Texas 2019 - 86th Regular

Texas House Bill HB4273 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.

Old	New	Differences
1	1	86R11092 JXC-D
2	2	By: Zedler H.B. No. 4273
3	3
4	4
5	5	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
6	6	AN ACT
7	7	relating to the supervision and administration of municipal
8	8	management districts.
9	9	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
10	10	SECTION 1. Section 321.013(a), Government Code, is amended
11	11	to read as follows:
12	12	(a) The State Auditor shall conduct audits of all
13	13	departments, including institutions of higher education, and of
14	14	municipal management districts, as specified in the audit plan. At
15	15	the direction of the committee, the State Auditor shall conduct an
16	16	audit or investigation of any entity receiving funds from the
17	17	state.
18	18	SECTION 2. Chapter 321, Government Code, is amended by
19	19	adding Section 321.01335 to read as follows:
20	20	Sec. 321.01335. ECONOMY AND EFFICIENCY AUDIT OF MUNICIPAL
21	21	MANAGEMENT DISTRICTS. At a reasonable time in advance of an economy
22	22	and efficiency audit of a municipal management district requested
23	23	under Section 375.0961, Local Government Code, the state auditor
24	24	shall provide the board of directors of the district with written
25	25	information relating to the procedures for and scope of the audit.
26	26	The state auditor shall include in the materials information
27	27	describing:
28	28	(1) how the appropriate representatives of the
29	29	district may participate in the audit planning process; and
30	30	(2) how the district may request information or
31	31	assistance in preparing for the audit from the state auditor.
32	32	SECTION 3. Section 375.061, Local Government Code, is
33	33	amended to read as follows:
34	34	Sec. 375.061. NUMBER OF DIRECTORS; TERMS. (a) A district
35	35	is governed by a board of at least five but not more than 30
36	36	directors who serve staggered four-year terms.
37	37	(b) Directors may serve successive terms.
38	38	SECTION 4. Subchapter D, Chapter 375, Local Government
39	39	Code, is amended by adding Section 375.0641 to read as follows:
40	40	Sec. 375.0641. ELECTIONS FOR SUCCEEDING BOARD. (a) In all
41	41	areas of conflict, the provisions of this section take precedence
42	42	over all prior statutory enactments.
43	43	(b) An election shall be held on the uniform election date,
44	44	provided by Section 41.001, Election Code, in May to elect the
45	45	appropriate number of directors.
46	46	(c) Except as provided by Subsections (d) and (e), directors
47	47	are elected at large.
48	48	(d) The directors may assign a position number to each
49	49	director's office so that the directors may be elected by position.
50	50	(e) The directors may provide for the election of all
51	51	directors, or a majority of directors, from single-member
52	52	districts, which must be geographically described inside the
53	53	boundaries of the district in a manner that is equitable for both
54	54	the voters of the single-member districts and the voters of the
55	55	district generally.
56	56	(f) If authorized by the board in the proceedings calling a
57	57	director election, the secretary of the board or the secretary's
58	58	designee, on receipt of the certification required by Section
59	59	2.052(b), Election Code, shall post notice that the election is not
60	60	to be held. The notice must be posted, on or before the
61	61	commencement of early voting, at each polling place that would have
62	62	been used in the election. If the notice is timely posted:
63	63	(1) the secretary or designee is not required to:
64	64	(A) post or publish notice of the election;
65	65	(B) prepare or print ballots and election
66	66	materials; or
67	67	(C) hold early and regular voting; and
68	68	(2) the board shall meet at the earliest practicable
69	69	time to declare each unopposed candidate elected to office.
70	70	(g) In the event of a failure to elect one or more directors
71	71	resulting from the absence of, or failure to vote by, the qualified
72	72	voters in an election held by the district, the members of the board
73	73	holding the positions not filled at the election, including initial
74	74	directors, shall be considered to have been elected and shall serve
75	75	an additional term of office.
76	76	(h) Sections 49.1045, 49.109, 49.110, 49.111, 49.112, and
77	77	49.113, Water Code, apply to an election held under this section.
78	78	(i) This section does not apply to the selection of initial
79	79	directors.
80	80	SECTION 5. Section 375.065, Local Government Code, is
81	81	amended to read as follows:
82	82	Sec. 375.065. REMOVAL OF DIRECTOR; RECALL ELECTION. (a) The
83	83	governing body of the municipality after notice and hearing may
84	84	remove a director for misconduct or failure to carry out the
85	85	director's duties on petition by a majority of the remaining
86	86	directors.
