Bill Text: TX HB1775 | 2023-2024 | 88th Legislature | Engrossed
Bill Title: Relating to the oversight and election of board members for certain emergency services districts.
Spectrum: Bipartisan Bill
Status: (Engrossed - Dead) 2023-05-21 - Left pending in committee [HB1775 Detail]
Download: Texas-2023-HB1775-Engrossed.html
88R23344 MCF-D | ||
By: Thompson of Brazoria | H.B. No. 1775 |
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relating to the oversight and election of board members for certain | ||
emergency services districts. | ||
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: | ||
SECTION 1. Sections 775.024(c) and (h), Health and Safety | ||
Code, are amended to read as follows: | ||
(c) If the boards do not make the appointments before the | ||
31st day after the date the boards adopted the joint order: | ||
(1) for a consolidated district to which Section | ||
775.0345, [ |
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commissioners court shall appoint five commissioners to the board | ||
of the consolidated district; or | ||
(2) for a consolidated district to which Section | ||
775.0345, [ |
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consolidated district is initially composed of the two | ||
commissioners from each existing board who have served the longest | ||
terms. | ||
(h) For a consolidated district to which Section 775.0345, | ||
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consolidated district serve until the next available uniform | ||
election date after the date the joint order is adopted and that | ||
allows sufficient time to comply with other requirements of law. | ||
After an election is held under Section 775.0345, [ |
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775.353: | ||
(1) the two commissioners who receive the fewest votes | ||
of the elected commissioners serve terms ending on December 31 of | ||
the second year following the year in which the election is held; | ||
and | ||
(2) the remaining elected commissioners serve terms | ||
ending on December 31 of the fourth year following the year in which | ||
the election is held. | ||
SECTION 2. The heading to Section 775.034, Health and | ||
Safety Code, is amended to read as follows: | ||
Sec. 775.034. APPOINTMENT OF BOARD IN CERTAIN DISTRICTS | ||
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SECTION 3. Section 775.034(h), Health and Safety Code, is | ||
amended to read as follows: | ||
(h) This section does not apply to a district to which | ||
Section 775.353 applies or to a district located wholly in a county: | ||
(1) with a population of more than three million; | ||
(2) with a population of more than 200,000 that | ||
borders Lake Palestine; or | ||
(3) with a population of less than 200,000 that | ||
borders another state and the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway. | ||
SECTION 4. Sections 775.0445(b) and (d), Health and Safety | ||
Code, are amended to read as follows: | ||
(b) This section applies only to a district to which Section | ||
775.353 applies or to a district located wholly in a county: | ||
(1) with a population of more than three million; | ||
(2) with a population of more than 200,000 that | ||
borders Lake Palestine; or | ||
(3) with a population of less than 200,000 that | ||
borders another state and the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway. | ||
(d) A person appointed under this section must be eligible | ||
to serve under Section 775.0345 or 775.353, as applicable. | ||
SECTION 5. Chapter 775, Health and Safety Code, is amended | ||
by adding Subchapter L to read as follows: | ||
SUBCHAPTER L. COMMISSIONERS COURT OVERSIGHT AND ELECTION OF BOARD | ||
IN CERTAIN COUNTIES | ||
Sec. 775.351. APPLICABILITY. This subchapter applies only | ||
to a district that is located wholly in one county with a population | ||
of more than 200,000. This subchapter does not apply to a district | ||
described by Section 775.0345(a) or 775.302(a). | ||
Sec. 775.352. CHOICE OF OVERSIGHT OPTION. (a) After a | ||
district is created and initial emergency services commissioners | ||
are appointed under Section 775.034, the commissioners court of the | ||
county in which the district is located shall choose whether: | ||
(1) the board will be elected in the manner provided by | ||
Section 775.353; or | ||
(2) the commissioners court will approve the annual | ||
budget and tax rate of the district in the manner provided by | ||
Section 775.354. | ||
(b) A commissioners court that initially chooses to approve | ||
district budgets and tax rates under Subsection (a)(2) may at any | ||
time instead choose to require that the board of the district be | ||
elected under Subsection (a)(1). A commissioners court that | ||
chooses to require that a district's board be elected under | ||
Subsection (a)(1) may not approve the district's budgets and tax | ||
rates under Subsection (a)(2). | ||
Sec. 775.353. ELECTION OF BOARD. (a) This section applies | ||
only to a district required to have an elected board under Section | ||
775.352. | ||
(b) The governing body of a district consists of a | ||
five-person board of emergency services commissioners elected at | ||
large from the district as prescribed by this section. Emergency | ||
services commissioners serve staggered four-year terms. | ||
(c) To be eligible to be a candidate for emergency services | ||
commissioner, a person must be at least 18 years of age and a | ||
resident of the district. | ||
