85R6537 MEW-F
By: VanDeaver H.B. No. 2047
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the detachment and annexation of school district
territory by agreement.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Subchapter B, Chapter 13, Education Code, is
amended by adding Section 13.0515 to read as follows:
Sec. 13.0515. DETACHMENT AND ANNEXATION OF TERRITORY BY
AGREEMENT. (a) In accordance with this section, two or more
contiguous school districts may enter into a boundary change
agreement to transfer or exchange territory through detachment and
annexation. Each school district that is a party to the agreement
to detach and annex territory must conduct a hearing and adopt a
resolution approving the boundary change as provided by this
section.
(b) Before adopting a boundary change agreement, each
school district shall appoint two members from the district's board
of trustees and one member from the district's administration to a
boundary change committee.
(c) The boundary change committee established under
Subsection (b):
(1) shall investigate a potential transfer or exchange
of territory through detachment and annexation between the school
districts; and
(2) may develop and propose a written boundary change
plan to present to the board of trustees of each school district.
(d) A boundary change plan developed under Subsection (c)
must include:
(1) a designation of each territory to be detached and
annexed by a metes and bounds description;
(2) the total taxable valuation of the property in
each designated territory according to the most recent certified
appraisal roll;
(3) a summary of any social, economic, or educational
effects of approving the boundary changes;
(4) a summary of the educational interests of the
current students residing or future students expected to reside in
each designated territory;
(5) a school finance summary that shows the fiscal
impact of the proposed boundary changes for each affected school
district; and
(6) a proposed boundary change agreement describing
the proposed boundary changes.
(e) The territory designated for detachment and annexation
under a boundary change agreement must be contiguous to the school
district receiving the territory.
(f) A boundary change agreement may not reduce a school
district's territory to an area of less than nine square miles.
(g) A boundary change committee may not propose a boundary
change plan unless at least two of the three members of the
committee from each school district approve the plan. On approval
of the plan, the committee shall submit the written boundary change
plan to the board of trustees of each affected school district.
(h) Immediately following receipt of the boundary change
plan, each affected board of trustees shall give notice of the
proposed boundary change plan by publishing and posting a notice in
the manner required for an election order under Section 13.003. The
notice must specify the place and date at which a hearing on the
proposed boundary change shall be held. Unless the districts hold a
joint hearing, the districts must hold hearings on separate dates.
At each hearing, members of the boundary change committee and
affected persons are entitled to an opportunity to be heard.
(i) At the hearing, each board of trustees shall consider
the boundary change plan, the information received from members of
the boundary change committee and affected persons, the educational
interests of the current students residing or future students
expected to reside in each designated territory and in each
affected district, and the social, economic, and educational
effects of the proposed boundary change plan. A board of trustees
may not amend the proposed boundary change plan or agreement. After
the conclusion of the hearing, each board of trustees shall adopt a
resolution approving or disapproving the boundary change plan and
agreement. The resolution and boundary change agreement shall be
recorded in the minutes of each affected board of trustees and shall
be reported to the commissioners court of each county to which a
district receiving territory is assigned for administrative
purposes by the agency and to the commissioners court of each county
to which a district from which territory is to be detached is
assigned for administrative purposes.
(j) If each board of trustees of the affected districts
approves the boundary change agreement, the commissioners court or
commissioners courts to whom the matter is required to be reported
shall enter an order redefining the boundaries of the districts
affected by the transfer or exchange of territory in accordance
with the boundary change agreement. Title to all real property of a
district from which territory is detached within the territory
annexed vests in the receiving district, and the receiving district
assumes and is liable for any portion of the indebtedness of a
district from which the territory is to be detached that is
allocated to the receiving district under Section 13.004.
(k) If the board of trustees of each district that is a party
to the boundary change agreement approves the agreement, the
decisions are final and may not be appealed.
(l) Section 13.002 does not apply to this section.
(m) Any additional tax resulting from a change of use, as
provided for by Chapter 23, Tax Code, and the interest and penalty
on the additional tax, that is imposed for any year on land in
annexed territory shall be paid to the school district that imposed
the tax.
SECTION 2. The heading to Section 13.051, Education Code,
is amended to read as follows:
Sec. 13.051. DETACHMENT AND ANNEXATION OF TERRITORY BY
PETITION.
SECTION 3. 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, 2017.