87	87	(b) A director may be removed from office through a recall
88	88	election initiated by a petition:
89	89	(1) signed by the owners of 10 percent or more of the
90	90	assessed value of the property in the district based on the most
91	91	recent certified county property tax rolls; and
92	92	(2) filed with the municipal clerk.
93	93	(c) Not later than the 10th day after the date a petition is
94	94	filed, the municipal clerk shall review the petition and determine
95	95	whether the petition is valid.
96	96	(d) If the municipal clerk determines the petition is valid,
97	97	the clerk shall attach a certificate to the petition stating that
98	98	the petition is valid and submit the petition and certificate to the
99	99	board as soon as practicable. If the clerk determines that the
100	100	petition is not valid:
101	101	(1) the clerk shall attach a certificate to the
102	102	petition stating the facts supporting the determination that the
103	103	petition is not valid;
104	104	(2) the clerk shall notify the person who filed the
105	105	petition of the clerk's determination;
106	106	(3) the petition may be amended or supplemented and
107	107	filed again not later than the 10th day after the date of the
108	108	certification under Subdivision (1); and
109	109	(4) the clerk shall return the petition to the person
110	110	who filed it.
111	111	(e) The municipal clerk shall determine the validity of a
112	112	petition filed under Subsection (d)(3) in the same manner as the
113	113	original filing except that if the clerk determines the petition is
114	114	not valid the petition may not be further amended or supplemented
115	115	and the recall election is not held.
116	116	(f) Unless the director who is the target of the petition
117	117	resigns before the sixth day after the date a petition and
118	118	certificate are delivered to the board, the board shall order that a
119	119	recall election be held on the first uniform election date that
120	120	occurs after the date of the order.
121	121	(g) The ballot for a recall election shall be printed to
122	122	permit voting for or against the proposition: "The removal of (name
123	123	of the member of the board) from the board of the (name of
124	124	district)."
125	125	(h) If less than a majority of the votes received at the
126	126	recall election are in favor of removal of the director named on the
127	127	ballot, the director remains in office. If a majority of the votes
128	128	received are in favor of the removal of the director, the board
129	129	shall immediately declare the director's office vacant and the
130	130	vacancy shall be filled in the manner provided by Section 375.066. A
131	131	director removed by recall may not be appointed to fill the vacancy
132	132	and may not be a candidate in any election called to fill the
133	133	vacancy.
134	134	SECTION 6. Section 375.067(a), Local Government Code, is
135	135	amended to read as follows:
136	136	(a) As soon as practicable after a director is appointed or
137	137	elected, the director shall execute a $10,000 bond payable to the
138	138	district and conditioned on the faithful performance of the
139	139	director's duties.
140	140	SECTION 7. Section 375.068, Local Government Code, is
141	141	amended to read as follows:
142	142	Sec. 375.068. OFFICERS. After directors are appointed or
143	143	elected and have qualified by executing a bond and taking the oath,
144	144	they shall organize by electing a president, a vice-president, a
145	145	secretary, and any other officers the board considers necessary.
146	146	SECTION 8. Subchapter E, Chapter 375, Local Government
147	147	Code, is amended by adding Section 375.0961 to read as follows:
148	148	Sec. 375.0961. AUDIT REVIEW. (a) The executive director of
149	149	the commission shall review using the standards and procedures
150	150	established under Section 49.195, Water Code, an audit prepared
151	151	under Section 375.096(a) if the commission receives a petition
152	152	requesting the review signed by the owners of 10 percent or more of
153	153	the assessed value of the property in the district based on the most
154	154	recent certified county property tax rolls.
155	155	(b) Based on the review, the executive director may request
156	156	that the state auditor conduct an economy and efficiency audit of a
157	157	district under Section 321.01335, Government Code. The state
158	158	auditor's participation under this section is subject to approval
159	159	by the legislative audit committee for inclusion in the audit plan
160	160	under Section 321.013(c), Government Code.
161	161	SECTION 9. Section 375.208, Local Government Code, is
162	162	amended to read as follows:
163	163	Sec. 375.208. COMMISSION APPROVAL. A district must obtain
164	164	approval of the commission as provided by Chapter 54, Water Code, if
165	165	it issues bonds to provide water, sewage, or drainage facilities.
166	166	Except as expressly provided by this section and Section [Sections]
167	167	375.062 [and 375.064], a district is not subject to the
168	168	jurisdiction of the commission.
