| 1 | 1 | | 86R6082 JXC-D |
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| 2 | 2 | | By: Thompson of Brazoria H.B. No. 1843 |
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| 3 | 3 | | |
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| 4 | 4 | | |
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| 5 | 5 | | A BILL TO BE ENTITLED |
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| 6 | 6 | | AN ACT |
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| 7 | 7 | | relating to the expansion of the territory of an emergency services |
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| 8 | 8 | | district into the territory of a municipality. |
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| 9 | 9 | | BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: |
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| 10 | 10 | | SECTION 1. Section 775.051(a), Health and Safety Code, is |
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| 11 | 11 | | amended to read as follows: |
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| 12 | 12 | | (a) Qualified voters who own taxable real property in a |
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| 13 | 13 | | defined territory that is not included in a district may file a |
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| 14 | 14 | | petition with the secretary of the board requesting the inclusion |
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| 15 | 15 | | of the territory in the district. The petition must: |
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| 16 | 16 | | (1) be signed by at least 50 qualified voters who own |
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| 17 | 17 | | taxable real property in the territory or a majority of those |
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| 18 | 18 | | voters, whichever is less; and |
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| 19 | 19 | | (2) show the name of each municipality whose consent |
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| 20 | 20 | | must be obtained under Section 775.0515. |
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| 21 | 21 | | SECTION 2. Subchapter D, Chapter 775, Health and Safety |
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| 22 | 22 | | Code, is amended by adding Section 775.0515 to read as follows: |
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| 23 | 23 | | Sec. 775.0515. EXPANSION OF DISTRICT THAT INCLUDES |
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| 24 | 24 | | MUNICIPAL TERRITORY. (a) Before territory in a municipality's |
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| 25 | 25 | | limits or extraterritorial jurisdiction may be annexed into a |
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| 26 | 26 | | district under Section 775.051, a written request to be annexed |
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| 27 | 27 | | into the district must be presented to the municipality's governing |
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| 28 | 28 | | body after the petition is filed under Section 775.051. Except as |
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| 29 | 29 | | provided by Subsection (c), that territory may not be annexed into |
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| 30 | 30 | | the district unless the municipality's governing body gives its |
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| 31 | 31 | | written consent on or before the 60th day after the date the |
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| 32 | 32 | | municipality receives the request. |
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| 33 | 33 | | (b) If the municipality's governing body does not consent to |
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| 34 | 34 | | annexation within the 60-day period prescribed by Subsection (a), a |
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| 35 | 35 | | majority of the qualified voters and the owners of at least 50 |
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| 36 | 36 | | percent of the territory in the municipality's limits or |
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| 37 | 37 | | extraterritorial jurisdiction that would have been annexed into the |
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| 38 | 38 | | district may petition the governing body to make fire control and |
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| 39 | 39 | | emergency medical and ambulance services available in the |
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| 40 | 40 | | territory. The petition must be submitted to the governing body not |
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| 41 | 41 | | later than the 90th day after the date the municipality receives the |
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| 42 | 42 | | request under Subsection (a). |
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| 43 | 43 | | (c) If the municipality's governing body refuses or fails to |
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| 44 | 44 | | act on the petition requesting fire control and emergency medical |
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| 45 | 45 | | and ambulance services within six months after the date on which the |
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| 46 | 46 | | petition submitted under Subsection (b) is received, the governing |
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| 47 | 47 | | body's refusal or failure to act constitutes consent for the |
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| 48 | 48 | | territory that is the subject of the petition to be annexed into the |
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| 49 | 49 | | district. |
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| 50 | 50 | | (d) If the territory proposed to be annexed into the |
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| 51 | 51 | | district will include territory designated by a municipality as an |
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| 52 | 52 | | industrial district under Section 42.044, Local Government Code, |
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| 53 | 53 | | consent to include the industrial district must be obtained from |
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| 54 | 54 | | the municipality's governing body in the same manner provided by |
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| 55 | 55 | | this section for obtaining consent to annex territory within the |
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| 56 | 56 | | limits or extraterritorial jurisdiction of a municipality. |
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| 57 | 57 | | (e) If the municipality's governing body consents to |
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| 58 | 58 | | annexation of territory within its limits or extraterritorial |
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| 59 | 59 | | jurisdiction, or in an industrial district, the territory may be |
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| 60 | 60 | | annexed into the district in the same manner as other territory is |
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| 61 | 61 | | annexed under this chapter. |
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| 62 | 62 | | (f) A governing body's consent to annex territory into the |
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| 63 | 63 | | district expires six months after the date the consent is given. |
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| 64 | 64 | | (g) This section does not apply if territory proposed to be |
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| 65 | 65 | | annexed into the district is in the unincorporated area of a county |
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| 66 | 66 | | with a population of 3.3 million or more. |
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| 67 | 67 | | SECTION 3. The changes in law made by this Act apply only to |
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| 68 | 68 | | a petition for the expansion of an emergency services district |
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| 69 | 69 | | filed with the board of the emergency services district on or after |
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| 70 | 70 | | the effective date of this Act. A petition pending before the board |
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| 71 | 71 | | of an emergency services district on the effective date of this Act |
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| 72 | 72 | | is governed by the law in effect at the time the petition was filed, |
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| 73 | 73 | | and that law is continued in effect for that purpose. |
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| 74 | 74 | | SECTION 4. This Act takes effect September 1, 2019. |
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