Texas 2009 - 81st Regular

Texas House Bill HB3731 Compare Versions

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1	1	By: Coleman H.B. No. 3731
2	2
3	3
4	4	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
5	5	AN ACT
6	6	relating to the creation of and sales and use taxes imposed by
7	7	county assistance districts.
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 to read as follows:
11	11	Sec. 387.003. CREATION AND FUNCTIONS OF DISTRICT. (a) The
12	12	commissioners court of a [the] county may create by order [call an
13	13	election on the question of creating] a county assistance district
14	14	under this chapter to perform the following functions in the
15	15	district:
16	16	(1) the construction, maintenance, or improvement of
17	17	roads or highways;
18	18	(2) the provision of law enforcement and detention
19	19	services;
20	20	(3) the maintenance or improvement of libraries,
21	21	museums, parks, or other recreational facilities;
22	22	(4) the provision of services that benefit the public
23	23	health or welfare, including the provision of firefighting and fire
24	24	prevention services; or
25	25	(5) the promotion of economic development and tourism.
26	26	(b) Before the commissioners court of a county may create a
27	27	county assistance district under this chapter, the commissioners
28	28	court shall conduct two public hearings at which members of the
29	29	public who wish to present testimony or evidence regarding the
30	30	proposed district shall be given the opportunity to do so. Notice
31	31	of the public hearing shall be provided by the county in the same
32	32	manner as notice of a hearing is provided by a municipality under
33	33	Section 43.0751(d). The notice [The order calling the election]
34	34	must[:
35	35	[(1)] define the boundaries of the district to include
36	36	any portion of the county in which the combined tax rate of all
37	37	local sales and use taxes imposed, including the rate to be imposed
38	38	by the district if approved [at the election], would not exceed two
39	39	percent. The notice must state that a sales and use tax shall be
40	40	imposed for the purpose of financing the district and shall state
41	41	the rate of the tax[; and
42	42	[(2) call for the election to be held within those
43	43	boundaries].
44	44	(b-1) If the proposed district includes any territory of a
45	45	municipality, the commissioners court shall send notice by
46	46	certified mail to the governing body of the municipality of the
47	47	commissioners court's intent to create the district. If the
48	48	municipality has created a development corporation under Section 4A
49	49	or 4B, Development Corporation Act of 1979 (Article 5190.6,
50	50	Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes), the commissioners court shall also
51	51	send the notice to the board of directors of the corporation. The
52	52	commissioners court must send the notice not later than the 60th day
53	53	before the date the commissioners court enters the order creating
54	54	the district [orders the election]. The governing body of the
55	55	municipality may exclude the territory of the municipality from the
56	56	proposed district by sending notice by certified mail to the
57	57	commissioners court of the governing body's desire to exclude the
58	58	municipal territory from the district. The governing body must
59	59	send the notice not later than the 45th day after the date the
60	60	governing body receives notice from the commissioners court under
61	61	this subsection. The territory of a municipality that is excluded
62	62	under this subsection may subsequently be included in the district
63	63	[in an election held under Subsection (f)] with the consent of the
64	64	municipality.
65	65	[(c) The ballot at the election must be printed to permit
66	66	voting for or against the proposition: "Authorizing the creation
67	67	of the ____ County Assistance District (insert name of district)
68	68	and the imposition of a sales and use tax at the rate of ____ of one
69	69	percent (insert one-eighth, one-fourth, three-eighths, or
70	70	one-half, as appropriate) for the purpose of financing the
71	71	operations of the district."
72	72	[(d) The district is created if a majority of the votes
73	73	received at the election favor the creation of the district.
74	74	[(e) If a majority of the votes received at the election are
75	75	against the creation of the district, another election on the
76	76	question of creating a county assistance district may not be held in
77	77	the county before the first anniversary of the most recent election
78	78	concerning the creation of a district.
79	79	[(f) The commissioners court may call an election to be held
80	80	in an area of the county that is not located in a district created
81	81	under this section to determine whether the area should be included
82	82	in the district and whether the district's sales and use tax should
83	83	be imposed in the area. An election may not be held in an area in
84	84	which the combined tax rate of all local sales and use taxes
85	85	imposed, including the rate to be imposed by the district if
86	86	approved at the election, would exceed two percent.
87	87	[(g) The area in which an election is held under Subsection
88	88	(f) is included in the district and the sales and use tax is imposed
89	89	if a majority of the votes received at the election favor inclusion
90	90	in the district and imposition of the sales and use tax.
91	91	[(h) If more than one election to authorize a local sales
92	92	and use tax is held on the same day in the area of a proposed
93	93	district or an area proposed to be added to a district and if the
94	94	resulting approval by the voters would cause the imposition of a
95	95	local sales and use tax in any area to exceed two percent, only a tax
96	96	authorized at an election under this section may be imposed.]
97	97	SECTION 2. Subsection (a), Section 387.007, Local
98	98	Government Code, is amended to read as follows:
99	99	(a) A district by order may impose a sales and use tax under
100	100	this chapter to finance the operations of the district [only if the
101	101	tax is approved at an election held under Section 387.003].
102	102	SECTION 3. Subsection (a), Section 387.010, Local
103	103	Government Code, is amended to read as follows:
104	104	(a) A district that has adopted a sales and use tax under
105	105	this chapter may, by order and subject to Section 387.007(b),
106	106	change the rate of the tax or repeal the tax [if the change or repeal
107	107	is approved by a majority of the votes received in the district at
108	108	an election held for that purpose].
109	109	SECTION 4. Subsection (a), Section 387.011, Local
110	110	Government Code, is amended to read as follows:
111	111	(a) If the district adopts the tax by order as provided by
112	112	Section 387.007, a tax is imposed on the receipts from the sale at
113	113	retail of taxable items in the district at the rate imposed by the
114	114	order [approved at the election].
115	115	SECTION 5. Section 387.012, Local Government Code, is
116	116	amended to read as follows:
117	117	Sec. 387.012. EFFECTIVE DATE OF TAX. The adoption of the
118	118	tax, the change of the tax rate, or the repeal of the tax takes
119	119	effect on the first day of the first calendar quarter occurring
120	120	after the expiration of the first complete quarter occurring after
121	121	the date the comptroller receives a notice of the order [results of
122	122	the election] adopting, changing, or repealing the tax.
123	123	SECTION 6. Subsections (c) and (d), Section 387.010, Local
124	124	Government Code, are repealed.
125	125	SECTION 7. This Act takes effect September 1, 2009.