By: Watson S.B. No. 579
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to optional fees on registration of vehicles in certain
counties to fund transportation projects; authorizing a fee.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 502.402(a), Transportation Code, as
amended by Chapters 1273 (H.B. 1198) and 1277 (H.B. 1573), Acts of
the 83rd Legislature, Regular Session, 2013, is reenacted to read
as follows:
(a) This section applies only to:
(1) a county that:
(A) borders the United Mexican States; and
(B) has a population of more than 250,000; and
(2) a county that has a population of more than 1.5
million that is coterminous with a regional mobility authority.
SECTION 2. Subchapter H, Chapter 502, Transportation Code,
is amended by adding Section 502.406 to read as follows:
Sec. 502.406. OPTIONAL COUNTY FEE FOR PROJECTS OF REGIONAL
MOBILITY AUTHORITIES. (a) This section applies only to the most
populous county that is part of a regional mobility authority
created under Chapter 370 with at least two counties, at least one
of which has a population of more than one million.
(b) The commissioners court of a county by order may impose
an additional fee for a vehicle registered in the county. Except as
provided by Subsection (c), the fee may not exceed $10.
(c) The commissioners court of a county may increase the
additional fee to $20 adjusted annually to reflect the percentage
change during the preceding year in the construction cost index if
approved by a majority of the qualified voters of the county voting
on the issue at a referendum election, which the commissioners
court may order and hold for that purpose. The ballot language must
clearly state that the fee will increase annually in accordance
with the construction cost index. For purposes of this subsection,
the "construction cost index" means the most recent construction
cost index published by Engineering News-Record as a measure of
inflation or, if the construction cost index is not published,
another similar index chosen by the commissioners court.
(d) A vehicle that may be registered under this chapter
without payment of a registration fee may be registered under this
section without payment of the additional fee.
(e) A fee imposed under this section may take effect and be
removed in accordance with the requirements of Section 502.401.
(f) The additional fee shall be collected for a vehicle when
other fees imposed under this chapter are collected. The fee
revenue collected shall be sent to the regional mobility authority
in which the county is located to fund transportation projects that
are consistent with the purposes specified by Section 7-a, Article
VIII, Texas Constitution. Notwithstanding Section 370.251(i),
before a county may impose a fee under this section, a regional
mobility authority which is to receive fees from a county pursuant
to this section must enter into an agreement with the county that
identifies, or provides a process for identifying, transportation
projects which will be funded by fee revenue. The agreement must be
approved by the county commissioners court, the board of directors
of the regional mobility authority, and a majority of the board
members of the regional mobility authority who were appointed by
the county which adopted or approved the fee.
(g) Additional fees adopted by a county pursuant to this
section may only be used by the regional mobility authority for
projects located in the unincorporated and incorporated portions of
the county that adopted the fee, unless, in the agreement required
by Subsection (f), the county commissioners court and the regional
mobility authority make findings that:
(1) a project located wholly or partly within another
county will improve the safety and mobility of residents located
within the county that adopted the fee; and
(2) the development of the transportation project will
serve a public purpose.
(h) The department shall adopt rules necessary to
administer registration for a vehicle being registered in a county
imposing a fee under this section.
SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2015.