Texas 2009 - 81st Regular

Texas House Bill HB3491 Compare Versions

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1	1	By: Zerwas H.B. No. 3491
2	2
3	3
4	4	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
5	5	AN ACT
6	6	relating to the creation, administration, powers, and duties of a
7	7	county assistance district.
8	8	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
9	9	SECTION 1. Section 387.003, Local Government Code, is
10	10	amended by amending Subsections (a), (b), (b-1), (c), (e), (f), and
11	11	(h) and adding Subsections (a-1), (i), and (j) to read as follows:
12	12	(a) The commissioners court of the county may call an
13	13	election on the question of creating a county assistance district
14	14	under this chapter. More than one county assistance district may be
15	15	created in a county.
16	16	(a-1) A district may [to] perform the following functions in
17	17	the district:
18	18	(1) the construction, maintenance, or improvement of
19	19	roads or highways;
20	20	(2) the provision of law enforcement and detention
21	21	services;
22	22	(3) the maintenance or improvement of libraries,
23	23	museums, parks, or other recreational facilities;
24	24	(4) the provision of services that benefit the public
25	25	health or welfare, including the provision of firefighting and fire
26	26	prevention services; or
27	27	(5) the promotion of economic development and tourism.
28	28	(b) The order calling the election must:
29	29	(1) define the boundaries of the district to include
30	30	any portion of the county in which the combined tax rate of all
31	31	local sales and use taxes imposed, including the rate to be imposed
32	32	by the district if approved at the election, would not exceed the
33	33	maximum combined rate of sales and use taxes imposed by political
34	34	subdivisions of this state that is prescribed by Sections 321.101
35	35	and 323.101, Tax Code [two percent]; and
36	36	(2) call for the election to be held within those
37	37	boundaries.
38	38	(b-1) If the proposed district includes any territory of a
39	39	municipality, the commissioners court shall send notice by
40	40	certified mail to the governing body of the municipality of the
41	41	commissioners court's intent to create the district. If the
42	42	municipality has created a development corporation under Chapter
43	43	504 or 505 [Section 4A or 4B, Development Corporation Act of 1979
44	44	(Article 5190.6, Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes)], the
45	45	commissioners court shall also send the notice to the board of
46	46	directors of the corporation. The commissioners court must send
47	47	the notice not later than the 60th day before the date the
48	48	commissioners court orders the election. The governing body of the
49	49	municipality may exclude the territory of the municipality from the
50	50	proposed district by sending notice by certified mail to the
51	51	commissioners court of the governing body's desire to exclude the
52	52	municipal territory from the district. The governing body must
53	53	send the notice not later than the 45th day after the date the
54	54	governing body receives notice from the commissioners court under
55	55	this subsection. The territory of a municipality that is excluded
56	56	under this subsection may subsequently be included in:
57	57	(1) the district in an election held under Subsection
58	58	(f) with the consent of the municipality; or
59	59	(2) another district after complying with the
60	60	requirements of this subsection and after an election under
61	61	Subsection (f).
62	62	(c) The ballot at the election must be printed to permit
63	63	voting for or against the proposition: "Authorizing the creation
64	64	of the ____ County Assistance District No.___ (insert name of
65	65	district) and the imposition of a sales and use tax at the rate of
66	66	____ [of one] percent (insert [one-eighth, one-fourth,
67	67	three-eighths, or one-half, as] appropriate rate) for the purpose
68	68	of financing the operations of the district."
69	69	(e) If a majority of the votes received at the election are
70	70	against the creation of the district, the district is not created
71	71	and the county at any time may call one or more elections [another
72	72	election] on the question of creating one or more [a] county
73	73	assistance districts [district may not be held in the county before
74	74	the first anniversary of the most recent election concerning the
75	75	creation of a district].
76	76	(f) The commissioners court may call an election to be held
77	77	in an area of the county that is not located in a district created
78	78	under this section to determine whether the area should be included
79	79	in the district and whether the district's sales and use tax should
80	80	be imposed in the area. An election may not be held in an area in
81	81	which the combined tax rate of all local sales and use taxes
82	82	imposed, including the rate to be imposed by the district if
83	83	approved at the election, would exceed the maximum combined rate of
84	84	sales and use taxes imposed by political subdivisions of this state
85	85	that is prescribed by Sections 321.101 and 323.101, Tax Code [two
86	86	percent].
87	87	(h) If more than one election to authorize a local sales and
88	88	use tax is held on the same day in the area of a proposed district or
89	89	an area proposed to be added to a district and if the resulting
90	90	approval by the voters would cause the imposition of a local sales
91	91	and use tax in any area to exceed the maximum combined rate of sales
92	92	and use taxes of political subdivisions of this state that is
93	93	prescribed by Sections 321.101 and 323.101, Tax Code [two percent],
94	94	only a tax authorized at an election under this section may be
95	95	imposed.
96	96	(i) In addition to the authority to include an area in a
97	97	district under Subsection (f), the governing body of a district by
98	98	order may include an area in the district on receipt of a petition
99	99	or petitions signed by the owner or owners of the majority of the
100	100	land in the area to be included in the district. If there are no
101	101	qualified voters in the area to be included in the district, no
102	102	election is required.
103	103	(j) The commissioners court by order may exclude an area
104	104	from the district if the district has no outstanding bonds payable
105	105	wholly or partly from sales and use taxes and the exclusion does not
106	106	impair any outstanding district debt or contractual obligation.
