H.B. No. 1720

	AN ACT
	relating to the counties eligible to create a county assistance
	district that may impose a sales and use tax.
	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
	SECTION 1.  Section 387.002, Local Government Code, is
	repealed.
	SECTION 2.  Section 387.003, Local Government Code, is
	amended by amending Subsections (a), (b), and (f) and adding
	Subsections (b-1), (g), and (h) to read as follows:
	(a)  The commissioners court of the county may call an
	election on the question of creating a county assistance district
	under this chapter to perform the following functions in the
	district:
	(1)  the construction, maintenance, or improvement of
	roads or highways;
	(2)  the provision of law enforcement and detention
	services;
	(3)  the maintenance or improvement of libraries,
	museums, parks, or other recreational facilities;
	(4)  the provision of services that benefit the public
	health or welfare, including the provision of firefighting and fire
	prevention services; or
	(5)  the promotion of economic development and tourism.
	(b)  The order calling the election must:
	(1)  define the boundaries of the district to include
	any portion of the county in which the combined tax rate of all
	local sales and use taxes imposed, including the rate to be imposed
	by the district if approved at the election, would not exceed two
	percent [that is not located in an authority governed by Chapter 451
	or 452, Transportation Code]; and
	(2)  call for the election to be held within those
	boundaries.
	(b-1)  If the proposed district includes any territory of a
	municipality, the commissioners court shall send notice by
	certified mail to the governing body of the municipality of the
	commissioners court's intent to create the district.  If the
	municipality has created a development corporation under Section 4A
	or 4B, Development Corporation Act of 1979 (Article 5190.6,
	Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes), the commissioners court shall also
	send the notice to the board of directors of the corporation.  The
	commissioners court must send the notice not later than the 60th day
	before the date the commissioners court orders the election.  The
	governing body of the municipality may exclude the territory of the
	municipality from the proposed district by sending notice by
	certified mail to the commissioners court of the governing body's
	desire to exclude the municipal territory from the district.  The
	governing body must send the notice not later than the 45th day
	after the date the governing body receives notice from the
	commissioners court under this subsection. The territory of a
	municipality that is excluded under this subsection may
	subsequently be included in the district in an election held under
	Subsection (f) with the consent of the municipality.
	(f)  The commissioners court may call an election to be held
	in an area of the county that is not located in a district created
	under this section to determine whether the area should be included
	in the district and whether the district's sales and use tax should
	be imposed in the area. An election may not be held in an area in
	which the combined tax rate of all local sales and use taxes
	imposed, including the rate to be imposed by the district if
	approved at the election, would exceed two percent [that is
	included in an authority governed by Chapter 451 or 452,
	Transportation Code].
	(g)  The area in which an election is held under Subsection
	(f) is included in the district and the sales and use tax is imposed
	if a majority of the votes received at the election favor inclusion
	in the district and imposition of the sales and use tax.
	(h)  If more than one election to authorize a local sales and
	use tax is held on the same day in the area of a proposed district or
	an area proposed to be added to a district and if the resulting
	approval by the voters would cause the imposition of a local sales
	and use tax in any area to exceed two percent, only a tax authorized
	at an election under this section may be imposed.
	SECTION 3.  The change in law made by this Act by adding
	Section 387.003(b-1), Local Government Code, applies only to an
	election ordered on or after the effective date of this Act.
	SECTION 4.  This Act takes effect immediately if it receives
	a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as
	provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution.  If this
	Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this
	Act takes effect September 1, 2007.
	______________________________	______________________________
	President of the Senate	Speaker of the House
	I certify that H.B. No. 1720 was passed by the House on April
	12, 2007, by the following vote:  Yeas 135, Nays 6, 2 present, not
	voting; and that the House concurred in Senate amendments to H.B.
	No. 1720 on May 21, 2007, by the following vote:  Yeas 132, Nays 9,
	2 present, not voting.
	______________________________
	Chief Clerk of the House
	I certify that H.B. No. 1720 was passed by the Senate, with
	amendments, on May 17, 2007, by the following vote:  Yeas 29, Nays
	2.
	______________________________
	Secretary of the Senate
	APPROVED: __________________
	Date
	__________________
	Governor