveyor and the property ownerhas not been taxed prior to there being an actual survey made on thisproperty. So how is it that the legislators of the State of Texas believethat Professional Land Surveyors should be pressed into the service of,and forced to donate their time to this state, maintain an ever increasingly complex set of records (which the Comptroller has yet to comprehend) and inflate the cost of their service in order to collect additionaland redundant revenue for the State? This is simply impressment of thesurveyors themselves. There is no product being trucked across Texashighways. There are no storefronts stocked with items from extra-domestic sources.Surveyors have been an essential part of every significant advance ofsociety since the Egyptian Empire ruled the banks of Mediterranean.No battle, town, subdivision, business complex, apartment complex,road, map, highway, bridge, or even the transfer of property from thesovereign to the public has occurred without a land survey. Surveyorsbuilt this nation and this state. Surveyors became lawmen, legislators andleaders. Many counties in Texas are named after surveyors. Many TexasRangers were surveyors. No place was any place until it was surveyed.Surveying was fundamental to the creation, vital to the developmentand is crucial to the economy of this State. Why would the governmentof Texas willingly choose to demean this group of dedicated and vitalprofessionals by subjecting them to indentured servitude?The State places no such levy on the services of any of the other participants in the processes associated with or which lead to

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