81R6040 SJM-D
By: Craddick H.B. No. 2212
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the division of certain emergency services districts.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Chapter 776, Health and Safety Code, is amended
by adding Subchapter F to read as follows:
SUBCHAPTER F. DIVISION OF DISTRICT
Sec. 776.091. AUTHORITY TO DIVIDE DISTRICT. The board of a
district located wholly in one county may divide the district by
disannexing territory from the district by ordering a new district
to be created in the manner provided by this subchapter.
Sec. 776.092. PETITION FOR DIVISION; NOTICE OF HEARING.
(a) Before the district may be divided, the district's board must
receive a petition for division signed by at least 100 qualified
voters of the district.
(b) A petition for division must include:
(1) the name of the district to be divided; and
(2) a description of the territory proposed to be the
new district's territory.
(c) On receipt of a petition in the proper form, the board
shall set a place, date, and time for a hearing to consider the
petition.
(d) The board shall issue a notice of the hearing that
includes:
(1) the name of the proposed district;
(2) a description of the proposed district's
boundaries; and
(3) the place, date, and time of the hearing on the
petition.
(e) The board shall publish the notice in a newspaper of
general circulation in the district once a week for two consecutive
weeks. The first publication must occur not later than the 21st day
before the date on which the hearing will be held.
Sec. 776.093. HEARING ON DIVISION OF DISTRICT. (a) At the
hearing on the petition for division of the district, the board
shall consider the petition and each issue relating to the division
of the district.
(b) Any interested person may appear before the board to
support or oppose the division.
(c) If the board finds that the creation of the new district
as proposed by the petition is feasible and practical and would be a
public benefit, the board shall make these findings and approve the
petition. The board shall approve or deny the petition not later
than 10 days after the date of the hearing.
Sec. 776.094. APPEAL. A person in the district or an owner
of real or personal property located in the district may appeal the
board's decision on the division of the district by filing an appeal
in the district court in the county in which a district is located.
Sec. 776.095. ELECTION TO CONFIRM DIVISION. (a) On the
granting of a petition to dissolve the district, the board shall
order an election to be held in the proposed new district to confirm
the division of the district.
(b) Notice of the election shall be given in the same manner
as the notice of hearing under Section 776.092.
(c) The election shall be held on the first authorized
uniform election date prescribed by the Election Code that allows
sufficient time to comply with the requirements of law.
(d) The ballot shall be printed to provide for voting for or
against the proposition: "Dividing the ________ Emergency Services
District to create a new emergency services district."
(e) If a majority of voters voting at the election vote to
divide the district, the board shall order the division.
(f) If a majority of those voting at the election vote
against dividing the district, the board may not order another
election on the issue before the first anniversary of the date of
the canvass of the election.
Sec. 776.096. DIVISION ORDER. A board order to divide a
district must:
(1) disannex the land of the new district from the
existing district contingent on the approval of the creation of the
new district at the election held under this subchapter;
(2) create the new district in accordance with this
chapter;
(3) name the new district; and
(4) include the metes and bounds description of the
territory of the new district and the existing district after
disannexation.
Sec. 776.097. ADMINISTRATION OF DISTRICTS AFTER DIVISION.
(a) The existing board continues in existence to govern the
territory of the existing district after disannexation.
(b) If the new district is located wholly in one county, the
commissioners court shall appoint a board in the manner described
by Section 776.033 not later than the 14th day after the date of the
board order dividing the district.
Sec. 776.098. TAXATION FOR OUTSTANDING BONDED DEBT. The
disannexation of territory from a district under this subchapter
does not diminish or impair the rights of the holders of any
outstanding and unpaid bonds, warrants, or other obligations of
that district. Property disannexed under this subchapter is not
released from its pro rata share of any of the district's bonded
indebtedness on the date of the disannexation, and the district may
continue to tax property in the disannexed territory until that
debt is paid as if the territory had not been disannexed.
SECTION 2. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives
a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as
provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this
Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this
Act takes effect September 1, 2009.