By: Puente H.B. No. 336
73R1689 CAG-D
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to powers of a school district to examine, and to take
1-3 certain actions to prevent diminishment of, the property tax base
1-4 of the district.
1-5 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-6 SECTION 1. Section 22.08, Education Code, is amended by
1-7 adding Subsection (j) to read as follows:
1-8 (j) The trustees of a common or common consolidated school
1-9 district may examine, analyze, and inspect property in the district
1-10 and the property's uses and may challenge requests for tax
1-11 exemptions on property within the district.
1-12 SECTION 2. Section 23.26, Education Code, is amended by
1-13 adding Subsection (e) to read as follows:
1-14 (e) The trustees may examine, analyze, and inspect property
1-15 in the district and the property's uses and may challenge requests
1-16 for tax exemptions on property within the district.
1-17 SECTION 3. Section 361.067, Health and Safety Code, is
1-18 amended to read as follows:
1-19 Sec. 361.067. Review of Permit Application by Other
1-20 Governmental Entities. (a) If the department or the commission
1-21 determines that a permit application submitted to it is
1-22 administratively complete, it shall mail a copy of the application
1-23 or a summary of its contents to:
1-24 (1) the Texas Air Control Board;
2-1 (2) the other state agency;
2-2 (3) the mayor and health authority of a municipality
2-3 in whose territorial limits or extraterritorial jurisdiction the
2-4 solid waste facility is located; <and>
2-5 (4) the county judge and the health authority of the
2-6 county in which the facility is located; and
2-7 (5) the board of trustees of a school district in
2-8 which the facility is located.
2-9 (b) Except as provided by Subchapter R, a <A> governmental
2-10 entity to whom the information is mailed shall have a reasonable
2-11 time, as prescribed by the state agency to which the application
2-12 was originally submitted, to present comments and recommendations
2-13 on the permit application before the agency acts on the
2-14 application.
2-15 SECTION 4. Section 361.069, Health and Safety Code, is
2-16 amended to read as follows:
2-17 Sec. 361.069. Determination of Land Use Compatibility. The
2-18 department or the commission in its discretion may, in processing a
2-19 permit application, make a separate determination on the question
2-20 of land use compatibility, and, if the site location is acceptable,
2-21 may at another time consider other technical matters concerning the
2-22 application. The determination of land use compatibility does not
2-23 affect the determination made by a school district under Subchapter
2-24 R. A public hearing may be held for each determination in
2-25 accordance with Section 361.088.
2-26 SECTION 5. Chapter 361, Health and Safety Code, is amended
2-27 by adding Subchapter R to read as follows:
3-1 SUBCHAPTER R. SCHOOL DISTRICT AUTHORITY OVER LOCATION
3-2 OF MUNICIPAL SOLID WASTE FACILITY
3-3 Sec. 361.601. DEFINITION. In this subchapter, "school
3-4 district" means a common, common consolidated, or independent
3-5 school district in which 15 percent or more of the acreage
3-6 comprising the district is exempt from ad valorem taxation.
3-7 Sec. 361.602. LIMITATION ON DEPARTMENTAL ACTION ON PERMIT
3-8 APPLICATION. (a) The department may not approve an application
3-9 for the issuance, amendment, extension, or renewal of a municipal
3-10 solid waste permit if the department receives a copy of a
3-11 resolution adopted by a school district in accordance with this
3-12 subchapter disapproving of the proposed site for a municipal solid
3-13 waste facility not later than the 90th day after the date the board
3-14 of trustees of the school district receives a copy of the municipal
3-15 solid waste permit application or a summary of its contents as
3-16 provided by Section 361.067.
3-17 (b) The department may extend the period provided by
3-18 Subsection (a) on request of the school district.
3-19 (c) The department may process a permit application in
3-20 accordance with Subchapter C if a resolution authorized by this
3-21 subchapter is not timely received.
3-22 Sec. 361.603. APPROVAL OR DISAPPROVAL OF SITE BY SCHOOL
3-23 DISTRICT. (a) A school district by resolution may approve or
3-24 disapprove a proposed site for a municipal solid waste facility in
3-25 the district.
3-26 (b) A school district may provide conditions on its approval
3-27 of a proposed site. The conditions must be related to the land use
4-1 factors considered under Section 361.604 and must be stated in the
4-2 resolution approving the site. The department shall include those
4-3 conditions as permit requirements if the permit is granted.
4-4 Sec. 361.604. FACTORS TO BE CONSIDERED. (a) A school
4-5 district may disapprove the proposed site for a municipal solid
4-6 waste facility only if the school district determines that the
4-7 facility would be incompatible with existing uses of land in the
4-8 vicinity or would diminish the property tax base of the district.
