1-1     By:  Williams, Hope (Senate Sponsor - Bernsen)        H.B. No. 1111
 1-2           (In the Senate - Received from the House May 6, 1999;
 1-3     May 7, 1999, read first time and referred to Committee on
 1-4     Intergovernmental Relations; May 14, 1999, reported favorably, as
 1-5     amended, by the following vote:  Yeas 5, Nays 0; May 14, 1999, sent
 1-6     to printer.)
 1-7     COMMITTEE AMENDMENT NO. 1                                By:  Ellis
 1-8           Amend H.B. No. 1111 as follows:
 1-9           (1)  In SECTION 1 of the bill, in proposed Subsection (f),
1-10     Section 23A, Chapter 258, Acts of the 65th Legislature, Regular
1-11     Session, 1977 (House engrossment, page 2, lines 19-22), strike "The
1-12     county should use all transferred assets in a manner that benefits
1-13     residents of the county residing in territory formerly constituting
1-14     the district." and substitute the following:
1-15     The county shall use all transferred assets to:
1-16                 (1)  pay the outstanding debts and obligations of the
1-17     district relating to the assets at the time of the transfer; or
1-18                 (2)  furnish medical and hospital care for the needy
1-19     residents of the county.
1-20           (2)  In SECTION 1 of the bill, at the end of proposed
1-21     Subsection (j), Section 23A, Chapter 258, Acts of the 65th
1-22     Legislature, Regular Session, 1977 (House engrossment, page 2,
1-23     between lines 47 and 48), insert "Montgomery County shall use
1-24     unused district money received under this section to furnish
1-25     medical and hospital care for the needy residents of the county."
1-26           (3)  In SECTION 1 of the bill, at the end of proposed
1-27     Subsection (e), Section 23B, Chapter 258, Acts of the 65th
1-28     Legislature, Regular Session, 1977 (House engrossment, page 3, line
1-29     18), insert the following:
1-30     The county shall use all transferred assets to:
1-31                 (1)  pay the outstanding debts and obligations of the
1-32     district relating to the assets at the time of the transfer; or
1-33                 (2)  furnish medical and hospital care for the needy
1-34     residents of the county.
1-35                            A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-36                                   AN ACT
1-37     relating to the dissolution of the Montgomery County Hospital
1-38     District.
1-39           BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-40           SECTION 1.  Chapter 258, Acts of the 65th Legislature,
1-41     Regular Session, 1977, is amended by adding Sections 23A and 23B to
1-42     read as follows:
1-43           Sec. 23A.  (a)  The board of directors may order an election
1-44     on the question of dissolving the district and disposing of the
1-45     district's assets and obligations.
1-46           (b)  The election shall be held on the earlier of the
1-47     following dates that occurs at least 90 days after the date on
1-48     which the election is ordered:
1-49                 (1)  the first Saturday in May; or
1-50                 (2)  the date of the general election for state and
1-51     county officers.
1-52           (c)  The ballot for the election shall be printed to permit
1-53     voting for or against the proposition:  "The dissolution of the
1-54     Montgomery County Hospital District."  The election shall be held
1-55     in accordance with the applicable provisions of the Election Code.
1-56           (d)  If a majority of the votes in the election favor
1-57     dissolution, the board of directors shall find that the district is
1-58     dissolved.  If a majority of the votes in the election do not favor
1-59     dissolution, the board of directors shall continue to administer
1-60     the district and another election on the question of dissolution
1-61     may not be held before the fourth anniversary of the most recent
1-62     election to dissolve the district.
1-63           (e)  If a majority of the votes in the election favor
 2-1     dissolution, the board of directors shall:
 2-2                 (1)  transfer the ambulance service and related
 2-3     equipment, any vehicles, and any mobile clinics and related
 2-4     equipment that belong to the district to Montgomery County not
 2-5     later than the 45th day after the date on which the election is
 2-6     held; and
 2-7                 (2)  transfer the land, buildings, improvements,
 2-8     equipment not described by Subdivision (1) of this subsection, and
 2-9     other assets that belong to the district to Montgomery County or
2-10     administer the property, assets, and debts in accordance with
2-11     Subsections (g)-(k) of this section.
