S.B. No. 520
 
 
 
 
AN ACT
  relating to the creation, administration, powers, and duties of a
  county assistance district.
         BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
         SECTION 1.  Section 387.003, Local Government Code, is
  amended by amending Subsections (a), (b), (b-1), (c), (e), (f), and
  (h) and adding Subsections (a-1), (i), and (j) 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.  More than one county assistance district may be
  created in a county.
         (a-1)  A district may [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 the
  maximum combined rate of sales and use taxes imposed by political
  subdivisions of this state that is prescribed by Sections 321.101
  and 323.101, Tax Code [two percent]; 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 Chapter
  504 or 505, 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:
               (1)  the district in an election held under Subsection
  (f) with the consent of the municipality; or
               (2)  another district after complying with the
  requirements of this subsection and after an election held under
  Subsection (f).
         (c)  The ballot at the election must be printed to permit
  voting for or against the proposition: "Authorizing the creation
  of the ____ County Assistance District No.___ (insert name of
  district) and the imposition of a sales and use tax at the rate of
  ____ [of one] percent (insert [one-eighth, one-fourth,
  three-eighths, or one-half, as] appropriate rate) for the purpose
  of financing the operations of the district."
         (e)  If a majority of the votes received at the election are
  against the creation of the district, the district is not created.  
  The failure to approve the creation of a district under this
  subsection does not affect the authority of the county to call one
  or more elections [another election] on the question of creating
  one or more [a] county assistance districts [district may not be
  held in the county before the first anniversary of the most recent
  election concerning the creation of a district].
         (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 the maximum combined rate of
  sales and use taxes imposed by political subdivisions of this state
  that is prescribed by Sections 321.101 and 323.101, Tax Code [two
  percent].
         (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 the maximum combined rate of sales
  and use taxes of political subdivisions of this state that is
  prescribed by Sections 321.101 and 323.101, Tax Code [two percent],
  only a tax authorized at an election under this section may be
  imposed.
         (i)  In addition to the authority to include an area in a
  district under Subsection (f), the governing body of a district by
  order may include an area in the district on receipt of a petition
  or petitions signed by the owner or owners of the majority of the
  land in the area to be included in the district. If there are no
  registered voters in the area to be included in the district, no
  election is required.
         (j)  The commissioners court by order may exclude an area
  from the district if the district has no outstanding bonds payable
  wholly or partly from sales and use taxes and the exclusion does not
  impair any outstanding district debt or contractual obligation.
         SECTION 2.  Section 387.005, Local Government Code, is
  amended to read as follows:
         Sec. 387.005.  GOVERNING BODY.  (a)  The commissioners court
  of the county in which the district is created by order shall
  provide that:
               (1)  the commissioners court is the governing body of
  the district; or
               (2)  the commissioners court shall appoint a governing
  body of the district.
         (b)  A member of the governing body of the district
  [commissioners court] is not entitled to compensation for service
  [on the governing body of the district] but is entitled to
  reimbursement for actual and necessary expenses.
         (c)  A board of directors appointed by the commissioners
  court under this section shall consist of five directors who serve
  staggered terms of two years. To be eligible to serve as a
  director, a person must be a resident of the county in which the
  district is located. The initial directors shall draw lots to
  achieve staggered terms, with three of the directors serving
  one-year terms and two of the directors serving two-year terms.
         SECTION 3.  Subsection (a), Section 387.006, Local
  Government Code, is amended to read as follows:
         (a)  A district may:
               (1)  perform any act necessary to the full exercise of
  the district's functions;
               (2)  accept a grant or loan from:
                     (A)  the United States;
                     (B)  an agency or political subdivision of this
  state; or
                     (C)  a public or private person;
               (3)  acquire, sell, lease, convey, or otherwise dispose
  of property or an interest in property under terms determined by the
  district;
               (4)  employ necessary personnel; [and]
               (5)  adopt rules to govern the operation of the
  district and its employees and property; and
               (6)  enter into agreements with municipalities
  necessary or convenient to achieve the district's purposes,
  including agreements regarding the duration, rate, and allocation
  between the district and the municipality of sales and use taxes.
         SECTION 4.  Subsection (b), Section 387.007, Local
  Government Code, is amended to read as follows:
         (b)  A district may not adopt a sales and use tax under this
  chapter if the adoption of the tax would result in a combined tax
  rate of all local sales and use taxes that would exceed the maximum
  combined rate prescribed by Sections 321.101 and 323.101, Tax Code,
  [of more than two percent] in any location in the district.
         SECTION 5.  Section 387.009, Local Government Code, is
  amended to read as follows:
         Sec. 387.009.  TAX RATE.  The rate of a tax adopted under
  this chapter must be in increments of one-eighth[, one-fourth,
  three-eighths, or one-half] of one percent.
         SECTION 6.  Subsections (a), (b), and (c), Section 387.010,
  Local Government Code, are amended to read as follows:
         (a)  A district that has adopted a sales and use tax under
  this chapter may, by order and subject to Section 387.007(b):
               (1)  reduce[, change] the rate of the tax or repeal the
  tax without an election, except that the district may not repeal the
  sales and use tax or reduce the rate of the sales and use tax below
  the amount pledged to secure payment of an outstanding district
  debt or contractual obligation;
               (2)  increase the rate of the sales and use tax, if the
  increased rate of the sales and use tax will not exceed the rate
  approved at an election held under Section 387.003; or
               (3)  increase the rate of the sales and use tax to a
  rate that exceeds the rate approved at an election held under
  Section 387.003 after [if] the increase [change or repeal] is
  approved by a majority of the votes received in the district at an
  election held for that purpose.
         (b)  The tax may be changed under Subsection (a) in one or
  more increments of one-eighth of one percent [to a maximum of
  one-half of one percent].
         (c)  The ballot for an election to increase [change] the tax
  shall be printed to permit voting for or against the proposition:
  "The increase [change] of a sales and use tax for the ____ County
  Assistance District No. ___ (insert name of district) from the rate
  of ____ [of one] percent (insert [one-fourth, three-eighths, or
  one-half, as] appropriate rate) to the rate of ____ [of one] percent
  (insert [one-fourth, three-eighths, or one-half, as] appropriate
  rate)."
         SECTION 7.  Section 387.012, Local Government Code, is
  amended to read as follows:
         Sec. 387.012.  EFFECTIVE DATE OF TAX.  The adoption of the
  tax, the increase or reduction [change] of the tax rate, or the
  repeal of the tax takes effect on the first day of the first
  calendar quarter occurring after the expiration of the first
  complete quarter occurring after the date the comptroller receives
  a copy of the order of the district's governing body [notice of the
  results of the election] adopting, increasing, reducing 
  [changing], or repealing the tax.
         SECTION 8.  Subsection (d), Section 387.010, Local
  Government Code, is repealed.
         SECTION 9.  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, 2011.
 
 
 
 
 
  ______________________________ ______________________________
     President of the Senate Speaker of the House     
 
         I hereby certify that S.B. No. 520 passed the Senate on
  March 21, 2011, by the following vote:  Yeas 30, Nays 0.
 
 
  ______________________________
  Secretary of the Senate    
 
         I hereby certify that S.B. No. 520 passed the House on
  May 20, 2011, by the following vote:  Yeas 149, Nays 0, one
  present not voting.
 
 
  ______________________________
  Chief Clerk of the House   
 
 
 
  Approved:
 
  ______________________________ 
              Date
 
 
  ______________________________ 
            Governor