By: Wentworth S.B. No. 917
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to emergency service districts.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 775.018, Health and Safety Code, is
amended by adding Subsections (f) and (g) to read as follows:
(f) 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 for creation
of the proposed district. This subsection does not apply to a
proposed district located wholly in a county with a population of
more than three million.
(g) The board of the existing district shall adopt a
statement before the date of the election required by this section
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. This subsection
does not apply to a proposed district located wholly in a county
with a population of more than three million.
SECTION 2. Section 775.0205, Health and Safety Code, is
amended by amending Subsection (a) and adding Subsections (d-1),
(d-2), and (d-3) to read as follows:
(a) If the territory in a district created under this
chapter overlaps with the boundaries of another district created
under this chapter or a district created 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 Section 775.018(g) [provided by the other
district at the time the overlapping district was created].
(d-1) The legislature finds that the performance of
non-duplicative emergency services in the overlapping territory of
emergency service districts is complementary to and not in conflict
with the powers and duties of the respective districts.
(d-2) A person may serve as an emergency services
commissioner of a district created under this chapter at the same
time that the person serves as an emergency services commissioner
of another district with overlapping territory created under this
chapter or Chapter 776.
(d-3) A person serving as a commissioner of more than one
district under this section:
(1) may receive compensation for serving on only one
board; and
(2) is entitled to reimbursement for reasonable and
necessary expenses incurred in performing official duties for both
boards.
SECTION 3. 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 district:
(1) determines that consolidation would allow the
districts to provide services more economically and efficiently [of
the districts votes in favor of the merger]; 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) if the maximum ad valorem tax rates in the
districts are different, a statement that the districts will
consolidate only if voters approve an ad valorem tax rate at the
election required by Section 775.0241 [the residents of each
district approve the 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) If the boards do not make the appointments before the
31st day after the date the boards adopted the joint order, the
commissioners courts shall jointly appoint commissioners to the
board of the consolidated district. [The ballot for the election to
approve a merger shall be printed to permit voting for or against
the proposition: "The merger of the _________ (insert district
names) to create the _______________ (insert name of proposed
district), which assumes all outstanding debts of the merged
districts."]
(d) The consolidated district is created on the latest of:
(1) the date stated in the joint order;
(2) the date the initial board of the consolidated
district is appointed; or
(3) the date the maximum ad valorem tax rates the
consolidated district may impose under Section 775.0241 are
established, if necessary [If a majority of the voters voting in
each district favor the merger, the merged district is created. If
less than a majority of the voters voting in any of the districts
are in favor of the merger, the vote fails and the districts are not
merged].
(e) [The maximum tax rate that may be imposed by the 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.
SECTION 4. Subchapter B, Chapter 775, Health and Safety
Code, is amended by adding Section 775.0241 to read as follows:
Sec. 775.0241. TAXES FOR CONSOLIDATED DISTRICT. (a) If
two districts that want to consolidate under Section 775.024 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.
SECTION 5. Subchapter C, Chapter 775, Health and Safety
Code, is amended by adding Sections 775.0365 and 775.0366 to read as
follows:
Sec. 775.0365. BOARD TRAINING. (a) In this section,
"department" means the Texas Department of Rural Affairs.
(b) Each emergency services commissioner shall complete a
training course:
(1) for the commissioner's initial term, not later
than the earlier of:
(A) the 180th day after the date the commissioner
takes the oath of office; or
(B) the 180th day after the date the commissioner
assumes responsibilities as an emergency services commissioner;
and
(2) not later than the second anniversary of each date
the commissioner completes a training course.
(c) The department shall:
(1) determine the minimum course requirements; and
(2) make the course available.
(d) The department may provide the training course. The
department must approve any training course provided by an entity
other than the department.
(e) The training course must provide instruction in:
(1) district responsibilities;
(2) board responsibilities;
(3) government administration;
(4) ethics laws relating to public officers; and
(5) the governance and management of emergency
services.
(f) The entity providing the training course shall provide a
certificate of course completion to each person who completes the
course.
(g) An emergency services commissioner who completes the
training course shall file a copy of the certificate of course
completion with the commissioners court of each county in which the
district is located not later than the 10th day after the date the
commissioner is required to complete the course under Subsection
(b).
(h) The department shall set a fee for the training course
in an amount reasonably necessary to recover costs associated with
developing and implementing the training program.
Sec. 775.0366. SERVICE CONTRACTS. (a) In this section:
(1) "Local government" has the meaning assigned by
Section 791.003, Government Code.
(2) "Volunteer fire department" means an association
that:
(A) operates firefighting equipment;
(B) is organized primarily to provide and
actively provides firefighting services;
(C) does not pay its members compensation other
than nominal compensation; and
(D) does not distribute any of its income to its
members, officers, or governing body, other than for reimbursement
of expenses.
