84R10635 KJE-D
By: Simpson H.B. No. 4026
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the division of certain emergency services districts.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 775.221, Health and Safety Code, is
amended to read as follows:
Sec. 775.221. AUTHORITY TO DIVIDE DISTRICT. (a) This
subchapter applies only to a district located wholly in:
(1) a county with a population of 20,000 or less; or
(2) a county with a population of more than 30,000 but
less than 41,000 that is adjacent to a county with a population of
more than 200,000 but less than 220,000.
(b) The board of a district described by Subsection (a)
[located wholly in one county with a population of 20,000 or less]
may create one or more [a] new districts [district] by disannexing
territory from the existing district and ordering one or more [a]
new districts [district] to be created in the disannexed territory
in the manner provided by this subchapter.
SECTION 2. Sections 775.222(a), (b), and (d), Health and
Safety Code, are amended to read as follows:
(a) Before the existing district may be divided, the
district's board must receive a petition for division signed by at
least 10 [seven] percent of the district's qualified voters or at
least 500 [100] of the district's qualified voters, whichever is
the lesser number.
(b) A petition for division must include:
(1) the name of each [the] new district to be created;
and
(2) a description of the territory proposed to be each
[the] new district's territory.
(d) The board shall issue a notice of the hearing that
includes:
(1) the name of each [the] proposed district;
(2) a description of each [the] proposed district's
boundaries; and
(3) the place, date, and time of the hearing on the
petition.
SECTION 3. Section 775.223(c), Health and Safety Code, is
amended to read as follows:
(c) The [If the board finds that the petition contains the
number of signatures required under Section 775.222(a), the] board
shall approve the petition not later than the 10th day after the
date of the hearing if the board finds that:
(1) the petition contains the number of signatures
required under Section 775.222(a); and
(2) the proposed division is feasible.
SECTION 4. Sections 775.225(a) and (g), Health and Safety
Code, are amended to read as follows:
(a) On granting a petition to divide the district, the board
shall order an election to be held in the territory of each [the]
proposed new district to confirm the division of the existing
district.
(g) The existing district and each [the] new district [each]
shall pay a pro rata share of the cost of an election held under this
section, based on the assessed value of real property in each
district subject to ad valorem taxation.
SECTION 5. Section 775.226, Health and Safety Code, is
amended to read as follows:
Sec. 775.226. DIVISION ORDER. A board order to divide a
district must:
(1) disannex the land of each [the] new district from
the existing district contingent on the approval of the creation of
the new district at the election held under this subchapter;
(2) create each [the] new district in accordance with
this chapter;
(3) name each [the] new district; and
(4) include the metes and bounds description of the
territory of each [the] new district and the existing district
after disannexation.
SECTION 6. Section 775.227(b), Health and Safety Code, is
amended to read as follows:
(b) If a [the] new district is located wholly in one county,
the commissioners court shall appoint a board in the manner
described by Section 775.034 not later than the 14th day after the
date of the board order dividing the district.
SECTION 7. Section 775.229, Health and Safety Code, is
amended to read as follows:
Sec. 775.229. FURTHER DIVISION [PROHIBITED]. The [Once a
district has been divided under this subchapter, neither the]
existing district and each [nor the] new district may be further
divided under this subchapter if at least two years have elapsed
since the most recent division of the district.
SECTION 8. The changes in law made by this Act apply only to
the division of an emergency services district the petition for
which is submitted on or after the effective date of this Act. The
division of an emergency services district the petition for which
is submitted before the effective date of this Act is governed by
the law in effect on the date the petition is submitted, and the
former law is continued in effect for that purpose.
SECTION 9. This Act takes effect September 1, 2015.