By Williams, Hope H.B. No. 1111
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to the dissolution of the Montgomery County Hospital
1-3 District.
1-4 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-5 SECTION 1. Chapter 258, Acts of the 65th Legislature,
1-6 Regular Session, 1977, is amended by adding Sections 23A and 23B to
1-7 read as follows:
1-8 Sec. 23A. (a) The board of directors may order an election
1-9 on the question of dissolving the district and disposing of the
1-10 district's assets and obligations.
1-11 (b) The election shall be held on the earlier of the
1-12 following dates that occurs at least 90 days after the date on
1-13 which the election is ordered:
1-14 (1) the first Saturday in May; or
1-15 (2) the date of the general election for state and
1-16 county officers.
1-17 (c) The ballot for the election shall be printed to permit
1-18 voting for or against the proposition: "The dissolution of the
1-19 Montgomery County Hospital District." The election shall be held
1-20 in accordance with the applicable provisions of the Election Code.
1-21 (d) If a majority of the votes in the election favor
1-22 dissolution, the board of directors shall find that the district is
1-23 dissolved. If a majority of the votes in the election do not favor
1-24 dissolution, the board of directors shall continue to administer
2-1 the district and another election on the question of dissolution
2-2 may not be held before the fourth anniversary of the most recent
2-3 election to dissolve the district.
2-4 (e) If a majority of the votes in the election favor
2-5 dissolution, the board of directors shall:
2-6 (1) transfer the ambulance service and related
2-7 equipment, any vehicles, and any mobile clinics and related
2-8 equipment that belong to the district to Montgomery County not
2-9 later than the 45th day after the date on which the election is
2-10 held; and
2-11 (2) transfer the land, buildings, improvements,
2-12 equipment not described by Subdivision (1) of this subsection, and
2-13 other assets that belong to the district to Montgomery County or
2-14 administer the property, assets, and debts in accordance with
2-15 Subsections (g)-(k) of this section.
2-16 (f) The county assumes all debts and obligations of the
2-17 district relating to the ambulance service and related equipment,
2-18 any vehicles, and any mobile clinics and related equipment at the
2-19 time of the transfer. If the district also transfers the land,
2-20 buildings, improvements, equipment, and other assets to Montgomery
2-21 County under Subsection (e)(2) of this section, the county assumes
2-22 all debts and obligations of the district relating to those assets
2-23 at the time of the transfer and the district is dissolved. The
2-24 county should use all transferred assets in a manner that benefits
2-25 residents of the county residing in territory formerly constituting
2-26 the district.
2-27 (g) If the board of directors finds that the district is
3-1 dissolved but does not transfer the land, buildings, improvements,
3-2 equipment, and other assets to Montgomery County under Subsection
3-3 (e)(2) of this section, the board of directors shall continue to
3-4 control and administer that property and those assets and the
3-5 related debts of the district until all funds have been disposed of
3-6 and all district debts have been paid or settled.
3-7 (h) After the board of directors finds that the district is
3-8 dissolved, the board of directors shall:
3-9 (1) determine the debt owed by the district; and
3-10 (2) impose on the property included in the district's
3-11 tax rolls a tax that is in proportion of the debt to the property
3-12 value.
3-13 (i) The board of directors may institute a suit to enforce
3-14 payment of taxes and to foreclose liens to secure the payment of
3-15 taxes due the district.
3-16 (j) When all outstanding debts and obligations of the
3-17 district are paid, the board of directors shall order the secretary
3-18 to return the pro rata share of all unused tax money to each
3-19 district taxpayer and all unused district money from any other
3-20 source to Montgomery County. A taxpayer may request that the
3-21 taxpayer's share of surplus tax money be credited to the taxpayer's
3-22 county taxes. If a taxpayer requests the credit, the board of
3-23 directors shall direct the secretary to transmit the funds to the
3-24 county tax assessor-collector.
3-25 (k) After the district has paid all its debts and has
3-26 disposed of all its assets and funds as prescribed by this section,
3-27 the board of directors shall file a written report with the
4-1 Commissioners Court of Montgomery County setting forth a summary of
4-2 the board of directors' actions in dissolving the district. Not
4-3 later than the 10th day after it receives the report and determines
4-4 that the requirements of this section have been fulfilled, the
4-5 commissioners court shall enter an order dissolving the district.
4-6 Sec. 23B. (a) The board of directors shall order an
4-7 election on the question of dissolving the district and disposing
4-8 of the district's assets and obligations if the board of directors
4-9 receives a petition requesting an election that is signed by a
4-10 number of residents of the district equal to at least 15 percent of
4-11 the registered voters in the district.
4-12 (b) The election shall be held on the earlier of the
4-13 following dates that occurs at least 90 days after the date on
4-14 which the election is ordered:
4-15 (1) the first Saturday in May; or
4-16 (2) the date of the general election for state and
4-17 county officers.
4-18 (c) The ballot for the election shall be printed to permit
4-19 voting for or against the proposition: "The dissolution of the
4-20 Montgomery County Hospital District." The election shall be held
4-21 in accordance with the applicable provisions of the Election Code.
4-22 (d) If a majority of the votes in the election favor
4-23 dissolution, the board of directors shall find that the district is
4-24 dissolved. If a majority of the votes in the election do not favor
4-25 dissolution, the board of directors shall continue to administer
4-26 the district and another election on the question of dissolution
4-27 may not be held before the fourth anniversary of the most recent
5-1 election to dissolve the district.
5-2 (e) If a majority of the votes in the election favor
5-3 dissolution, the board of directors shall transfer the land,
5-4 buildings, improvements, equipment, and other assets that belong to
5-5 the district to Montgomery County not later than the 45th day after
5-6 the date on which the election is held. The county assumes all
5-7 debts and obligations of the district at the time of the transfer
5-8 and the district is dissolved. The county should use all
5-9 transferred assets in a manner that benefits residents of the
5-10 county residing in territory formerly constituting the district.
5-11 SECTION 2. The importance of this legislation and the
5-12 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
5-13 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
5-14 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
5-15 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended,
5-16 and that this Act take effect and be in force from and after its
5-17 passage, and it is so enacted.