|
|
|
|
AN ACT
|
|
relating to the removal, transfer, or exclusion of territory in |
|
emergency services districts. |
|
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: |
|
SECTION 1. Chapter 775, Health and Safety Code, is amended |
|
by adding Subchapter H to read as follows: |
|
SUBCHAPTER H. CHANGE IN BOUNDARIES OF DISTRICT WITH PLANNED |
|
COMMUNITY |
|
Sec. 775.201. DEFINITION. In this subchapter, "planned |
|
community" means a planned community of 25,000 or more acres of land |
|
originally established under the Urban Growth and New Community |
|
Development Act of 1970 (42 U.S.C. Section 4501 et seq.) that is: |
|
(1) located wholly or partly in a county with a |
|
population of 2.8 million or more; and |
|
(2) subject to restrictive covenants containing ad |
|
valorem or annual variable budget-based assessments on real |
|
property for use in part to finance services of the same general |
|
type provided by the district. |
|
Sec. 775.202. AGREEMENT ON BOUNDARIES WITH PROPERTY OWNERS |
|
IN PLANNED COMMUNITY. (a) After a hearing, a district located |
|
wholly in a county with a population of 2.8 million or more may |
|
exclude territory by making changes in the district's boundaries in |
|
accordance with an agreement among the district and the owners of |
|
two-thirds or more in acreage and two-thirds or more in taxable |
|
value, according to the most recent certified county property tax |
|
rolls, of a defined area of territory of a planned community. |
|
(b) The agreement must be in writing and describe: |
|
(1) the affected territory by metes and bounds, |
|
including the changes in the boundaries to be made; |
|
(2) the amount of any compensation to be paid to the |
|
district under Section 775.205; |
|
(3) the effective date for the changes in boundaries; |
|
and |
|
(4) any other applicable terms. |
|
Sec. 775.203. NOTICE OF HEARING. (a) The board secretary |
|
shall give notice of the hearing. |
|
(b) The notice must contain the time and place for the |
|
hearing and a description of the territory proposed to be excluded. |
|
(c) The secretary shall: |
|
(1) post copies of the notice for at least 15 days |
|
before the date of the hearing in three public places in the |
|
district, one of which must be in the territory proposed to be |
|
excluded; and |
|
(2) not later than the 16th day before the date on |
|
which the hearing is held, publish the notice once in a newspaper of |
|
general circulation in each county in which the excluded territory |
|
is located. |
|
Sec. 775.204. ADOPTION OF AGREEMENT AND APPROVAL OF |
|
EXCLUSION. After the hearing, if the board finds that the exclusion |
|
of the territory would be feasible and would benefit the district, |
|
the board shall by a resolution entered in its minutes: |
|
(1) adopt the agreement; and |
|
(2) approve the exclusion. |
|
Sec. 775.205. EFFECT OF ADOPTION OF AGREEMENT AND APPROVAL |
|
OF EXCLUSION. (a) After adoption and approval under Section |
|
775.204, the district's tax on the property in the excluded |
|
territory continues until all agreed compensation has been paid in |
|
full. |
|
(b) The district shall apply the compensation received |
|
under this section toward the payment of the obligations described |
|
by Subsection (c). |
|
(c) The agreement must provide for the excluded territory to |
|
compensate the district in an amount equal to the excluded |
|
territory's pro rata share of the outstanding and unpaid bonds, |
|
warrants, or other direct and indirect obligations, including loans |
|
and lease-purchase agreements and written funding assistance |
|
agreements of the district and any not-for-profit fire departments |
|
and ambulance agencies or associations, for the financing and |
|
payment for firefighting, emergency medical service and emergency |
|
rescue equipment, fire and ambulance stations, or similar long-term |
|
capital assets to serve the district. |
|
(d) The excluded territory's pro rata share is the unpaid |
|
principal balances of the outstanding loans and other obligations |
|
enumerated by Subsection (c) multiplied by a fraction, the |
|
numerator of which is the taxable value of the property in the |
|
excluded territory and the denominator of which is the taxable |
|
value of the entire district, including the excluded territory. The |
|
taxable value calculated under this subsection for property in the |
|
excluded territory, including as part of the entire district, does |
|
not include any special appraisal or exemptions for the property. |
|
(e) The agreement to compensate the district does not |
|
include the following expenses incurred by the district after the |
|
boundaries change: |
|
(1) expenses for district operations and maintenance; |
|
and |
|
(2) expenses for district services. |
|
(f) The agreement to compensate the district is required |
|
regardless of whether the loans and other obligations are subject |
|
to non-appropriation by the district or termination by either party |
|
before payment in full of the unpaid principal balance. |
|
Sec. 775.206. NO EFFECT ON OUTSTANDING OBLIGATIONS. A |
|
change in boundaries under this subchapter does not diminish or |
|
impair the rights of the holders of any outstanding and unpaid |
|
bonds, warrants, or other district obligations. |
|
SECTION 2. Section 776.052(a), Health and Safety Code, is |
|
amended to read as follows: |
|
(a) If territory in a municipality's limits [or
|
|
extraterritorial jurisdiction] is included in a district, the |
|
municipality's governing body may remove that territory from the |
|
district if: |
|
(1) the municipality agrees to provide emergency |
|
protection to the territory as prescribed by Section 776.014; or |
|
(2) the territory is designated an industrial district |
|
under Section 42.044, Local Government Code. |
|
SECTION 3. The change in law made by this Act applies only |
|
to a removal of territory that occurs, or a change in boundaries |
|
agreed to, on or after the effective date of this Act. A removal of |
|
territory that occurs, or a change in boundaries agreed to, before |
|
the effective date of this Act is governed by the law in effect on |
|
the date the territory is removed, and that law is continued in |
|
effect for that purpose. |
|
SECTION 4. This Act takes effect September 1, 2007. |
|
|
|
______________________________ |
______________________________ |
|
President of the Senate |
Speaker of the House |
|
|
|
I certify that H.B. No. 492 was passed by the House on April |
|
13, 2007, by the following vote: Yeas 143, Nays 0, 2 present, not |
|
voting; and that the House concurred in Senate amendments to H.B. |
|
No. 492 on May 24, 2007, by the following vote: Yeas 143, Nays 0, 2 |
|
present, not voting. |
|
|
|
______________________________ |
|
Chief Clerk of the House |
|
|
I certify that H.B. No. 492 was passed by the Senate, with |
|
amendments, on May 22, 2007, by the following vote: Yeas 31, Nays |
|
0. |
|
|
|
______________________________ |
|
Secretary of the Senate |
|
APPROVED: __________________ |
|
Date |
|
|
|
__________________ |
|
Governor |