SRC-PNG S.B. 157 76(R) BILL ANALYSIS Senate Research Center S.B. 157 76R3036 JD-FBy: Lindsay Infrastructure 4/18/1999 As Filed DIGEST In 1988, voters within the Houston metropolitan transit authority (METRO) boundaries approved a referendum which required METRO to send back 25 percent of the sales tax it collected to the cities and the county within its boundaries for "general mobility projects" (roads), in order to use the funds more efficiently in building roads. This bill would set into statutory law the major provisions of the referendum. PURPOSE As proposed, S.B. 157 requires a portion of the sales and use tax revenue collected by certain municipalities and counties to be used only for county and municipal road and bridge purposes. RULEMAKING AUTHORITY This bill does not grant any additional rulemaking authority to a state officer, institution, or agency. SECTION BY SECTION ANALYSIS SECTION 1. Amends Section 451.065, Transportation Code, by adding Subsections (g) and (h), as follows: (g) Requires the board of an authority that imposes a sales and use tax to distribute 25 percent of the annual collected tax revenue to each municipality and county located in the authority by a certain date. Requires the board to distribute the amount in consultation with the municipalities and counties. Authorizes the municipality or county to use the money received from the authority only for the performance of an action described in Subsection (a) other than road maintenance within the territory of the authority. Authorizes a municipality with a population of less than 1.2 million to contract with the county in which the municipality is located, or with the principal municipality of the authority, for the design, acquisition of necessary right-of-way, and construction of a project. Establishes that this subsection applies only to the board of an authority in which the principal municipality has a population of more than 1.2 million. (h) Establishes that Subsection (g) does not apply if, in an election called by the authority, a majority of the votes approve the elimination of the requirements set out in Subsection (g). SECTION 2. Effective date: January 1, 2000. SECTION 3. Emergency clause.