2-12           (f)  The county assumes all debts and obligations of the
2-13     district relating to the ambulance service and related equipment,
2-14     any vehicles, and any mobile clinics and related equipment at the
2-15     time of the transfer.  If the district also transfers the land,
2-16     buildings, improvements, equipment, and other assets to Montgomery
2-17     County under Subsection (e)(2) of this section, the county assumes
2-18     all debts and obligations of the district relating to those assets
2-19     at the time of the transfer and the district is dissolved.  The
2-20     county should use all transferred assets in a manner that benefits
2-21     residents of the county residing in territory formerly constituting
2-22     the district.
2-23           (g)  If the board of directors finds that the district is
2-24     dissolved but does not transfer the land, buildings, improvements,
2-25     equipment, and other assets to Montgomery County under Subsection
2-26     (e)(2) of this section, the board of directors shall continue to
2-27     control and administer that property and those assets and the
2-28     related debts of the district until all funds have been disposed of
2-29     and all district debts have been paid or settled.
2-30           (h)  After the board of directors finds that the district is
2-31     dissolved, the board of directors shall:
2-32                 (1)  determine the debt owed by the district; and
2-33                 (2)  impose on the property included in the district's
2-34     tax rolls a tax that is in proportion of the debt to the property
2-35     value.
2-36           (i)  The board of directors may institute a suit to enforce
2-37     payment of taxes and to foreclose liens to secure the payment of
2-38     taxes due the district.
2-39           (j)  When all outstanding debts and obligations of the
2-40     district are paid, the board of directors shall order the secretary
2-41     to return the pro rata share of all unused tax money to each
2-42     district taxpayer and all unused district money from any other
2-43     source to Montgomery County.  A taxpayer may request that the
2-44     taxpayer's share of surplus tax money be credited to the taxpayer's
2-45     county taxes.  If a taxpayer requests the credit, the board of
2-46     directors shall direct the secretary to transmit the funds to the
2-47     county tax assessor-collector.
2-48           (k)  After the district has paid all its debts and has
2-49     disposed of all its assets and funds as prescribed by this section,
2-50     the board of directors shall file a written report with the
2-51     Commissioners Court of Montgomery County setting forth a summary of
2-52     the board of directors' actions in dissolving the district.  Not
2-53     later than the 10th day after it receives the report and determines
2-54     that the requirements of this section have been fulfilled, the
2-55     commissioners court shall enter an order dissolving the district.
2-56           Sec. 23B.  (a)  The board of directors shall order an
2-57     election on the question of dissolving the district and disposing
2-58     of the district's assets and obligations if the board of directors
2-59     receives a petition requesting an election that is signed by a
2-60     number of residents of the district equal to at least 15 percent of
2-61     the registered voters in the district.
2-62           (b)  The election shall be held on the earlier of the
2-63     following dates that occurs at least 90 days after the date on
2-64     which the election is ordered:
2-65                 (1)  the first Saturday in May; or
2-66                 (2)  the date of the general election for state and
2-67     county officers.
2-68           (c)  The ballot for the election shall be printed to permit
2-69     voting for or against the proposition:  "The dissolution of the
 3-1     Montgomery County Hospital District."  The election shall be held
 3-2     in accordance with the applicable provisions of the Election Code.
 3-3           (d)  If a majority of the votes in the election favor
 3-4     dissolution, the board of directors shall find that the district is
 3-5     dissolved.  If a majority of the votes in the election do not favor
 3-6     dissolution, the board of directors shall continue to administer
 3-7     the district and another election on the question of dissolution
 3-8     may not be held before the fourth anniversary of the most recent
 3-9     election to dissolve the district.
3-10           (e)  If a majority of the votes in the election favor
3-11     dissolution, the board of directors shall transfer the land,
3-12     buildings, improvements, equipment, and other assets that belong to
3-13     the district to Montgomery County not later than the 45th day after
3-14     the date on which the election is held.  The county assumes all
3-15     debts and obligations of the district at the time of the transfer
3-16     and the district is dissolved.  The county should use all
3-17     transferred assets in a manner that benefits residents of the
3-18     county residing in territory formerly constituting the district.
3-19           SECTION 2.  The importance of this legislation and the
3-20     crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
3-21     emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
3-22     constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
3-23     days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended,
3-24     and that this Act take effect and be in force from and after its
3-25     passage, and it is so enacted.
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