By: Estes, et al. S.B. No. 18
(In the Senate - Filed July 18, 2017; July 20, 2017, read
first time and referred to Select Committee on Government Reform;
July 23, 2017, reported favorably by the following vote: Yeas 5,
Nays 2; July 23, 2017, sent to printer.)
Click here to see the committee vote
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to a limit on local government expenditures.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Chapter 140, Local Government Code, is amended
by adding Section 140.012 to read as follows:
Sec. 140.012. LIMIT ON ANNUAL EXPENDITURES. (a) In this
section, "local government" means a municipality or county.
(b) Except as provided by Subsection (d), a local
government's total expenditures from all available sources of
revenue in a fiscal year may not exceed the greater of:
(1) the local government's total expenditures from all
available sources of revenue in the preceding fiscal year; or
(2) an amount determined by multiplying:
(A) the local government's total expenditures
from all available sources of revenue in the preceding fiscal year;
and
(B) the sum of one and the rate most recently
published by the Legislative Budget Board under Subsection (c).
(c) Not later than January 31 of each year, the staff of the
Legislative Budget Board shall publish a rate equal to the product
of:
(1) the rate of growth of this state's population
during the preceding calendar year, using the most recent estimates
published by the United States Census Bureau; and
(2) the rate of monetary inflation in this state
during the preceding calendar year, using the effective consumer
price index for all items for this state as determined by the
Legislative Budget Board based on information published by the
Bureau of Labor Statistics of the United States Department of
Labor.
(d) A local government's total expenditures from all
available sources of local revenue in a fiscal year may exceed the
amount described by Subsection (b) if:
(1) the local government's voters approve the
additional expenditures for that fiscal year at an election called
for that purpose and held on a uniform election date; or
(2) the governor declares or renews a declaration of a
state of disaster under Section 418.014, Government Code, in that
fiscal year, and the governor's designation of the area threatened
includes all or part of the geographic territory of the local
government.
(e) Revenue received from the issuance of bonds approved by
the voters or from a grant, donation, or gift is not considered an
available source of revenue for the purposes of this section.
SECTION 2. Section 140.012, Local Government Code, as added
by this Act, applies only to a fiscal year of a municipality or
county that begins on or after December 1, 2017.
SECTION 3. This Act takes effect December 1, 2017.
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