(b) The board may contract with a volunteer fire department
or a local government, including another district, to provide
staff, facilities, equipment, programs, or services the board
considers necessary to provide or obtain emergency services.
(c) A person acting under a contract under this section,
including an emergency services commissioner, does not, because of
that action, hold more than one civil office of emolument or more
than one office of honor, trust, or profit.
(d) Except as provided by Subsection (e), if a district
contracts with a local government under this section to provide or
obtain emergency services, the district is responsible for any
civil liability that arises from furnishing those services if the
district would have been responsible for furnishing the services in
the absence of the contract.
(e) The parties to a contract between governmental entities
under this section may agree to assign responsibility for civil
liability that arises from services provided under the contract in
any manner agreed to by the parties. The parties must assign that
responsibility in a written provision of the contract that
specifically references this subsection and states that the
assignment of liability is intended to be different from liability
otherwise assigned under Subsection (d).
(f) This section does not change the liability limits and
immunities for a governmental unit under Chapter 101, Civil
Practice and Remedies Code, or other law.
(g) A contract under this section is not a joint enterprise
for liability purposes.
SECTION 6. The heading to Section 775.0422, Health and
Safety Code, is amended to read as follows:
Sec. 775.0422. REMOVAL OF APPOINTED BOARD MEMBER BY
COMMISSIONERS COURT [FOR FAILURE TO GIVE REPORT].
SECTION 7. Section 775.0422, Health and Safety Code, is
amended by amending Subsections (b) and (c) and adding Subsection
(b-1) to read as follows:
(b) The commissioners court of the county in which a
district is located, by an order adopted by a majority vote after a
hearing, may remove one or more board members if the board failed to
give a [the] report required by Section 775.036 [775.036(a)(4)] to
the commissioners court before the 91st day after the date on which
the report is [was] due under that section.
(b-1) The commissioners court of the county in which a
district is located, by an order adopted by a majority vote after a
hearing, may remove a board member if the board member does not
complete a training course and file a copy of the certificate of
course completion as required by Section 775.0365. If the district
is located in more than one county, the commissioners court of each
county must adopt the order before the board member may be removed.
(c) Before the 60th day after the date on which the report or
certificate of course completion is [was] due, each commissioners
court seeking removal under this section must notify the board
members that it is considering that action.
SECTION 8. Section 775.074, Health and Safety Code, is
amended by adding Subsection (d-1) to read as follows:
(d-1) The board may not set the tax rate for a fiscal year
before the date the board adopts a budget for that fiscal year.
SECTION 9. Section 775.082, Health and Safety Code, is
amended by adding Subsection (e-1) to read as follows:
(e-1) When a district located wholly in one county fails to
complete and file the audit report by September 1 of each year and a
county auditor is not ordered to prepare the report, the board is
abolished and the commissioners court shall appoint a new board as
provided by Section 775.034.
SECTION 10. Section 776.019, Health and Safety Code, is
amended by adding Subsections (e) and (f) to read as follows:
(e) If the territory of a district proposed under this
chapter overlaps with the boundaries of another district created
under this chapter or Chapter 775, 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 for creation
of the proposed district.
(f) The board of the existing district shall adopt a
statement before the date of the election required by this section
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.
SECTION 11. Section 776.021, Health and Safety Code, is
amended by amending Subsection (a) and adding Subsections (e), (f),
and (g) to read as follows:
(a) If the territory in a district created under this
chapter overlaps with the boundaries of another district created
under this chapter or a district operating under Chapter 775, the
most recently created district may not provide services in the
overlapping territory that duplicate the services described in the
statement required by Section 776.019(f) [provided by the other
district].
(e) The legislature finds that the performance of
non-duplicative emergency services in the overlapping territory of
emergency service districts is complementary to and not in conflict
with the powers and duties of the respective districts.
(f) A person may serve as an emergency commissioner of a
district created under this chapter at the same time that the person
serves as an emergency commissioner of another district with
overlapping territory created under this chapter or Chapter 775.
(g) A person serving as a commissioner of more than one
district under this section:
(1) may receive compensation for serving on only one
board; and
(2) is entitled to reimbursement for reasonable and
necessary expenses incurred in performing official duties for both
boards.
SECTION 12. Subchapter C, Chapter 776, Health and Safety
Code, is amended by adding Sections 776.0355, 776.0356, and 776.038
to read as follows:
Sec. 776.0355. BOARD TRAINING. (a) In this section,
"department" means the Texas Department of Rural Affairs.
