| 1 | 1 | | By: Howard of Fort Bend H.B. No. 4274 |
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| 2 | 2 | | |
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| 3 | 3 | | |
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| 4 | 4 | | A BILL TO BE ENTITLED |
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| 5 | 5 | | AN ACT |
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| 6 | 6 | | relating to the sale of certain goods and services by a political |
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| 7 | 7 | | subdivision. |
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| 8 | 8 | | BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: |
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| 9 | 9 | | SECTION 1. Chapter 140, Local Government Code, is amended |
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| 10 | 10 | | by adding Section 140.009 to read as follows: |
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| 11 | 11 | | Sec. 140.009. SALE OF GOODS AND SERVICES ORDINARILY SOLD OR |
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| 12 | 12 | | PROVIDED BY PRIVATE BUSINESS. (a) A county, municipality, or other |
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| 13 | 13 | | political subdivision that sells a good or provides a service |
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| 14 | 14 | | ordinarily offered by a private business shall provide public |
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| 15 | 15 | | notice stating: |
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| 16 | 16 | | (1) the political subdivision's operating costs |
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| 17 | 17 | | associated with selling the good or providing the service, |
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| 18 | 18 | | including: |
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| 19 | 19 | | (A) the cost and depreciation of equipment; |
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| 20 | 20 | | (B) personnel costs; |
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| 21 | 21 | | (C) transportation costs; |
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| 22 | 22 | | (D) the cost of acquiring raw materials; |
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| 23 | 23 | | (E) manufacturing costs; |
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| 24 | 24 | | (F) toll road costs; |
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| 25 | 25 | | (G) utility costs; |
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| 26 | 26 | | (H) facility rental costs; |
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| 27 | 27 | | (I) internal and external audit costs; |
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| 28 | 28 | | (J) advertising and marketing costs; |
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| 29 | 29 | | (K) distribution costs; |
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| 30 | 30 | | (L) preventative maintenance costs; |
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| 31 | 31 | | (M) repair costs; |
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| 32 | 32 | | (N) cost of safety training; |
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| 33 | 33 | | (O) clothing and uniform costs; |
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| 34 | 34 | | (P) freight costs; |
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| 35 | 35 | | (Q) bad debt costs; |
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| 36 | 36 | | (R) billing costs; |
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| 37 | 37 | | (S) information technology support costs; |
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| 38 | 38 | | (T) administrative cost of invoices and payroll; |
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| 39 | 39 | | (U) overhead and production costs; |
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| 40 | 40 | | (V) cost of providing employee benefits; |
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| 41 | 41 | | (W) fuel costs; and |
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| 42 | 42 | | (X) costs necessary to manage risk, including |
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| 43 | 43 | | legal fees, insurance costs, and expenses related to workers' |
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| 44 | 44 | | compensation; |
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| 45 | 45 | | (2) benefits received by the political subdivision |
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| 46 | 46 | | resulting in lower operating costs for the political subdivision, |
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| 47 | 47 | | including any tax incentives or exemptions not available to a |
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| 48 | 48 | | private business, such as exemptions from a: |
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| 49 | 49 | | (A) fuel tax; |
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| 50 | 50 | | (B) excise tax; |
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| 51 | 51 | | (C) franchise and margins tax; |
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| 52 | 52 | | (D) sales tax on non-manufacturing equipment; or |
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| 53 | 53 | | (E) real and personal property tax; and |
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| 54 | 54 | | (3) an estimate of the profits to be realized from the |
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| 55 | 55 | | sale of goods or provision of services, which must be used to |
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| 56 | 56 | | provide the tax cut prescribed by Subsection (c). |
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| 57 | 57 | | (b) The chief financial officer of the political |
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| 58 | 58 | | subdivision shall certify that generally accepted accounting |
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| 59 | 59 | | principals were used in determining the information included in the |
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| 60 | 60 | | notice required under Subsection (a). |
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| 61 | 61 | | (c) In setting the annual budget, a political subdivision |
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| 62 | 62 | | shall specifically consider any profits realized from selling a |
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| 63 | 63 | | good or providing a service ordinarily offered by a private |
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| 64 | 64 | | business and shall lower taxes as necessary to return to the |
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| 65 | 65 | | subdivision's taxpayers the amount of those profits. |
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| 66 | 66 | | SECTION 2. This Act takes effect September 1, 2009. |
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