Texas 2019 - 86th Regular

Texas Senate Bill SB1870 Compare Versions

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Old	New	Differences
1	1	2019S0292-1 02/27/19
2	2	By: Hinojosa S.B. No. 1870
3	3
4	4
5	5	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
6	6	AN ACT
7	7	relating to municipal annexation.
8	8	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
9	9	SECTION 1. Sections 43.001(2) and (3), Local Government
10	10	Code, are amended to read as follows:
11	11	(2) "Tier 1 municipality [county]" means a
12	12	municipality [county]:
13	13	(A) with a population of less than 500,000; and
14	14	(B) that is not a municipality [county] that
15	15	contains a freshwater fisheries center operated by the Texas Parks
16	16	and Wildlife Department.
17	17	(3) "Tier 2 municipality [county]" means a
18	18	municipality [county] that[:
19	19	[(A)] is not a tier 1 municipality [county; or
20	20	[(B) is a tier 1 county in which a majority of the
21	21	registered voters of the county have approved being a tier 2 county
22	22	at an election ordered by the commissioners court on the request by
23	23	petition of a number of registered voters of the county equal to or
24	24	greater than 10 percent of the registered voters of the county].
25	25	SECTION 2. Subchapter A, Chapter 43, Local Government Code,
26	26	is amended by adding Section 43.004 to read as follows:
27	27	Sec. 43.004. PETITION FOR ELECTION ON CONSIDERATION AS TIER
28	28	2 MUNICIPALITY. (a) The registered voters of a county that
29	29	includes a tier 1 municipality may file a petition with the county
30	30	commissioners court requesting an election in the county to
31	31	determine whether the tier 1 municipality should be considered a
32	32	tier 2 municipality for the purposes of this chapter. The petition
33	33	must contain the signatures of at least 10 percent of the registered
34	34	voters of the county.
35	35	(b) A county commissioners court that receives a petition
36	36	for an election under Subsection (a) shall:
37	37	(1) verify the signatures on the petition; and
38	38	(2) order the election if the county verifies that the
39	39	petition satisfies the signature requirement under Subsection (a).
40	40	(c) If a majority of the votes cast at an election held under
41	41	Subsection (b) favor the proposition, the municipality is
42	42	considered a tier 2 municipality for the purposes of this chapter.
43	43	SECTION 3. Section 43.054(a), Local Government Code, is
44	44	amended to read as follows:
45	45	(a) A municipality may not annex a publicly or privately
46	46	owned area, including a strip of area following the course of a
47	47	road, highway, river, stream, or creek, unless the width of the area
48	48	at its narrowest point is at least 50 [1,000] feet.
49	49	SECTION 4. Section 43.0662, Local Government Code, is
50	50	transferred to Subchapter B, Chapter 43, Local Government Code, and
51	51	redesignated as Section 43.035, Local Government Code, to read as
52	52	follows:
53	53	Sec. 43.035 [43.0662]. AUTHORITY OF MUNICIPALITY WITH
54	54	POPULATION OF 74,000 TO 99,700 IN URBAN COUNTY TO ANNEX SMALL,
55	55	SURROUNDED GENERAL-LAW MUNICIPALITY. (a) Notwithstanding
56	56	Subchapter C-4 or C-5, a municipality that has a population of
57	57	74,000 to 99,700, that is located wholly or partly in a county with
58	58	a population of more than 1.8 million, and that completely
59	59	surrounds and is contiguous to a general-law municipality with a
60	60	population of less than 600, may annex the general-law municipality
61	61	as provided by this section.
62	62	(b) The governing body of the smaller municipality may adopt
63	63	an ordinance ordering an election on the question of consenting to
64	64	the annexation of the smaller municipality by the larger
65	65	municipality. The governing body of the smaller municipality shall
66	66	adopt the ordinance if it receives a petition to do so signed by a
67	67	number of qualified voters of the municipality equal to at least 10
68	68	percent of the number of voters of the municipality who voted in the
69	69	most recent general election. If the ordinance ordering the
70	70	election is to be adopted as a result of a petition, the ordinance
71	71	shall be adopted within 30 days after the date the petition is
72	72	received.
