83R8961 TJB-F
By: M. Gonzalez of El Paso H.B. No. 2005
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to requiring certain home-rule municipalities to obtain
annexation approval from voters in the area to be annexed.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Subchapter B, Chapter 43, Local Government
Code, is amended by adding Section 43.0225 to read as follows:
Sec. 43.0225. VOTER APPROVAL IN AREA TO BE ANNEXED BY
CERTAIN HOME-RULE MUNICIPALITIES REQUIRED. (a) This section
applies only to a home-rule municipality with a population of more
than 21,000 and less than 46,000 that is located in a county with a
population of more than 775,000 and less than 1.7 million.
(b) A home-rule municipality may annex an area with 50 or
more inhabitants only if:
(1) the municipality holds an election in the area to
be annexed for which the ballots are printed to provide for voting
for or against the proposition: "Annexation of the area described
in the municipal order calling this election, generally described
as (a general description of the area to be annexed)"; and
(2) a majority of the votes received at the election
favor the annexation.
(c) The general description on the ballot proposition may
not be a metes and bounds description or a legal description and
need not exactly describe the boundaries of the area. The
description may refer to land features, landmarks, streets or
highways, subdivision names, or other commonly understood points of
reference to provide the voters with a reasonable general
understanding of the area to be annexed.
(d) The election order and the notice of the election must
describe the area to be annexed by metes and bounds or by a legal
description and must generally describe the area to be annexed. The
general description is subject to the same provisions that apply
under Subsection (c) to the general description on a ballot
proposition.
(e) If the annexation is not approved as required by
Subsection (b), the municipality may not initiate annexation
proceedings in any part of the area until after the fifth
anniversary of the date of the election.
SECTION 2. Section 43.0225, Local Government Code, as added
by this Act, applies only to an annexation for which the first
hearing notice required by Section 43.0561 or 43.063, Local
Government Code, as applicable, is published on or after the
effective date of this Act. An annexation for which the first
hearing notice is published before that date is governed by the law
in effect at the time the notice is published, and the former law is
continued in effect for that purpose.
SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2013.