By Galloway                                     S.B. No. 1742

      75R8448 CAG-D                           

                                A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

 1-1                                   AN ACT

 1-2     relating to the oversight of recently completed annexations by

 1-3     certain municipalities.

 1-4           BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:

 1-5           SECTION 1.  Subchapter Z, Chapter 43, Local Government Code,

 1-6     is amended by adding Section 43.905 to read as follows:

 1-7           Sec. 43.905.  OVERSIGHT OF CERTAIN ANNEXATIONS.  (a)  This

 1-8     section applies only to an annexation:

 1-9                 (1)  by a municipality with a population of 225,000 or

1-10     more; and

1-11                 (2)  of an area that contains any portion of a

1-12     municipal utility district.

1-13           (b)  An annexation oversight committee shall be established

1-14     for each area annexed by a municipality under this chapter.

1-15           (c)  The committee shall be composed of five members. Two

1-16     members of the committee must be members of the governing body of

1-17     any municipal utility  district located in the extraterritorial

1-18     jurisdiction of the most populous municipality in the state that

1-19     has a population less than the population of the annexing

1-20     municipality and shall be appointed by the county judge of the

1-21     county in which a majority of the district is located.  Two members

1-22     of the committee must be members of the governing body of the next

1-23     two most populous municipalities in the state that have a

1-24     population less than the population of the annexing municipality,

 2-1     and each of those municipal governing bodies shall appoint one

 2-2     member.  The presiding officer of the committee must be a visiting

 2-3     judge jointly appointed by the governing body of the annexing

 2-4     municipality and the governing bodies of all the municipal utility

 2-5     districts located in whole or in part in the annexed area.  If a

 2-6     person who is required to appoint a member of the committee has not

 2-7     appointed the member before the 45th day after the date of the

 2-8     annexation, the member shall be jointly appointed by the annexing

 2-9     municipality and the municipal utility districts.

2-10           (d)  The committee may meet after the 90th day following the

2-11     effective date of the annexation but before the 270th day following

2-12     the effective date of the annexation.

2-13           (e)  The annexing municipality shall:

2-14                 (1)  pay each member of the committee a $25 per diem

2-15     for each day the member engages in the business of the committee;

2-16                 (2)  reimburse the actual expenses of each member of

2-17     the committee; and

2-18                 (3)  pay the costs of the operation of the committee.

2-19           (f)  The committee shall review the municipality's compliance

2-20     with any service plan for the annexed area adopted under this

2-21     chapter.  The committee shall establish procedures to allow persons

2-22     in the annexed area to bring complaints to the committee for

2-23     investigation and rules for the investigation and resolution of the

2-24     complaints.

2-25           (g)  If a majority of the committee determines that the

2-26     municipality has failed to provide a service required under a

2-27     service plan, the committee may issue a warning to the municipality

 3-1     to comply with the service plan within 10 days after the date the

 3-2     warning is issued.  If the municipality does not remedy the

 3-3     noncompliance with the service plan within the 10-day period, a

 3-4     majority of the committee may fine the municipality not more than

 3-5     $500 for each day of a violation.  If the fine is not paid within

 3-6     seven business days after the date it is imposed,  the municipality

 3-7     shall be assessed a fee of $200 for each day the payment is late.

 3-8           (h)  The municipality may appeal a fine to the district court

 3-9     of the county in which the majority of the municipality is located.

3-10     The court shall review the imposition of the fine under a

3-11     substantial evidence rule.

3-12           (i)  A fine or late fee paid by the municipality under this

3-13     section shall be equally distributed to each homeowners association

3-14     whose boundaries are wholly or partly in the annexed area.

3-15           (j)  The committee may also resolve any disputes between the

3-16     municipality and any service provider with which the municipality

3-17     has contracted under the service plan.

3-18           (k)  On the 270th day after the effective date of the

3-19     annexation, the committee shall make a final determination if the

3-20     municipality is in compliance with the service plans adopted under

3-21     this chapter.  If the committee determines that a municipality has

3-22     not provided services required under a service plan, the finding by

3-23     the committee is final against the municipality and the

3-24     municipality may not challenge the finding in any subsequent

3-25     disannexation proceeding.  If the committee determines the

3-26     municipality is in compliance, the finding is not admissible in any

3-27     subsequent disannexation proceeding and is not binding on any

 4-1     party.  The terms of office for committee members expire

 4-2     immediately following the committee's determination under this

 4-3     subsection.

 4-4           (l)  The committee may also act as an arbitration panel, if

 4-5     requested by any party, of a commercial matter required to be

 4-6     resolved as a result of the annexation.

 4-7           (m)  If disannexation occurs, the committee shall act as an

 4-8     arbitration panel to determine the apportionment of any asset,

 4-9     debt, bond, or other financial instrument between the municipality

4-10     and any other political subdivision. If the committee makes a

4-11     determination under this subsection, the provisions of this chapter

4-12     relating to restrictions on the release of an annexed area from a

4-13     municipality's taxing authority do not apply.

4-14           SECTION 2.  This Act applies to any annexation that has not

4-15     been completed before the effective date of this Act.

4-16           SECTION 3.  The importance of this legislation and the

4-17     crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an

4-18     emergency and an imperative public necessity that the

4-19     constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several

4-20     days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended,

4-21     and that this Act take effect and be in force from and after its

4-22     passage, and it is so enacted.