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.