Texas 2023 - 88th Regular

Texas House Bill HB1775 Compare Versions

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1	1	88R23344 MCF-D
2	2	By: Thompson of Brazoria H.B. No. 1775
3	3
4	4
5	5	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
6	6	AN ACT
7	7	relating to the oversight and election of board members for certain
8	8	emergency services districts.
9	9	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
10	10	SECTION 1. Sections 775.024(c) and (h), Health and Safety
11	11	Code, are amended to read as follows:
12	12	(c) If the boards do not make the appointments before the
13	13	31st day after the date the boards adopted the joint order:
14	14	(1) for a consolidated district to which Section
15	15	775.0345, [or] 775.035, or 775.353 does not apply, the
16	16	commissioners court shall appoint five commissioners to the board
17	17	of the consolidated district; or
18	18	(2) for a consolidated district to which Section
19	19	775.0345, [or] 775.035, or 775.353 does apply, the board of the
20	20	consolidated district is initially composed of the two
21	21	commissioners from each existing board who have served the longest
22	22	terms.
23	23	(h) For a consolidated district to which Section 775.0345,
24	24	[or] 775.035, or 775.353 applies, the initial commissioners of the
25	25	consolidated district serve until the next available uniform
26	26	election date after the date the joint order is adopted and that
27	27	allows sufficient time to comply with other requirements of law.
28	28	After an election is held under Section 775.0345, [or] 775.035, or
29	29	775.353:
30	30	(1) the two commissioners who receive the fewest votes
31	31	of the elected commissioners serve terms ending on December 31 of
32	32	the second year following the year in which the election is held;
33	33	and
34	34	(2) the remaining elected commissioners serve terms
35	35	ending on December 31 of the fourth year following the year in which
36	36	the election is held.
37	37	SECTION 2. The heading to Section 775.034, Health and
38	38	Safety Code, is amended to read as follows:
39	39	Sec. 775.034. APPOINTMENT OF BOARD IN CERTAIN DISTRICTS
40	40	[DISTRICT] LOCATED WHOLLY IN ONE COUNTY.
41	41	SECTION 3. Section 775.034(h), Health and Safety Code, is
42	42	amended to read as follows:
43	43	(h) This section does not apply to a district to which
44	44	Section 775.353 applies or to a district located wholly in a county:
45	45	(1) with a population of more than three million;
46	46	(2) with a population of more than 200,000 that
47	47	borders Lake Palestine; or
48	48	(3) with a population of less than 200,000 that
49	49	borders another state and the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway.
50	50	SECTION 4. Sections 775.0445(b) and (d), Health and Safety
51	51	Code, are amended to read as follows:
52	52	(b) This section applies only to a district to which Section
53	53	775.353 applies or to a district located wholly in a county:
54	54	(1) with a population of more than three million;
55	55	(2) with a population of more than 200,000 that
56	56	borders Lake Palestine; or
57	57	(3) with a population of less than 200,000 that
58	58	borders another state and the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway.
59	59	(d) A person appointed under this section must be eligible
60	60	to serve under Section 775.0345 or 775.353, as applicable.
61	61	SECTION 5. Chapter 775, Health and Safety Code, is amended
62	62	by adding Subchapter L to read as follows:
63	63	SUBCHAPTER L. COMMISSIONERS COURT OVERSIGHT AND ELECTION OF BOARD
64	64	IN CERTAIN COUNTIES
65	65	Sec. 775.351. APPLICABILITY. This subchapter applies only
66	66	to a district that is located wholly in one county with a population
67	67	of more than 200,000. This subchapter does not apply to a district
68	68	described by Section 775.0345(a) or 775.302(a).
69	69	Sec. 775.352. CHOICE OF OVERSIGHT OPTION. (a) After a
70	70	district is created and initial emergency services commissioners
71	71	are appointed under Section 775.034, the commissioners court of the
72	72	county in which the district is located shall choose whether:
73	73	(1) the board will be elected in the manner provided by
74	74	Section 775.353; or
75	75	(2) the commissioners court will approve the annual
76	76	budget and tax rate of the district in the manner provided by
77	77	Section 775.354.
78	78	(b) A commissioners court that initially chooses to approve
79	79	district budgets and tax rates under Subsection (a)(2) may at any
80	80	time instead choose to require that the board of the district be
81	81	elected under Subsection (a)(1). A commissioners court that
82	82	chooses to require that a district's board be elected under
83	83	Subsection (a)(1) may not approve the district's budgets and tax
84	84	rates under Subsection (a)(2).
85	85	Sec. 775.353. ELECTION OF BOARD. (a) This section applies
86	86	only to a district required to have an elected board under Section
87	87	775.352.
88	88	(b) The governing body of a district consists of a
89	89	five-person board of emergency services commissioners elected at
90	90	large from the district as prescribed by this section. Emergency
91	91	services commissioners serve staggered four-year terms.