169	169	SECTION 10. Subchapter L, Chapter 375, Local Government
170	170	Code, is amended by adding Sections 375.245 and 375.246 to read as
171	171	follows:
172	172	Sec. 375.245. BALLOT LANGUAGE. The ballot for a bond
173	173	election, maintenance tax election, and any other district election
174	174	held in a district must be written in plain language designed to be
175	175	easily understood by the average person.
176	176	Sec. 375.246. ELECTION TO REPEAL INCREASE OF OPERATION AND
177	177	MAINTENANCE TAX. (a) Instead of the notice text required by
178	178	Section 49.236(a)(3), Water Code, as added by Chapter 335 (S.B.
179	179	392), Acts of the 78th Legislature, Regular Session, 2003, a notice
180	180	given by the board under Section 49.236(a), Water Code, as added by
181	181	Chapter 335 (S.B. 392), Acts of the 78th Legislature, Regular
182	182	Session, 2003, must contain a statement in substantially the
183	183	following form:
184	184	"NOTICE OF TAXPAYERS' RIGHT TO ROLLBACK ELECTION
185	185	"If taxes on the average residence homestead increase,
186	186	the qualified voters of the district by petition may
187	187	require that an election be held to determine whether
188	188	to reduce the operation and maintenance tax rate to the
189	189	rollback tax rate under Section 375.246, Local
190	190	Government Code."
191	191	(b) Section 49.236(d), Water Code, as added by Chapter 335
192	192	(S.B. 392), Acts of the 78th Legislature, Regular Session, 2003,
193	193	does not apply to the district.
194	194	(c) If the governing body of a district adopts a combined
195	195	debt service, operation and maintenance, and contract tax rate that
196	196	exceeds the rollback tax rate, the qualified voters of the district
197	197	by petition may require that an election be held to determine
198	198	whether or not to reduce the tax rate adopted for the current year
199	199	to the rollback tax rate in accordance with the procedures provided
200	200	by Sections 26.07(b)-(g) and 26.081, Tax Code. For purposes of
201	201	Sections 26.07(b)-(g), Tax Code, and this section, the rollback tax
202	202	rate is the sum of the following tax rates:
203	203	(1) the current year's debt service tax rate;
204	204	(2) the current year's contract tax rate; and
205	205	(3) the operation and maintenance tax rate that would
206	206	impose the same amount as the operation and maintenance tax imposed
207	207	by the district in the preceding year on a residence homestead
208	208	appraised at the average appraised value of a residence homestead
209	209	in the district in that year, disregarding any homestead exemption
210	210	available only to disabled persons or persons 65 years of age or
211	211	older.
212	212	SECTION 11. Section 49.052(h), Water Code, is amended to
213	213	read as follows:
214	214	(h) This subsection applies only to a district that is
215	215	located wholly within the boundaries of a municipality with a
216	216	population of more than 1.5 million, that is governed by Chapter
217	217	375, Local Government Code, and that is governed by a [an appointed]
218	218	board consisting of nine or more members. Notwithstanding
219	219	Subsection (f) or (g), a person is considered to have resigned from
220	220	serving as a member of the board if the person fails to attend three
221	221	consecutive meetings of the board. The remaining board members by
222	222	majority vote may waive the resignation under this subsection if
223	223	fairness requires that the absences be excused on the basis of
224	224	illness or other good cause.
225	225	SECTION 12. Section 375.064, Local Government Code, is
226	226	repealed.
227	227	SECTION 13. (a) This section applies only to:
228	228	(1) a municipal management district created by
229	229	petition under Chapter 375, Local Government Code, before the
230	230	effective date of this Act; or
231	231	(2) a special district that has the powers and duties
232	232	granted to a municipal management district under Chapter 375, Local
233	233	Government Code, created by special law of the legislature before
234	234	the effective date of this Act.
235	235	(b) In all areas of conflict the provisions of this section
236	236	take precedence over all prior statutory enactments.
237	237	(c) This Act does not prohibit a person who is an appointed
238	238	director of a district serving on the effective date of this Act
239	239	from running for election to the board of directors of the district
240	240	if the person has the qualifications required for a director.
241	241	(d) The terms of appointed directors serving on the
242	242	effective date of this Act expire on the date a majority of the
243	243	members of the first board of directors elected under Subsection
244	244	(e) of this section qualify to serve.
245	245	(e) The board of directors of a district for which appointed
246	246	directors are serving on the effective date of this Act shall call
247	247	an election to elect directors for the district in the manner
248	248	required by Section 375.0641, Local Government Code, as added by
249	249	this Act, not later than the uniform election date in May of 2021.
250	250	SECTION 14. This Act takes effect September 1, 2019.