By Talton                                             H.B. No. 3365
         76R8253 JD-D                           
                                A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 1-1                                   AN ACT
 1-2     relating to the composition of the board of directors of an
 1-3     appraisal district.
 1-4           BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
 1-5           SECTION 1.  Section 6.03(a), Tax Code, is amended to read as
 1-6     follows:
 1-7           (a)  The appraisal district is governed by a board of
 1-8     directors.  In an appraisal district established for a county with
 1-9     a population of less than 2.5 million, five [Five] directors are
1-10     appointed by the taxing units that participate in the district as
1-11     provided by this section.  If the  county assessor-collector is not
1-12     appointed to the board of an appraisal district for a county with a
1-13     population of less than 2.5 million, the county assessor-collector
1-14     serves as a nonvoting director.  In an appraisal district
1-15     established for a county with a population of 2.5 million or more,
1-16     four directors are appointed by the taxing units that participate
1-17     in the district and the county assessor-collector is a nonvoting
1-18     director, unless ineligible under this subsection.  The county
1-19     assessor-collector of any county is ineligible to serve if the
1-20     board enters into a contract under Section 6.05(b) or if the
1-21     commissioners court of the county enters into a contract under
1-22     Section 6.24(b).  To be eligible to serve on the board of
1-23     directors, an individual other than a county assessor-collector
1-24     serving as a nonvoting director must be a resident of the district
 2-1     and must have resided in the district for at least two years
 2-2     immediately preceding the date the individual takes office.  An
 2-3     individual who is otherwise eligible to serve on the board is not
 2-4     ineligible because of membership on the governing body of a taxing
 2-5     unit.  To be eligible to serve on the board of an appraisal
 2-6     district established for a county having a population of at least
 2-7     200,000 bordering a county having a population of at least
 2-8     2,000,000 and the Gulf of Mexico, an individual other than a county
 2-9     assessor-collector serving as a nonvoting director must be a member
2-10     of the governing body or an elected officer of a taxing unit
2-11     entitled to vote on the appointment of board members under this
2-12     section.  However, an employee of a taxing unit that participates
2-13     in the district is not eligible to serve on the board unless the
2-14     individual is also a member of the governing body or an elected
2-15     official of a taxing unit that participates in the district.  In an
2-16     appraisal district established for a county with a population of
2-17     2.5 million or more, an individual, other than the county
2-18     assessor-collector, who has served all or part of three terms as a
2-19     member of the board of directors of an appraisal district is
2-20     ineligible to serve on the board.
2-21           SECTION 2.  (a)  This Act takes effect September 1, 1999.
2-22           (b)  The change in law made by this Act does not affect the
2-23     entitlement of a voting member serving on the board of directors of
2-24     the appraisal district established for a county with a population
2-25     of 2.5 million or more immediately before the effective date of
2-26     this Act to serve on the board for the remainder of the member's
2-27     term.  If the board of directors of the appraisal district includes
 3-1     five voting members on the effective date of this Act, the first
 3-2     vacancy occurring on the board after that date, including a vacancy
 3-3     occurring at the end of a director's term, may not be filled in
 3-4     order to reduce the number of voting members to the number required
 3-5     by Section 6.03(a), Tax Code, as amended by this Act.
 3-6           SECTION 3.  The importance of this legislation and the
 3-7     crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
 3-8     emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
 3-9     constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
3-10     days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.