(b) Each emergency commissioner shall complete a training
course:
(1) for the commissioner's initial term, not later
than the earlier of:
(A) the 180th day after the date the commissioner
takes the oath of office; or
(B) the 180th day after the date the commissioner
assumes responsibilities as an emergency commissioner; and
(2) not later than the second anniversary of each date
the commissioner completes a training course.
(c) The department shall:
(1) determine the minimum course requirements; and
(2) make the course available.
(d) The department may provide the training course. The
department must approve any training course provided by an entity
other than the department.
(e) The training course must provide instruction in:
(1) district responsibilities;
(2) board responsibilities;
(3) government administration;
(4) ethics laws relating to public officers; and
(5) the governance and management of emergency
services.
(f) The entity providing the training course shall provide a
certificate of course completion to each person who completes the
course.
(g) An emergency commissioner who completes the training
course shall file a copy of the certificate of course completion
with the commissioners court of each county in which the district is
located not later than the 10th day after the date the commissioner
is required to complete the course under Subsection (b).
(h) The department shall set a fee for the training course
in an amount reasonably necessary to recover costs associated with
developing and implementing the training program.
Sec. 776.0356. REMOVAL OF APPOINTED BOARD MEMBER BY
COMMISSIONERS COURT. (a) The commissioners court of each county
in which a district is located, by an order adopted by a majority
vote after a hearing, may remove an appointed board member if the
board member fails to complete a training course and file a copy of
the certificate of course completion as required by Section
776.0355.
(b) Before the 60th day after the date the certificate of
completion is due, each commissioners court seeking removal under
this section must notify the board members that it is considering
that action.
Sec. 776.038. SERVICE CONTRACTS. (a) In this section:
(1) "Local government" has the meaning assigned by
Section 791.003, Government Code.
(2) "Volunteer fire department" means an association
that:
(A) operates firefighting equipment;
(B) is organized primarily to provide and
actively provides firefighting services;
(C) does not pay its members compensation other
than nominal compensation; and
(D) does not distribute any of its income to its
members, officers, or governing body, other than for reimbursement
of expenses.
(b) The board may contract with a volunteer fire department
or a local government, including another district, to provide
staff, facilities, equipment, programs, or services the board
considers necessary to provide or obtain emergency services.
(c) A person acting under a contract under this section,
including an emergency commissioner, does not, because of that
action, hold more than one civil office of emolument or more than
one office of honor, trust, or profit.
(d) Except as provided by Subsection (e), if a district
contracts with a local government under this section to provide or
obtain emergency services, the district is responsible for any
civil liability that arises from furnishing those services if the
district would have been responsible for furnishing the services in
the absence of the contract.
(e) The parties to a contract between governmental entities
under this section may agree to assign responsibility for civil
liability that arises from services provided under the contract in
any manner agreed to by the parties. The parties must assign that
responsibility in a written provision of the contract that
specifically references this subsection and states that the
assignment of liability is intended to be different from liability
otherwise assigned under Subsection (d).
(f) This section does not change the liability limits and
immunities for a governmental unit under Chapter 101, Civil
Practice and Remedies Code, or other law.
(g) A contract under this section is not a joint enterprise
for liability purposes.
SECTION 13. Section 776.075, Health and Safety Code, is
amended by adding Subsection (d-1) to read as follows:
(d-1) The board may not set the tax rate for a fiscal year
before the date the board adopts a budget for that fiscal year.
SECTION 14. (a) In this section, "department" means the
Texas Department of Rural Affairs.
(b) Not later than June 1, 2012, the department shall make
available a training course as required by Sections 775.0365 and
776.0355, Health and Safety Code, as added by this Act.
(c) The deadlines to take the course under Subsection (b),
Section 775.0365, and Subsection (b), Section 776.0355, Health and
Safety Code, as added by this Act, do not apply to an emergency
services commissioner or emergency commissioner appointed or
elected to a board of emergency services commissioners or a board of
emergency commissioners for a term that starts before June 1, 2012.
Not later than the 90th day after the date the department makes
available a training course under Subsection (b) of this section,
an emergency services commissioner or emergency commissioner
described by this subsection must complete the course.
SECTION 15. The changes in law made by this Act to Chapter
776, Health and Safety Code, take effect only if Senate Bill No. 359
or another similar bill of the Regular Session of the 82nd
Legislature relating to repealing Chapter 776, Health and Safety
Code, is not enacted. If Senate Bill No. 359 or another similar
bill of the Regular Session of the 82nd Legislature relating to
repealing Chapter 776, Health and Safety Code, is enacted and
becomes law, the changes in law made by this Act to Chapter 776,
Health and Safety Code, do not take effect.
SECTION 16. 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.