Bill Text: TX SB1794 | 2023-2024 | 88th Legislature | Enrolled

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Bill Title: Relating to conditions imposed on an emergency services district that includes territory in the extraterritorial jurisdiction of certain municipalities.

Spectrum: Slight Partisan Bill (Democrat 2-1)

Status: (Passed) 2023-06-02 - Effective on . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . March 1, 2024 [SB1794 Detail]

Download: Texas-2023-SB1794-Enrolled.html

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S.B. No. 1794

AN ACT
relating to conditions imposed on an emergency services district
that includes territory in the extraterritorial jurisdiction of
certain municipalities.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 775.014(i), Health and Safety Code, is
amended to read as follows:
(i) If a [A] request [submitted] under this section is
submitted to a municipality that has a population of more than one
million and the majority of the territory inside the municipality's
corporate boundaries is located inside a county with a population
of less than 2.1 million, the request [described by Subsection (h)]
must include:
(1) a copy of the petition submitted under Section
775.015; and
(2) a sufficient legal description of the portion of
the municipality and its extraterritorial jurisdiction that would
be included in the district territory.
SECTION 2. Section 775.016(c), Health and Safety Code, is
amended to read as follows:
(c) The commissioners court has exclusive jurisdiction to
determine each issue relating to the creation of the district[,
including any matters negotiated with a consenting municipality
under Section 775.014(h),] and may issue incidental orders it
considers proper in relation to the issues before the commissioners
court. The commissioners court may adjourn the hearing as
necessary.
SECTION 3. Section 775.017(a), Health and Safety Code, is
amended to read as follows:
(a) If after the hearing the commissioners court finds that
creation of the district is feasible and will promote the public
safety, welfare, health, and convenience of persons residing in the
proposed district, the commissioners court shall grant the petition
and[,] fix the district's boundaries[, and impose any conditions
negotiated under Section 775.014(h)]. If the proposed district,
according to its boundaries stated in the petition, is located
wholly in a county with a population of more than 3.3 million, the
commissioners court may amend the petition to change the boundaries
of the proposed district if the commissioners court finds the
change is necessary or desirable. For the purposes of this
provision, the population of the county is determined according to
the most recent federal decennial census available at the time the
petition is filed.
SECTION 4. Section 775.018(a), Health and Safety Code, is
amended to read as follows:
(a) On the granting of a petition, the commissioners court
shall order an election to confirm the district's creation and
authorize the imposition of a tax not to exceed the rate allowed by
Section 48-e, Article III, Texas Constitution. [Any conditions
negotiated under Section 775.014(h) must be included on the
ballot.]
SECTION 5. Section 775.019(b), Health and Safety Code, is
amended to read as follows:
(b) A district may not include territory in a municipality's
limits or extraterritorial jurisdiction unless a majority of the
voters residing in that territory who vote at the election vote in
favor of creating the district [subject to any conditions
negotiated under Section 775.014(h)] and imposing a tax. The
exclusion of that territory does not affect the creation of a
district that includes the remainder of the proposed territory if
the commissioners court's findings under Section 775.017 are
favorable to the district's creation.
SECTION 6. Section 775.022(g), Health and Safety Code, is
amended to read as follows:
(g) The amount of compensation under Subsection (c) shall be
determined under Subsection (e) regardless of whether Subsection
(e-1) would yield a greater amount if:
(1) the municipality has a population of more than one
million and the majority of the territory inside the municipality's
corporate boundaries is located inside a county with a population
of less than 2.1 million [is a municipality described by Section
775.014(h)]; and
(2) the municipality and the district enter into an
agreement on or before September 1, 2019, regarding the district's
bonded and other indebtedness.
SECTION 7. The following sections of the Health and Safety
Code are repealed:
(1) Section 775.014(h);
(2) Section 775.019(f); and
(3) Section 775.031(e).
SECTION 8. Any conditions that were negotiated by the
governing body of a municipality and the commissioners court of a
county under Section 775.014(h), Health and Safety Code, as that
section existed immediately before the effective date of this Act,
are terminated and have no effect.
SECTION 9. The changes in law made by this Act do not affect
the validity or enforceability of a contract that was entered into
by the board of emergency services commissioners of an emergency
services district before the effective date of this Act.
SECTION 10. This Act takes effect March 1, 2024.
______________________________ ______________________________
President of the Senate Speaker of the House
I hereby certify that S.B. No. 1794 passed the Senate on
April 26, 2023, by the following vote: Yeas 30, Nays 1.
______________________________
Secretary of the Senate
I hereby certify that S.B. No. 1794 passed the House on
May 17, 2023, by the following vote: Yeas 131, Nays 12,
one present not voting.
______________________________
Chief Clerk of the House
Approved:
______________________________
Date
______________________________
Governor