73	73	(c) The ordinance ordering the election must provide for the
74	74	submission of the question at an election to be held on the first
75	75	uniform election date prescribed by Chapter 41, Election Code, that
76	76	occurs after the 30th day after the date the ordinance is adopted
77	77	and that affords enough time to hold the election in the manner
78	78	required by law.
79	79	(d) Within 10 days after the date on which the election is
80	80	held, the governing body of the smaller municipality shall canvass
81	81	the election returns and by resolution shall declare the results of
82	82	the election. If a majority of the votes received is in favor of the
83	83	annexation, the secretary of the smaller municipality or other
84	84	appropriate municipal official shall forward by certified mail to
85	85	the secretary of the larger municipality a certified copy of the
86	86	resolution.
87	87	(e) The larger municipality, within 90 days after the date
88	88	the resolution is received, must complete the annexation by
89	89	ordinance in accordance with its municipal charter or the general
90	90	laws of the state. If the annexation is not completed within the
91	91	90-day period, any annexation proceeding is void and the larger
92	92	municipality may not annex the smaller municipality under this
93	93	section. However, the failure to complete the annexation as
94	94	provided by this subsection does not prevent the smaller
95	95	municipality from holding a new election on the question to enable
96	96	the larger municipality to annex the smaller municipality as
97	97	provided by this section.
98	98	(f) If the larger municipality completes the annexation
99	99	within the prescribed period, the incorporation of the smaller
100	100	municipality is abolished. The records, public property, public
101	101	buildings, money on hand, credit accounts, and other assets of the
102	102	smaller municipality become the property of the larger municipality
103	103	and shall be turned over to the officers of that municipality. The
104	104	offices in the smaller municipality are abolished and the persons
105	105	holding those offices are not entitled to further remuneration or
106	106	compensation. All outstanding liabilities of the smaller
107	107	municipality are assumed by the larger municipality.
108	108	(g) In the annexation ordinance, the larger municipality
109	109	shall adopt, for application in the area zoned by the smaller
110	110	municipality, the identical comprehensive zoning ordinance that
111	111	the smaller municipality applied to the area at the time of the
112	112	election. Any attempted annexation of the smaller municipality
113	113	that does not include the adoption of that comprehensive zoning
114	114	ordinance is void. That comprehensive zoning ordinance may not be
115	115	repealed or amended for a period of 10 years unless the written
116	116	consent of the landowners who own at least two-thirds of the surface
117	117	land of the annexed smaller municipality is obtained.
118	118	(h) If the annexed smaller municipality has on hand any bond
119	119	funds for public improvements that are not appropriated or
120	120	contracted for, the funds shall be kept in a separate special fund
121	121	to be used only for public improvements in the area for which the
122	122	bonds were voted.
123	123	(i) On the annexation, all claims, fines, debts, or taxes
124	124	due and payable to the smaller municipality become due and payable
125	125	to the larger municipality and shall be collected by it. If taxes
126	126	for the year in which the annexation occurs have been assessed in
127	127	the smaller municipality before the annexation, the amounts
128	128	assessed remain as the amounts due and payable from the inhabitants
129	129	of the smaller municipality for that year.
130	130	(j) This section does not affect a charter provision of a
131	131	home-rule municipality. This section grants additional power to
132	132	the municipality and is cumulative of the municipal charter.
133	133	SECTION 5. Section 43.1025(c), Local Government Code, is
134	134	amended to read as follows:
135	135	(c) The area described by Subsection (b) may be annexed
136	136	under the requirements applicable to a tier 1 [2] municipality, but
137	137	the annexation may not occur unless each municipality in whose
138	138	extraterritorial jurisdiction the area may be located:
139	139	(1) consents to the annexation; and
140	140	(2) reduces its extraterritorial jurisdiction over
141	141	the area as provided by Section 42.023.
142	142	SECTION 6. Sections 43.001(4) and (5), Local Government
143	143	Code, are repealed.
144	144	SECTION 7. This Act takes effect September 1, 2019.