1-1     By:  Eiland (Senate Sponsor - Jackson)                 H.B. No. 834
 1-2           (In the Senate - Received from the House April 30, 1999;
 1-3     May 3, 1999, read first time and referred to Committee on
 1-4     Intergovernmental Relations; May 13, 1999, reported favorably by
 1-5     the following vote:  Yeas 5, Nays 0; May 13, 1999, sent to
 1-6     printer.)
 1-7                            A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 1-8                                   AN ACT
 1-9     relating to the qualifications of a member of the board of
1-10     directors of an appraisal district.
1-11           BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-12           SECTION 1.  Section 6.03(a), Tax Code, is amended to read as
1-13     follows:
1-14           (a)  The appraisal district is governed by a board of
1-15     directors.  Five directors are appointed by the taxing units that
1-16     participate in the district as provided by this section.  If the
1-17     county assessor-collector is not appointed to the board, the county
1-18     assessor-collector serves as a nonvoting director.  The county
1-19     assessor-collector is ineligible to serve if the board enters into
1-20     a contract under Section 6.05(b) or if the commissioners court of
1-21     the county enters into a contract under Section 6.24(b).  To be
1-22     eligible to serve on the board of directors, an individual other
1-23     than a county assessor-collector serving as a nonvoting director
1-24     must be a resident of the district and must have resided in the
1-25     district for at least two years immediately preceding the date the
1-26     individual takes office.  An individual who is otherwise eligible
1-27     to serve on the board is not ineligible because of membership on
1-28     the governing body of a taxing unit. An [To be eligible to serve on
1-29     the board of an appraisal district established for a county having
1-30     a population of at least 200,000 bordering a county having a
1-31     population of at least 2,000,000 and the Gulf of Mexico, an
1-32     individual other than a county assessor-collector serving as a
1-33     nonvoting director must be a member of the governing body or an
1-34     elected officer of a taxing unit entitled to vote on the
1-35     appointment of board members under this section.  However, an]
1-36     employee of a taxing unit that participates in the district is not
1-37     eligible to serve on the board unless the individual is also a
1-38     member of the governing body or an elected official of a taxing
1-39     unit that participates in the district.
1-40           SECTION 2.  The changes in law made by this Act in the
1-41     qualifications of members of the board of directors of an appraisal
1-42     district do not affect the entitlement of a member serving on a
1-43     board immediately before the effective date of this Act to continue
1-44     to serve on the board for the remainder of the member's term.  The
1-45     changes in law apply only to a member appointed on or after the
1-46     effective date of this Act.  This Act does not prohibit a person
1-47     who is a member of the board on the effective date of this Act from
1-48     being reappointed to the board if the person has the qualifications
1-49     required for a member under the Tax Code as amended by this Act.
1-50           SECTION 3.  This Act takes effect January 1, 2000.
1-51           SECTION 4.  The importance of this legislation and the
1-52     crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
1-53     emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
1-54     constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
1-55     days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.
1-56                                  * * * * *