1-1           By:  Patterson                                    S.B. No. 91

 1-2           (In the Senate - Filed November 13, 1996; January 14, 1997,

 1-3     read first time and referred to Committee on Intergovernmental

 1-4     Relations; February 6, 1997, reported favorably by the following

 1-5     vote:  Yeas 10, Nays 0; February 6, 1997, sent to printer.)

 1-6                            A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

 1-7                                   AN ACT

 1-8     relating to the qualifications of a member of the board of

 1-9     directors of an appraisal district.

1-10           BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:

1-11           SECTION 1.  Subsection (a), Section 6.03, Tax Code, is

1-12     amended to read as follows:

1-13           (a)  The appraisal district is governed by a board of five

1-14     directors.  To be eligible to serve on the board of directors, an

1-15     individual must be a resident of the district and must have resided

1-16     in the district for at least two years immediately preceding the

1-17     date the individual takes office.  An [To be eligible to serve on

1-18     the board of an appraisal district established for a county having

1-19     a population of at least 200,000 bordering a county having a

1-20     population of at least 2,000,000 and the Gulf of Mexico, an

1-21     individual must be a member of the governing body or an elected

1-22     officer of a taxing unit entitled to vote on the appointment of

1-23     board members under this section.  However, an] employee of a

1-24     taxing unit that participates in the district is not eligible to

1-25     serve on the board unless the individual is also a member of the

1-26     governing body or an elected official of a taxing unit that

1-27     participates in the district.

1-28           SECTION 2.  The changes in law made by this Act in the

1-29     qualifications of members of the board of directors of an appraisal

1-30     district do not affect the entitlement of a member serving on a

1-31     board immediately before the effective date of this Act to continue

1-32     to serve on the board for the remainder of the member's term.  The

1-33     changes in law apply only to a member appointed on or after the

1-34     effective date of this Act.  This Act does not prohibit a person

1-35     who is a member of the board on the effective date of this Act from

1-36     being reappointed to the board if the person has the qualifications

1-37     required for a member under Subsection (a), Section 6.03, Tax Code,

1-38     as amended by this Act.

1-39           SECTION 3.  This Act takes effect January 1, 1998.

1-40           SECTION 4.  The importance of this legislation and the

1-41     crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an

1-42     emergency and an imperative public necessity that the

1-43     constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several

1-44     days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.

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