Texas 2011 - 82nd Regular

Texas Senate Bill SB520 Compare Versions

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1	1	By: Hegar S.B. No. 520
2	2	(Zerwas)
3	3
4	4
5	5	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
6	6	AN ACT
7	7	relating to the creation, administration, powers, and duties of a
8	8	county assistance district.
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 by amending Subsections (a), (b), (b-1), (c), (e), (f), and
12	12	(h) and adding Subsections (a-1), (i), and (j) to read as follows:
13	13	(a) The commissioners court of the county may call an
14	14	election on the question of creating a county assistance district
15	15	under this chapter. More than one county assistance district may be
16	16	created in a county.
17	17	(a-1) A district may [to] perform the following functions in
18	18	the district:
19	19	(1) the construction, maintenance, or improvement of
20	20	roads or highways;
21	21	(2) the provision of law enforcement and detention
22	22	services;
23	23	(3) the maintenance or improvement of libraries,
24	24	museums, parks, or other recreational facilities;
25	25	(4) the provision of services that benefit the public
26	26	health or welfare, including the provision of firefighting and fire
27	27	prevention services; or
28	28	(5) the promotion of economic development and tourism.
29	29	(b) The order calling the election must:
30	30	(1) define the boundaries of the district to include
31	31	any portion of the county in which the combined tax rate of all
32	32	local sales and use taxes imposed, including the rate to be imposed
33	33	by the district if approved at the election, would not exceed the
34	34	maximum combined rate of sales and use taxes imposed by political
35	35	subdivisions of this state that is prescribed by Sections 321.101
36	36	and 323.101, Tax Code [two percent]; and
37	37	(2) call for the election to be held within those
38	38	boundaries.
39	39	(b-1) If the proposed district includes any territory of a
40	40	municipality, the commissioners court shall send notice by
41	41	certified mail to the governing body of the municipality of the
42	42	commissioners court's intent to create the district. If the
43	43	municipality has created a development corporation under Chapter
44	44	504 or 505, the commissioners court shall also send the notice to
45	45	the board of directors of the corporation. The commissioners court
46	46	must send the notice not later than the 60th day before the date the
47	47	commissioners court orders the election. The governing body of the
48	48	municipality may exclude the territory of the municipality from the
49	49	proposed district by sending notice by certified mail to the
50	50	commissioners court of the governing body's desire to exclude the
51	51	municipal territory from the district. The governing body must
52	52	send the notice not later than the 45th day after the date the
53	53	governing body receives notice from the commissioners court under
54	54	this subsection. The territory of a municipality that is excluded
55	55	under this subsection may subsequently be included in:
56	56	(1) the district in an election held under Subsection
57	57	(f) with the consent of the municipality; or
58	58	(2) another district after complying with the
59	59	requirements of this subsection and after an election held under
60	60	Subsection (f).
61	61	(c) The ballot at the election must be printed to permit
62	62	voting for or against the proposition: "Authorizing the creation
63	63	of the ____ County Assistance District No.___ (insert name of
64	64	district) and the imposition of a sales and use tax at the rate of
65	65	____ [of one] percent (insert [one-eighth, one-fourth,
66	66	three-eighths, or one-half, as] appropriate rate) for the purpose
67	67	of financing the operations of the district."
68	68	(e) If a majority of the votes received at the election are
69	69	against the creation of the district, the district is not created.
70	70	The failure to approve the creation of a district under this
71	71	subsection does not affect the authority of the county to call one
72	72	or more elections [another election] on the question of creating
73	73	one or more [a] county assistance districts [district may not be
74	74	held in the county before the first anniversary of the most recent
75	75	election concerning the 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	registered 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 court
110	110	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 a resident of the county in which the
124	124	district is located. The initial directors shall draw lots to
125	125	achieve staggered terms, with three of the directors serving
126	126	one-year terms and two of the directors serving two-year terms.
