By: Watson S.B. No. 1573
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to emergency services districts.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Subchapter B, Chapter 775, Health and Safety
Code, is amended by adding Section 775.0201 to read as follows:
Sec. 775.0201. OVERLAPPING DISTRICTS IN CERTAIN COUNTIES.
(a) This section applies only to a district located wholly or
partly in a county to which Subchapter K applies.
(b) If the territory of a district proposed under this
chapter overlaps with the boundaries of another district created
under this chapter or Chapter 776, the commissioners court of each
county in which the proposed district is located shall send to the
board of the existing district a copy of the petition filed under
this subchapter for creation of the proposed district.
(c) The board of the existing district shall adopt a
statement before the date of the election required by Section
775.018 that specifies the types of emergency services the existing
district will provide or continue to provide in the overlapping
territory if the proposed district is created.
(d) If the territory in a district created under this
chapter overlaps with the boundaries of another district created
under this chapter or under Chapter 776, the most recently created
district may not provide services in the overlapping territory that
duplicate the services described in the statement required by
Subsection (c).
SECTION 2. The heading to Section 775.0205, Health and
Safety Code, is amended to read as follows:
Sec. 775.0205. OVERLAPPING DISTRICTS IN OTHER COUNTIES.
SECTION 3. Section 775.0205(e), Health and Safety Code, is
amended to read as follows:
(e) This section does not apply to a district:
(1) located wholly in a county with a population of
more than three million; or
(2) located wholly or partly in a county to which
Subchapter K applies.
SECTION 4. Section 775.024, Health and Safety Code, is
amended to read as follows:
Sec. 775.024. CONSOLIDATION [MERGER] OF EMERGENCY SERVICES
DISTRICTS. (a) Two or more emergency services districts may
consolidate [merge] into a single emergency services district as
provided by this section if:
(1) the board of each of the districts votes in favor
of the consolidation [merger]; and
(2) the residents of each district approve the
consolidation [merger] in an election held for that purpose.
(b) The boards shall agree on a name for the proposed
consolidated [merged] district and choose five commissioners from
among the membership of the boards to serve on the initial board for
the proposed district. The boards shall agree to stagger the terms
appropriately.
(c) The ballot for the election to approve a consolidation
[merger] shall be printed to permit voting for or against the
proposition: "The consolidation [merger] of the ___________
(insert district names) to create the _______________ (insert name
of proposed district), which assumes all outstanding debts of the
consolidated [merged] districts."
(d) If a majority of the voters voting in each district
favor the consolidation [merger], the consolidated [merged]
district is created. If less than a majority of the voters voting
in any of the districts are in favor of the consolidation [merger],
the vote fails and the districts are not consolidated [merged].
(e) The maximum tax rate that may be imposed by the
consolidated [merged] district may not exceed the maximum tax rate
authorized for any of the previous districts.
(f) The consolidated [merged] district assumes all powers,
rights, duties, assets, and liabilities of the former districts
without a change in status. The consolidation [merger] does not
diminish or impair the rights of the holders of any outstanding and
unpaid bonds, warrants, or obligations of the district.
(g) This section does not apply to a district located wholly
or partly in a county to which Subchapter K applies.
SECTION 5. Chapter 775, Health and Safety Code, is amended
by adding Subchapter K to read as follows:
SUBCHAPTER K. CONSOLIDATION OF EMERGENCY SERVICES DISTRICTS IN
CERTAIN COUNTIES
Sec. 775.301. APPLICABILITY. This subchapter applies only
to a county:
(1) with a population of less than 1.1 million;
(2) that has in its boundaries the majority of the
territory of at least one municipality that has a population of
750,000 or more; and
(3) that, according to the most recent federal
decennial census, had population growth of more than 20 percent
during the decade preceding the most recent federal decennial
census.
Sec. 775.302. CONSOLIDATION OF EMERGENCY SERVICES
DISTRICTS AUTHORIZED; JOINT ORDER. (a) Two or more districts
located wholly or partly in a county to which this subchapter
applies may consolidate into a single district if the board of each
district:
(1) determines that consolidation would allow the
districts to provide services more economically and efficiently;
and
(2) adopts a joint order of consolidation that
includes:
(A) the name and territory of the consolidated
district;
(B) the proposed date on which the former
districts dissolve and the consolidated district is created and
will start offering services; and
(C) the results of any election required by
Section 775.304(a).
(b) The boards shall send a copy of the joint order of
consolidation to the commissioners court of each county in which
the consolidated district is wholly or partly located for approval
or rejection.
(c) If a commissioners court rejects the joint order, the
districts may not proceed with the consolidation. If all
commissioners courts approve the joint order, the districts may
proceed with the consolidation. If a commissioners court does not
take action on the joint order before the 91st day after the date
the court receives written notice of the adoption of the joint
order, the order is considered approved.
Sec. 775.303. INITIAL BOARD. (a) The boards that adopt a
joint order under Section 775.302 shall appoint five commissioners
from among the membership of the boards to serve on the initial
board for the proposed consolidated district. The boards must
agree to stagger the terms appropriately.
(b) The commissioners courts shall jointly appoint
commissioners to the initial board of the consolidated district if
the boards do not make the appointments before the 31st day after
the later of the date the:
(1) boards adopted the joint order under Section
775.302; or
(2) commissioners court of each county in which the
consolidated district is wholly or partly located approves the
joint order or the order is considered approved under Section
775.302(c).
Sec. 775.304. TAXES FOR CONSOLIDATED DISTRICT. (a) If two
districts that want to consolidate under Section 775.302 have
different maximum ad valorem tax rates, the board of the district
with the lower maximum ad valorem tax rate shall order an election
in its district under Section 775.0745 to authorize the imposition
of taxes in the territory of that district at a maximum rate that
equals the maximum rate authorized in the district with the higher
maximum rate.
(b) If a majority of the voters do not favor the increase in
the maximum ad valorem tax rate under Subsection (a), the districts
may not proceed with the consolidation.
(c) If the districts have different sales and use tax rates,
the board of the consolidated district shall designate the
territory of the former districts as subdistricts and shall
continue to impose the sales and use tax in each subdistrict at the
rate the tax was imposed by the former district.
(d) Subsection (c) does not limit the authority of the board
of the consolidated district to order an election under Section
775.0752 in a subdistrict or in the entire district. If the boards
conduct an election under Section 775.0752, Section 775.0753
governs the effective date of the resulting tax rate.
Sec. 775.305. EFFECTIVE DATE OF CONSOLIDATION. (a) The
consolidated district is created and may begin offering services on
the latest of:
(1) the date stated in the joint order;
(2) the date all commissioners courts approve the
joint order and the results of an election held under Section
775.304(a), if any; or
(3) the date the initial board of the consolidated
district is appointed.
(b) The consolidated district assumes all powers, rights,
duties, assets, and liabilities of the former districts without a
change in status. The consolidation does not diminish or impair the
rights of the holders of any outstanding and unpaid bonds,
warrants, or other obligations of the district.
SECTION 6. 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, 2011.