By Hilbert H.B. No. 1953
75R5649 CAG-D
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to annexations by a municipality.
1-3 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-4 SECTION 1. Subchapter B, Chapter 43, Local Government Code,
1-5 is amended by adding Section 43.0215 to read as follows:
1-6 Sec. 43.0215. VOTER APPROVAL OF ANNEXATION REQUIRED IN
1-7 CERTAIN MUNICIPALITIES. (a) This section applies only to a
1-8 municipality with a population of 250,000 or more.
1-9 (b) The municipality may not annex an area for full or
1-10 limited purposes unless:
1-11 (1) the municipality holds separate elections in the
1-12 area proposed to be annexed and in the municipality, at which the
1-13 qualified voters of the area and the municipality may vote, on the
1-14 question of the annexation; and
1-15 (2) a majority of the votes received at both elections
1-16 approve the annexation.
1-17 (c) This section does not apply to an annexation of an area
1-18 if:
1-19 (1) no qualified voters reside in the area; or
1-20 (2) the annexation is authorized by or subject to
1-21 another section of this chapter, other than Section 43.021.
1-22 (d) The municipality shall pay for the cost of holding both
1-23 elections.
1-24 (e) If a majority of the votes received in either election
2-1 do not approve the annexation, the municipality may not annex any
2-2 portion of the proposed area until after the fifth anniversary of
2-3 the date of the election.
2-4 SECTION 2. Subchapter C, Chapter 43, Local Government Code,
2-5 is amended by adding Sections 43.0541 and 43.0542 to read as
2-6 follows:
2-7 Sec. 43.0541. ANNEXATIONS BY MUNICIPALITY WITH POPULATION OF
2-8 MORE THAN 250,000. (a) A municipality with a population of more
2-9 than 250,000 may not annex a strip of area following the course of
2-10 a road, highway, river, stream, creek, or other natural or
2-11 constructed feature if the commissioners court of the county in
2-12 which a majority of the area is located, by resolution, finds that
2-13 the area:
2-14 (1) is composed primarily of commercial property or
2-15 property with a high taxable value;
2-16 (2) is part of a larger area in which a sense of
2-17 community exists among a significant number of the residents and
2-18 landowners; and
2-19 (3) does not include all parts of the larger area in
2-20 which the sense of community exists.
2-21 (b) To prevent the annexation, the commissioners court must
2-22 adopt the resolution before the completion of the annexation by the
2-23 municipality.
2-24 (c) Each finding by a commissioners court under this section
2-25 shall be reviewed by an annexation review committee consisting of:
2-26 (1) the county judge;
2-27 (2) a county commissioner designated by the
3-1 commissioners court;
3-2 (3) a member of the governing body of the municipality
3-3 designated by that governing body;
3-4 (4) a person appointed by the state representative
3-5 whose district includes the majority of the area proposed for
3-6 annexation; and
3-7 (5) a person appointed by the state senator whose
3-8 district includes the majority of the area proposed for annexation.
3-9 (d) The designations and appointments to the committee shall
3-10 be made not later than the 14th day after the date of the adoption
3-11 of the commissioners court resolution.
3-12 (e) The county judge is the presiding officer of the
3-13 committee. The committee shall meet at the call of the presiding
3-14 officer at a place convenient to the majority of the area proposed
3-15 for annexation.
3-16 (f) The committee may affirm or reverse the finding of the
3-17 commissioners court. The committee must issue its decision not
3-18 later than the 60th day after the date of the adoption of the
3-19 commissioners court resolution. The decision of the committee may
3-20 be appealed to a district court serving the county in which a
3-21 majority of the area proposed for annexation is located. The
3-22 district court may not substitute its judgment for that of the
3-23 commissioners court or the annexation review committee unless the
3-24 decision by the commissioners court or the committee was arbitrary,
3-25 capricious, unlawful, or not supported by substantial evidence.
3-26 (g) If the finding of the commissioners court is reversed by
3-27 the annexation review committee or by a court, the time during
4-1 which the municipality was prevented from annexing the area as a
4-2 result of the commissioners court resolution is not included in
4-3 computing the period within which the municipality must complete
4-4 the annexation under Section 43.053.
4-5 Sec. 43.0542. FAILURE OF MUNICIPALITY TO PROVIDE WATER OR
4-6 SEWER SERVICES. (a) If a municipality fails to provide water or
4-7 sewer services to an annexed area before the 10th anniversary of
4-8 the date of the annexation, a municipal ordinance or other
4-9 municipal regulation has no effect in the annexed area until the
4-10 municipality provides water or sewer services to the annexed area.
4-11 (b) Subsection (a) does not permit a municipality to
4-12 discontinue providing any other municipal service to the annexed
4-13 area.
4-14 SECTION 3. The changes in law made by Sections 43.0215,
4-15 43.0541, and 43.0542, Local Government Code, as added by this Act,
4-16 apply only to an annexation in process on or initiated after the
4-17 effective date of this Act.
4-18 SECTION 4. The importance of this legislation and the
4-19 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
4-20 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
4-21 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
4-22 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended,
4-23 and that this Act take effect and be in force from and after its
4-24 passage, and it is so enacted.