Texas 2009 - 81st Regular

Texas Senate Bill SB1996 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.

Old	New	Differences
1	1	2009S0640-1 03/10/09
2	2	By: Gallegos S.B. No. 1996
3	3
4	4
5	5	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
6	6	AN ACT
7	7	relating to the creation of and sales and use taxes imposed by
8	8	county assistance districts.
9	9	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
10	10	SECTION 1. Section 387.003, Local Government Code, is
11	11	amended to read as follows:
12	12	Sec. 387.003. CREATION AND FUNCTIONS OF DISTRICT. (a) The
13	13	commissioners court of a [the] county may create by order [call an
14	14	election on the question of creating] a county assistance district
15	15	under this chapter to perform the following functions in the
16	16	district:
17	17	(1) the construction, maintenance, or improvement of
18	18	roads or highways;
19	19	(2) the provision of law enforcement and detention
20	20	services;
21	21	(3) the maintenance or improvement of libraries,
22	22	museums, parks, or other recreational facilities;
23	23	(4) the provision of services that benefit the public
24	24	health or welfare, including the provision of firefighting and fire
25	25	prevention services; or
26	26	(5) the promotion of economic development and tourism.
27	27	(b) Before the commissioners court of a county may create a
28	28	county assistance district under this chapter, the commissioners
29	29	court shall conduct two public hearings at which members of the
30	30	public who wish to present testimony or evidence regarding the
31	31	proposed district shall be given the opportunity to do so. Notice
32	32	of the public hearing shall be provided by the county in the same
33	33	manner as notice of a hearing is provided by a municipality under
34	34	Section 43.0751(d). The notice [The order calling the election]
35	35	must[:
36	36	[(1)] define the boundaries of the district to include
37	37	any portion of the county in which the combined tax rate of all
38	38	local sales and use taxes imposed, including the rate to be imposed
39	39	by the district if approved [at the election], would not exceed two
40	40	percent. The notice must state that a sales and use tax shall be
41	41	imposed for the purpose of financing the district and shall state
42	42	the rate of the tax[; and
43	43	[(2) call for the election to be held within those
44	44	boundaries].
45	45	(b-1) If the proposed district includes any territory of a
46	46	municipality, the commissioners court shall send notice by
47	47	certified mail to the governing body of the municipality of the
48	48	commissioners court's intent to create the district. If the
49	49	municipality has created a development corporation under Section 4A
50	50	or 4B, Development Corporation Act of 1979 (Article 5190.6,
51	51	Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes), the commissioners court shall also
52	52	send the notice to the board of directors of the corporation. The
53	53	commissioners court must send the notice not later than the 60th day
54	54	before the date the commissioners court enters the order creating
55	55	the district [orders the election]. The governing body of the
56	56	municipality may exclude the territory of the municipality from the
57	57	proposed district by sending notice by certified mail to the
58	58	commissioners court of the governing body's desire to exclude the
59	59	municipal territory from the district. The governing body must
60	60	send the notice not later than the 45th day after the date the
61	61	governing body receives notice from the commissioners court under
62	62	this subsection. The territory of a municipality that is excluded
63	63	under this subsection may subsequently be included in the district
64	64	[in an election held under Subsection (f)] with the consent of the
65	65	municipality.
66	66	[(c) The ballot at the election must be printed to permit
67	67	voting for or against the proposition: "Authorizing the creation
68	68	of the ____ County Assistance District (insert name of district)
69	69	and the imposition of a sales and use tax at the rate of ____ of one
70	70	percent (insert one-eighth, one-fourth, three-eighths, or
71	71	one-half, as appropriate) for the purpose of financing the
72	72	operations of the district."
73	73	[(d) The district is created if a majority of the votes
74	74	received at the election favor the creation of the district.
75	75	[(e) If a majority of the votes received at the election are
76	76	against the creation of the district, another election on the
77	77	question of creating a county assistance district may not be held in
78	78	the county before the first anniversary of the most recent election
79	79	concerning the creation of a district.
80	80	[(f) The commissioners court may call an election to be held
81	81	in an area of the county that is not located in a district created
82	82	under this section to determine whether the area should be included
83	83	in the district and whether the district's sales and use tax should
84	84	be imposed in the area. An election may not be held in an area in
85	85	which the combined tax rate of all local sales and use taxes
86	86	imposed, including the rate to be imposed by the district if
87	87	approved at the election, would exceed two percent.
88	88	[(g) The area in which an election is held under Subsection
89	89	(f) is included in the district and the sales and use tax is imposed
90	90	if a majority of the votes received at the election favor inclusion
91	91	in the district and imposition of the sales and use tax.
92	92	[(h) If more than one election to authorize a local sales
93	93	and use tax is held on the same day in the area of a proposed
94	94	district or an area proposed to be added to a district and if the
95	95	resulting approval by the voters would cause the imposition of a
96	96	local sales and use tax in any area to exceed two percent, only a tax
97	97	authorized at an election under this section may be imposed.]
98	98	SECTION 2. Subsection (a), Section 387.007, Local
99	99	Government Code, is amended to read as follows:
100	100	(a) A district by order may impose a sales and use tax under
101	101	this chapter to finance the operations of the district [only if the
102	102	tax is approved at an election held under Section 387.003].
103	103	SECTION 3. Subsection (a), Section 387.010, Local
104	104	Government Code, is amended to read as follows:
105	105	(a) A district that has adopted a sales and use tax under
106	106	this chapter may, by order and subject to Section 387.007(b),
107	107	change the rate of the tax or repeal the tax [if the change or repeal
108	108	is approved by a majority of the votes received in the district at
109	109	an election held for that purpose].
110	110	SECTION 4. Subsection (a), Section 387.011, Local
111	111	Government Code, is amended to read as follows:
112	112	(a) If the district adopts the tax by order as provided by
113	113	Section 387.007, a tax is imposed on the receipts from the sale at
114	114	retail of taxable items in the district at the rate imposed by the
115	115	order [approved at the election].
116	116	SECTION 5. Section 387.012, Local Government Code, is
117	117	amended to read as follows:
118	118	Sec. 387.012. EFFECTIVE DATE OF TAX. The adoption of the
119	119	tax, the change of the tax rate, or the repeal of the tax takes
120	120	effect on the first day of the first calendar quarter occurring
121	121	after the expiration of the first complete quarter occurring after
122	122	the date the comptroller receives a notice of the order [results of
123	123	the election] adopting, changing, or repealing the tax.
124	124	SECTION 6. Subsections (c) and (d), Section 387.010, Local
125	125	Government Code, are repealed.
126	126	SECTION 7. This Act takes effect September 1, 2009.