127	127	SECTION 3. Subsection (a), Section 387.006, Local
128	128	Government Code, is amended to read as follows:
129	129	(a) A district may:
130	130	(1) perform any act necessary to the full exercise of
131	131	the district's functions;
132	132	(2) accept a grant or loan from:
133	133	(A) the United States;
134	134	(B) an agency or political subdivision of this
135	135	state; or
136	136	(C) a public or private person;
137	137	(3) acquire, sell, lease, convey, or otherwise dispose
138	138	of property or an interest in property under terms determined by the
139	139	district;
140	140	(4) employ necessary personnel; [and]
141	141	(5) adopt rules to govern the operation of the
142	142	district and its employees and property; and
143	143	(6) enter into agreements with municipalities
144	144	necessary or convenient to achieve the district's purposes,
145	145	including agreements regarding the duration, rate, and allocation
146	146	between the district and the municipality of sales and use taxes.
147	147	SECTION 4. Subsection (b), Section 387.007, Local
148	148	Government Code, is amended to read as follows:
149	149	(b) A district may not adopt a sales and use tax under this
150	150	chapter if the adoption of the tax would result in a combined tax
151	151	rate of all local sales and use taxes that would exceed the maximum
152	152	combined rate prescribed by Sections 321.101 and 323.101, Tax Code,
153	153	[of more than two percent] in any location in the district.
154	154	SECTION 5. Section 387.009, Local Government Code, is
155	155	amended to read as follows:
156	156	Sec. 387.009. TAX RATE. The rate of a tax adopted under
157	157	this chapter must be in increments of one-eighth[, one-fourth,
158	158	three-eighths, or one-half] of one percent.
159	159	SECTION 6. Subsections (a), (b), and (c), Section 387.010,
160	160	Local Government Code, are amended to read as follows:
161	161	(a) A district that has adopted a sales and use tax under
162	162	this chapter may, by order and subject to Section 387.007(b):
163	163	(1) reduce[, change] the rate of the tax or repeal the
164	164	tax without an election, except that the district may not repeal the
165	165	sales and use tax or reduce the rate of the sales and use tax below
166	166	the amount pledged to secure payment of an outstanding district
167	167	debt or contractual obligation;
168	168	(2) increase the rate of the sales and use tax, if the
169	169	increased rate of the sales and use tax will not exceed the rate
170	170	approved at an election held under Section 387.003; or
171	171	(3) increase the rate of the sales and use tax to a
172	172	rate that exceeds the rate approved at an election held under
173	173	Section 387.003 after [if] the increase [change or repeal] is
174	174	approved by a majority of the votes received in the district at an
175	175	election held for that purpose.
176	176	(b) The tax may be changed under Subsection (a) in one or
177	177	more increments of one-eighth of one percent [to a maximum of
178	178	one-half of one percent].
179	179	(c) The ballot for an election to increase [change] the tax
180	180	shall be printed to permit voting for or against the proposition:
181	181	"The increase [change] of a sales and use tax for the ____ County
182	182	Assistance District No. ___ (insert name of district) from the rate
183	183	of ____ [of one] percent (insert [one-fourth, three-eighths, or
184	184	one-half, as] appropriate rate) to the rate of ____ [of one] percent
185	185	(insert [one-fourth, three-eighths, or one-half, as] appropriate
186	186	rate)."
187	187	SECTION 7. Section 387.012, Local Government Code, is
188	188	amended to read as follows:
189	189	Sec. 387.012. EFFECTIVE DATE OF TAX. The adoption of the
190	190	tax, the increase or reduction [change] of the tax rate, or the
191	191	repeal of the tax takes effect on the first day of the first
192	192	calendar quarter occurring after the expiration of the first
193	193	complete quarter occurring after the date the comptroller receives
194	194	a copy of the order of the district's governing body [notice of the
195	195	results of the election] adopting, increasing, reducing
196	196	[changing], or repealing the tax.
197	197	SECTION 8. Subsection (d), Section 387.010, Local
198	198	Government Code, is repealed.
199	199	SECTION 9. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives
200	200	a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as
201	201	provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this
202	202	Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this
203	203	Act takes effect September 1, 2011.