1-1     By:  Culberson (Senate Sponsor - Lindsay)             H.B. No. 2258

 1-2           (In the Senate - Received from the House April 11, 1997;

 1-3     April 14, 1997, read first time and referred to Committee on

 1-4     Natural Resources; May 18, 1997, reported adversely, with favorable

 1-5     Committee Substitute by the following vote:  Yeas 10, Nays 0;

 1-6     May 18, 1997, sent to printer.)

 1-7     COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR H.B. No. 2258                 By:  Lindsay

 1-8                            A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

 1-9                                   AN ACT

1-10     relating to the imposition of taxes or fees in certain water

1-11     districts.

1-12           BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:

1-13           SECTION 1.  Subchapter C, Chapter 53, Water Code, is amended

1-14     by adding Section 53.089 to read as follows:

1-15           Sec. 53.089.  APPROVAL OF CERTAIN ACTIONS.  (a)  This section

1-16     applies only to a political subdivision that is, or is located in

1-17     any part in, a municipality with a population of 1.6 million or

1-18     more or that is located in any part in the extraterritorial

1-19     jurisdiction of the municipality.

1-20           (b)  A political subdivision that seeks to institute a

1-21     proceeding having the purpose or the effect of imposing a tax or

1-22     fee on a person, property, or a transaction in any part of a

1-23     freshwater supply district organized and in existence on the

1-24     proposed date of the institution of the proceeding shall, not later

1-25     than the 180th day before the date of the institution of the

1-26     proceeding, inform the board, in writing, of the political

1-27     subdivision's intention.

1-28           (c)  The board, on receipt of the notice, shall conduct an

1-29     election on the issue of whether the tax or fee may be imposed in

1-30     the district. The election must be conducted, in accordance with

1-31     Chapter 41, Election Code, not later than the 10th day before the

1-32     date of the institution of the proceeding described by the written

1-33     notice in Subsection (b).

1-34           (d)  The ballot proposition for an election under this

1-35     section must be printed to permit voting for or against the

1-36     imposition of the tax or fee by the political subdivision in the

1-37     specified part of the district. All voters in the district may vote

1-38     on the proposition.

1-39           (e)  If a majority of voters voting at the election approve

1-40     the proposition, the proceeding described by the written notice in

1-41     Subsection (b) may be instituted at any time before the second

1-42     anniversary after the date of the election.  If a majority of

1-43     voters voting at the election disapprove the proposition, the

1-44     political subdivision may not institute a proceeding having the

1-45     purpose or effect of imposing a tax or fee in the district and may

1-46     not propose to institute a proceeding having that purpose or effect

1-47     in the district until the second anniversary after the date of the

1-48     election.

1-49           (f)  The provisions of this section also apply to districts

1-50     established or operating under this title.

1-51           (g)  In this section, the term "political subdivision" does

1-52     not include a county, county development district, junior college

1-53     district, school district, hospital district, nonprofit water

1-54     supply corporation, municipal management district, emergency

1-55     service district, rural fire prevention district, or district or

1-56     authority that exercises the powers granted by Section 52, Article

1-57     III, or Section 59, Article XVI, Texas Constitution.

1-58           SECTION 2.  (a)  This Act takes effect September 1, 1997, and

1-59     applies to the institution of a proceeding having the purpose or

1-60     effect of the imposition of taxes and fees by a political

1-61     subdivision on or after the effective date of this Act. The

1-62     imposition of taxes or fees by a political subdivision before the

1-63     effective date of this Act is governed by the law as it existed

1-64     immediately before the effective date of this Act, and that law is

 2-1     continued in effect for that purpose.

 2-2           (b)  This Act applies only to a new tax or fee imposed by a

 2-3     political subdivision but does not apply to:

 2-4                 (1)  a tax or fee imposed in a district affected by

 2-5     Section 53.089, Water Code, as added by this Act, by a political

 2-6     subdivision that levied taxes on the property in the district

 2-7     before the effective date of that section;

 2-8                 (2)  a tax or fee imposed in a district by a political

 2-9     subdivision that was, at an election held within the district

2-10     affected by Section 53.089, Water Code, as added by this Act,

2-11     authorized to levy taxes on property in the district;

2-12                 (3)  any change in the amount of an existing tax or fee

2-13     imposed by a political subdivision in a district affected by

2-14     Section 53.089, Water Code, as added by this Act, including utility

2-15     rates imposed by a political subdivision;

2-16                 (4)  a fee, including utility rates, imposed in a

2-17     district affected by Section 53.089, Water Code, as added by this

2-18     Act, by a political subdivision under a contract between the

2-19     political subdivision and the district; or

2-20                 (5)  a fee authorized to be charged by a statute or by

2-21     an enabling act of a political subdivision.

2-22           SECTION 3.  The importance of this legislation and the

2-23     crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an

2-24     emergency and an imperative public necessity that the

2-25     constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several

2-26     days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.

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