107	107	SECTION 2. Section 387.005, Local Government Code, is
108	108	amended to read as follows:
109	109	Sec. 387.005. GOVERNING BODY. (a) The commissioners
110	110	court of the county in which the district is created by order shall
111	111	provide that:
112	112	(1) the commissioners court is the governing body of
113	113	the district; or
114	114	(2) the commissioners court shall appoint a governing
115	115	body of the district.
116	116	(b) A member of the governing body of the district
117	117	[commissioners court] is not entitled to compensation for service
118	118	[on the governing body of the district] but is entitled to
119	119	reimbursement for actual and necessary expenses.
120	120	(c) A board of directors appointed by the commissioners
121	121	court under this section shall consist of five directors who serve
122	122	staggered terms of two years. To be eligible to serve as a
123	123	director, a person must be at least 18 years of age and a resident of
124	124	the county in which the district is located. The initial directors
125	125	shall draw lots to achieve staggered terms, with three of the
126	126	directors serving one-year terms and two of the directors serving
127	127	two-year terms.
128	128	SECTION 3. Section 387.006(a), Local Government Code, is
129	129	amended to read as follows:
130	130	(a) A district may:
131	131	(1) perform any act necessary to the full exercise of
132	132	the district's functions;
133	133	(2) accept a grant or loan from:
134	134	(A) the United States;
135	135	(B) an agency or political subdivision of this
136	136	state; or
137	137	(C) a public or private person;
138	138	(3) acquire, sell, lease, convey, or otherwise dispose
139	139	of property or an interest in property under terms determined by the
140	140	district;
141	141	(4) employ necessary personnel; [and]
142	142	(5) adopt rules to govern the operation of the
143	143	district and its employees and property; and
144	144	(6) enter into agreements with municipalities
145	145	necessary or convenient to achieve the district's purposes,
146	146	including agreements regarding the duration, rate, and allocation
147	147	between the district and the municipality of sales and use taxes.
148	148	SECTION 4. Section 387.007, Local Government Code, is
149	149	amended by amending Subsection (b) and adding Subsection (c) to
150	150	read as follows:
151	151	(b) A district may not adopt a sales and use tax under this
152	152	chapter if the adoption of the tax would result in a combined tax
153	153	rate of all local sales and use taxes that would exceed the maximum
154	154	combined rate prescribed by Sections 321.101 and 323.101, Tax Code,
155	155	[of more than two percent] in any location in the district.
156	156	(c) A district may define areas in the district to pay for
157	157	improvements, facilities, or services that primarily benefit that
158	158	area and do not generally and directly benefit the district as a
159	159	whole. The district may impose different rates of sales and use tax
160	160	in each defined area, provided that the sales and use tax rate does
161	161	not exceed the rate approved at an election held under Section
162	162	387.003.
163	163	SECTION 5. Section 387.009, Local Government Code, is
164	164	amended to read as follows:
165	165	Sec. 387.009. TAX RATE. The rate of a tax adopted under
166	166	this chapter must be in increments of one-eighth[, one-fourth,
167	167	three-eighths, or one-half] of one percent.
168	168	SECTION 6. Sections 387.010(a), (b), and (c), Local
169	169	Government Code, are amended to read as follows:
170	170	(a) A district that has adopted a sales and use tax under
171	171	this chapter may, by order and subject to Section 387.007(b):
172	172	(1) reduce [, change] the rate of the tax or repeal the
173	173	tax without an election, except that the district may not repeal the
174	174	sales and use tax or reduce the rate of the sales and use tax below
175	175	the amount pledged to secure payment of an outstanding district
176	176	debt or contractual obligation;
177	177	(2) increase the rate of the sales and use tax, if the
178	178	increased rate of the sales and use tax will not exceed the rate
179	179	approved at an election held under Section 387.003; or
180	180	(3) increase the rate of the sales and use tax to a
181	181	rate that exceeds the rate approved at an election held under
182	182	Section 387.003 after [if] the increase [change or repeal] is
183	183	approved by a majority of the votes received in the district at an
184	184	election held for that purpose.
185	185	(b) The tax may be changed under Subsection (a) in one or
186	186	more increments of one-eighth of one percent [to a maximum of
187	187	one-half of one percent].
188	188	(c) The ballot for an election to increase [change] the tax
189	189	shall be printed to permit voting for or against the proposition:
190	190	"The increase [change] of a sales and use tax for the ____ County
191	191	Assistance District No. ___ (insert name of district) from the rate
192	192	of ____ [of one] percent (insert [one-fourth, three-eighths, or
193	193	one-half, as] appropriate rate) to the rate of ____ [of one] percent
194	194	(insert [one-fourth, three-eighths, or one-half, as] appropriate
195	195	rate)."
196	196	SECTION 7. Section 387.012, Local Government Code, is
197	197	amended to read as follows:
198	198	Sec. 387.012. EFFECTIVE DATE OF TAX. The adoption of the
199	199	tax, the increase or reduction [change] of the tax rate, or the
200	200	repeal of the tax takes effect on the first day of the first
201	201	calendar quarter occurring after the expiration of the first
202	202	complete quarter occurring after the date the comptroller receives
203	203	a copy of the order of the district's governing body [notice of the
204	204	results of the election] adopting, increasing, reducing
205	205	[changing], or repealing the tax.
206	206	SECTION 8. Section 387.010(d), Local Government Code, is
207	207	repealed.
208	208	SECTION 9. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives
209	209	a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as
210	210	provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this
211	211	Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this
212	212	Act takes effect September 1, 2009.