(d) A candidate for emergency services commissioner on an | ||
initial elected board must give the voter registrar of the county a | ||
sworn notice of the candidate's intention to run for office. The | ||
notice must state the person's name, age, and address and state that | ||
the person is serving notice of intent to run for emergency services | ||
commissioner. On receipt of the notice, the voter registrar of the | ||
county shall have the candidate's name placed on the ballot. | ||
(e) The voter registrar of the county shall appoint an | ||
election judge to certify the results of the election. | ||
(f) After the election is held, the voter registrar or | ||
deputy registrar of the county shall prepare a sworn statement of | ||
the election costs incurred by the county. The statement shall be | ||
given to the newly elected board, which shall order the appropriate | ||
official to reimburse the county for the county's election costs. | ||
(g) The initial emergency services commissioners' terms of | ||
office begin 30 days after canvassing of the election results. The | ||
two commissioners who received the fewest votes serve a term that | ||
expires on January 1 of the third year following the year in which | ||
the election was held. The other emergency services commissioners | ||
serve terms that expire on January 1 of the fifth year following the | ||
year in which the election was held. | ||
(h) After the commissioners court requires the district's | ||
board to be elected under Section 775.352, the county judge shall | ||
order an election to be held in the district to elect the initial | ||
emergency services commissioners on the next November uniform | ||
election date under Section 41.001, Election Code, held in an | ||
even-numbered year. After the initial election, the board shall | ||
hold the general election for the appropriate number of | ||
commissioners in each even-numbered year on the November uniform | ||
election date under Section 41.001, Election Code. An election | ||
under this subsection shall be held jointly with the county under | ||
Chapter 271, Election Code. | ||
(i) Subchapter C, Chapter 146, Election Code, applies to a | ||
write-in candidate for emergency services commissioner under this | ||
section in the same manner it applies to a write-in candidate for a | ||
city office under that subchapter. | ||
Sec. 775.354. BUDGET AND TAX RATE APPROVAL. (a) This | ||
section applies only to a district the annual budget and tax rate of | ||
which are required to be approved by the commissioners court of the | ||
county in which the district is located under Section 775.352. | ||
(b) The commissioners court shall adopt a schedule for the | ||
district to submit to the county for final approval the district's | ||
annual budget, tax rate calculations and notices, and recommended | ||
tax rate. | ||
(c) The schedule must take into account requirements of this | ||
chapter, Chapter 26, Tax Code, and Section 21, Article VIII, Texas | ||
Constitution, applicable to adopting a district tax rate, and must | ||
provide a reasonable amount of time for the commissioners court to | ||
review the submissions required by Subsection (d). | ||
(d) In accordance with the schedule adopted under this | ||
section, the board shall submit to the commissioners court the | ||
district's annual budget, tax rate calculations and notices, and | ||
recommended tax rate. | ||
(e) If a commissioners court does not approve or deny a | ||
budget submitted under this section before the 31st day after the | ||
date the budget is submitted, the commissioners court is considered | ||
to have approved the budget. | ||
(f) If a commissioners court does not approve or deny a tax | ||
rate recommended under this section before the 31st day after the | ||
date the recommended tax rate is submitted, the commissioners court | ||
is considered to have approved the recommended tax rate. | ||
(g) If a commissioners court denies the annual budget | ||
submitted under Subsection (d), the district may not make | ||
expenditures under that budget except for an obligation incurred | ||
before the beginning of the fiscal year for which the budget was | ||
submitted. | ||
(h) If a commissioners court denies the tax rate submitted | ||
under Subsection (d), the district may not impose the tax at a rate | ||
greater than that imposed in the fiscal year preceding the one for | ||
which the tax rate was submitted. | ||
SECTION 6. As soon as practicable after the effective date | ||
of this Act, but not later than January 1, 2024, the commissioners | ||
court of a county in which an emergency services district created | ||
before the effective date of this Act and to which Section 775.352, | ||
Health and Safety Code, as added by this Act, applies is located | ||
shall choose whether the board of emergency services commissioners | ||
will be elected or the commissioners court will approve the annual | ||
budget and tax rate as required by Section 775.352, Health and | ||
Safety Code, as added by this Act. | ||
SECTION 7. This Act does not prohibit a person who is a | ||
member of a board of emergency services commissioners on the | ||
effective date of this Act and who was appointed under Section | ||
775.034, Health and Safety Code, from running for election to the | ||
board if the person has the qualifications required for a member | ||
under Section 775.353, Health and Safety Code, as added by this Act. | ||
SECTION 8. This Act takes effect September 1, 2023. |