4-9 (b) In determining compatibility, the school district may
4-10 consider only:
4-11 (1) zoning ordinances and the zoning of land in the
4-12 vicinity of the proposed site;
4-13 (2) a regional or local solid waste management plan
4-14 approved by the board of health under Chapter 363;
4-15 (3) the character of established land uses and the
4-16 projected effects of the proposed facility on the aesthetic quality
4-17 of the area, on historically or archaeologically significant
4-18 structures or sites, or on schools, places of worship, cemeteries,
4-19 or other sites or structures having significant social value;
4-20 (4) the number of individuals living or working in the
4-21 vicinity of the proposed site;
4-22 (5) the projected long-term effects of the facility on
4-23 development in the vicinity of the proposed site;
4-24 (6) the projected social and economic impact of the
4-25 facility on the community;
4-26 (7) pedestrian and vehicular traffic patterns in the
4-27 vicinity of the proposed site;
5-1 (8) alternate locations for a municipal solid waste
5-2 facility of the type identified in the permit application; and
5-3 (9) conditions or plans proposed by the permit
5-4 applicant to mitigate, reduce, or eliminate any adverse impact of
5-5 the proposed facility on the area.
5-6 Sec. 361.605. HEARING ON LAND USE. (a) A school district
5-7 shall give an applicant for a municipal solid waste permit an
5-8 opportunity for a public hearing concerning land use compatibility.
5-9 A hearing held under this section shall be conducted as if the
5-10 school district were an agency conducting a contested case hearing
5-11 under the Administrative Procedure and Texas Register Act (Article
5-12 6252-13a, Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes), unless otherwise provided
5-13 by this subchapter.
5-14 (b) Not later than the 30th day before the date of a hearing
5-15 under this section, the school district shall give the applicant
5-16 and the department notice of the date, time, and place of the
5-17 hearing.
5-18 (c) At the hearing, the applicant may submit evidence
5-19 related to the factors considered by the school district and
5-20 concerning plans or permit conditions to mitigate, reduce, or
5-21 eliminate any adverse impact the proposed facility may have on the
5-22 area.
5-23 Sec. 361.606. JUDICIAL REVIEW. (a) Not later than the 30th
5-24 day after the date that a school district adopts a resolution
5-25 disapproving or approving conditionally a proposed site for a
5-26 municipal solid waste facility, the applicant may petition a
5-27 district court in Travis County for review of the record of the
6-1 hearing if the applicant participated in the hearing.
6-2 (b) The court may determine only whether the school
6-3 district's determination or a condition imposed on approval is
6-4 supported by substantial evidence.
6-5 Sec. 361.607. CONTENTS OF RESOLUTION. (a) A resolution
6-6 adopted under this subchapter must contain a detailed statement of
6-7 the reasons for the disapproval or the conditions placed on the
6-8 approval.
6-9 (b) If a resolution does not contain a statement of reasons,
6-10 or if the district court determines that the determination is not
6-11 supported by substantial evidence, the department may approve the
6-12 municipal solid waste permit as if the school district had not
6-13 adopted the resolution.
6-14 Sec. 361.608. SCHOOL DISTRICT INACTION. (a) If a school
6-15 district does not deliver to the department a copy of a resolution
6-16 within the time provided under Section 361.602, the school district
6-17 may not participate in an evidentiary proceeding concerning land
6-18 use compatibility in a subsequent hearing on the application.
6-19 (b) This subchapter does not limit the authority of a school
6-20 district to participate in public hearings and to submit for
6-21 consideration evidence or other materials on technical issues
6-22 relating to an application, and does not limit participation of
6-23 other persons affected by the permit application.
6-24 Sec. 361.609. EMERGENCY ORDERS BY DEPARTMENT. This
6-25 subchapter does not limit the authority of the department to issue
6-26 emergency orders under Section 361.301.
6-27 SECTION 6. Section 11.43(a), Tax Code, is amended to read as
7-1 follows:
7-2 (a) To receive an exemption, a person claiming the
7-3 exemption, other than an exemption authorized by Section 11.11,
7-4 11.12, 11.14, 11.15, 11.16, or 11.161 of this code, must apply for
7-5 the exemption. To apply for an exemption, a person must file an
7-6 exemption application form with the chief appraiser for each
7-7 appraisal district and the board of trustees of a school district
7-8 in which the property subject to the claimed exemption has situs.
7-9 SECTION 7. This Act takes effect September 1, 1993.
7-10 SECTION 8. The importance of this legislation and the
7-11 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
7-12 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
7-13 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
7-14 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.