92	92	(c) To be eligible to be a candidate for emergency services
93	93	commissioner, a person must be at least 18 years of age and a
94	94	resident of the district.
95	95	(d) A candidate for emergency services commissioner on an
96	96	initial elected board must give the voter registrar of the county a
97	97	sworn notice of the candidate's intention to run for office. The
98	98	notice must state the person's name, age, and address and state that
99	99	the person is serving notice of intent to run for emergency services
100	100	commissioner. On receipt of the notice, the voter registrar of the
101	101	county shall have the candidate's name placed on the ballot.
102	102	(e) The voter registrar of the county shall appoint an
103	103	election judge to certify the results of the election.
104	104	(f) After the election is held, the voter registrar or
105	105	deputy registrar of the county shall prepare a sworn statement of
106	106	the election costs incurred by the county. The statement shall be
107	107	given to the newly elected board, which shall order the appropriate
108	108	official to reimburse the county for the county's election costs.
109	109	(g) The initial emergency services commissioners' terms of
110	110	office begin 30 days after canvassing of the election results. The
111	111	two commissioners who received the fewest votes serve a term that
112	112	expires on January 1 of the third year following the year in which
113	113	the election was held. The other emergency services commissioners
114	114	serve terms that expire on January 1 of the fifth year following the
115	115	year in which the election was held.
116	116	(h) After the commissioners court requires the district's
117	117	board to be elected under Section 775.352, the county judge shall
118	118	order an election to be held in the district to elect the initial
119	119	emergency services commissioners on the next November uniform
120	120	election date under Section 41.001, Election Code, held in an
121	121	even-numbered year. After the initial election, the board shall
122	122	hold the general election for the appropriate number of
123	123	commissioners in each even-numbered year on the November uniform
124	124	election date under Section 41.001, Election Code. An election
125	125	under this subsection shall be held jointly with the county under
126	126	Chapter 271, Election Code.
127	127	(i) Subchapter C, Chapter 146, Election Code, applies to a
128	128	write-in candidate for emergency services commissioner under this
129	129	section in the same manner it applies to a write-in candidate for a
130	130	city office under that subchapter.
131	131	Sec. 775.354. BUDGET AND TAX RATE APPROVAL. (a) This
132	132	section applies only to a district the annual budget and tax rate of
133	133	which are required to be approved by the commissioners court of the
134	134	county in which the district is located under Section 775.352.
135	135	(b) The commissioners court shall adopt a schedule for the
136	136	district to submit to the county for final approval the district's
137	137	annual budget, tax rate calculations and notices, and recommended
138	138	tax rate.
139	139	(c) The schedule must take into account requirements of this
140	140	chapter, Chapter 26, Tax Code, and Section 21, Article VIII, Texas
141	141	Constitution, applicable to adopting a district tax rate, and must
142	142	provide a reasonable amount of time for the commissioners court to
143	143	review the submissions required by Subsection (d).
144	144	(d) In accordance with the schedule adopted under this
145	145	section, the board shall submit to the commissioners court the
146	146	district's annual budget, tax rate calculations and notices, and
147	147	recommended tax rate.
148	148	(e) If a commissioners court does not approve or deny a
149	149	budget submitted under this section before the 31st day after the
150	150	date the budget is submitted, the commissioners court is considered
151	151	to have approved the budget.
152	152	(f) If a commissioners court does not approve or deny a tax
153	153	rate recommended under this section before the 31st day after the
154	154	date the recommended tax rate is submitted, the commissioners court
155	155	is considered to have approved the recommended tax rate.
156	156	(g) If a commissioners court denies the annual budget
157	157	submitted under Subsection (d), the district may not make
158	158	expenditures under that budget except for an obligation incurred
159	159	before the beginning of the fiscal year for which the budget was
160	160	submitted.
161	161	(h) If a commissioners court denies the tax rate submitted
162	162	under Subsection (d), the district may not impose the tax at a rate
163	163	greater than that imposed in the fiscal year preceding the one for
164	164	which the tax rate was submitted.
165	165	SECTION 6. As soon as practicable after the effective date
166	166	of this Act, but not later than January 1, 2024, the commissioners
167	167	court of a county in which an emergency services district created
168	168	before the effective date of this Act and to which Section 775.352,
169	169	Health and Safety Code, as added by this Act, applies is located
170	170	shall choose whether the board of emergency services commissioners
171	171	will be elected or the commissioners court will approve the annual
172	172	budget and tax rate as required by Section 775.352, Health and
173	173	Safety Code, as added by this Act.
174	174	SECTION 7. This Act does not prohibit a person who is a
175	175	member of a board of emergency services commissioners on the
176	176	effective date of this Act and who was appointed under Section
177	177	775.034, Health and Safety Code, from running for election to the
178	178	board if the person has the qualifications required for a member
179	179	under Section 775.353, Health and Safety Code, as added by this Act.
180	180	SECTION 8. This Act takes effect September 1, 2023.