1-1     By:  Ogden                                            S.B. No. 1511
 1-2           (In the Senate - Filed March 12, 1999; March 15, 1999, read
 1-3     first time and referred to Committee on State Affairs; May 3, 1999,
 1-4     reported adversely, with favorable Committee Substitute by the
 1-5     following vote:  Yeas 7, Nays 0; May 3, 1999, sent to printer.)
 1-6     COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR S.B. No. 1511                   By:  Lucio
 1-7                            A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 1-8                                   AN ACT
 1-9     relating to the creation of a county assistance district in certain
1-10     counties in which a rapid transit or regional transportation
1-11     authority is located; authorizing a sales and use tax.
1-12           BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-13           SECTION 1.  Subtitle B, Title 12, Local Government Code, is
1-14     amended by adding Chapter 384 to read as follows:
1-15                  CHAPTER 384.  COUNTY ASSISTANCE DISTRICT
1-16           Sec. 384.001.  DEFINITION.  In this chapter, "district" means
1-17     a county assistance district created under this chapter.
1-18           Sec. 384.002.  APPLICABILITY.  This chapter applies only to a
1-19     county that has a population of less than 25,000 and any portion of
1-20     which is included in an authority governed by Chapter 451 or 452,
1-21     Transportation Code.
1-22           Sec. 384.003.  CREATION AND FUNCTIONS OF DISTRICT.  (a)  The
1-23     commissioners court of the county may call an election on the
1-24     question of creating a county assistance district under this
1-25     chapter to perform the following functions in the district:
1-26                 (1)  the construction, maintenance, or improvement of
1-27     roads or highways;
1-28                 (2)  the provision of law enforcement and detention
1-29     services;
1-30                 (3)  the maintenance or improvement of libraries,
1-31     museums, parks, or other recreational facilities; or
1-32                 (4)  the provision of services that benefit the public
1-33     health or welfare.
1-34           (b)  The order calling the election must:
1-35                 (1)  define the boundaries of the district to include
1-36     any portion of the county that is not located in an authority
1-37     governed by Chapter 451 or 452, Transportation Code; and
1-38                 (2)  call for the election to be held within those
1-39     boundaries.
1-40           (c)  The ballot at the election must be printed to permit
1-41     voting for or against the proposition:  "Authorizing the creation
1-42     of the ____ County Assistance District (insert name of district)
1-43     and the imposition of a sales and use tax at the rate of ____ of
1-44     one percent (insert one-eighth, one-fourth, three-eighths, or
1-45     one-half, as appropriate) for the purpose of financing the
1-46     operations of the district."
1-47           (d)  The district is created if a majority of the votes
1-48     received at the election favor the creation of the district.
1-49           (e)  If a majority of the votes received at the election are
1-50     against the creation of the district, another election on the
1-51     question of creating a county assistance district may not be held
1-52     in the county before the first anniversary of the most recent
1-53     election concerning the creation of a district.
1-54           (f)  The commissioners court may call an election to be held
1-55     in an area of the county that is not located in a district created
1-56     under this section to determine whether the area should be included
1-57     in the district and whether the district's sales and use tax should
1-58     be imposed in the area.  An election may not be held in an area
1-59     that is included in an authority governed by Chapter 451 or 452,
1-60     Transportation Code.  The area is included in the district and the
1-61     sales and use tax is imposed if a majority of the votes received at
1-62     the election favor inclusion in the district and imposition of the
1-63     sales and use tax.
1-64           Sec. 384.004.  POLITICAL SUBDIVISION.  A district is a
 2-1     political subdivision of this state.
 2-2           Sec. 384.005.  GOVERNING BODY.  (a)  The commissioners court
 2-3     of the county in which the district is created is the governing
 2-4     body of the district.
 2-5           (b)  A member of the commissioners court is not entitled to
 2-6     compensation for service on the governing body of the district but
 2-7     is entitled to reimbursement for actual and necessary expenses.
 2-8           Sec. 384.006.  GENERAL POWERS OF DISTRICT.  (a)  A district
 2-9     may:
2-10                 (1)  perform any act necessary to the full exercise of
2-11     the district's functions;
2-12                 (2)  accept a grant or loan from:
2-13                       (A)  the United States;
2-14                       (B)  an agency or political subdivision of this
2-15     state; or
2-16                       (C)  a public or private person;
2-17                 (3)  acquire, sell, lease, convey, or otherwise dispose
2-18     of property or an interest in property under terms determined by
2-19     the district;
2-20                 (4)  employ necessary personnel; and
2-21                 (5)  adopt rules to govern the operation of the
2-22     district and its employees and property.
2-23           (b)  A district may contract with a public or private person
2-24     to perform any act the district is authorized to perform under this
2-25     chapter.
2-26           (c)  A district may not levy an ad valorem tax.
2-27           Sec. 384.007.  SALES AND USE TAX.  (a)  A district by order
2-28     may impose a sales and use tax under this chapter to finance the
2-29     operations of the district only if the tax is approved at an
2-30     election held under Section 384.003.
2-31           (b)  A district may not adopt a sales and use tax under this
2-32     chapter if the adoption of the tax would result in a combined tax
2-33     rate of all local sales and use taxes of more than two percent in
2-34     any location in the district.
2-35           Sec. 384.008.  TAX CODE APPLICABLE.  (a)  Chapter 323, Tax
2-36     Code, governs the imposition, computation, administration,
2-37     collection, and remittance of a tax authorized under this chapter
2-38     except as inconsistent with this chapter.
2-39           (b)  Section 323.101(b), Tax Code, does not apply to a tax
2-40     authorized by this chapter.
2-41           Sec. 384.009.  TAX RATE.  The rate of a tax adopted under
2-42     this chapter must be one-eighth, one-fourth, three-eighths, or
2-43     one-half of one percent.
2-44           Sec. 384.010.  REPEAL OR RATE CHANGE.  (a)  A district that
2-45     has adopted a sales and use tax under this chapter may, by order
2-46     and subject to Section 384.007(b), change the rate of the tax or
2-47     repeal the tax if the change or repeal is approved by a majority of
2-48     the votes received in the district at an election held for that
2-49     purpose.
2-50           (b)  The tax may be changed under Subsection (a)  in one or
2-51     more increments of one-eighth of one percent to a maximum of
2-52     one-half of one percent.
2-53           (c)  The ballot for an election to change the tax shall be
2-54     printed to permit voting for or against the proposition:  "The
2-55     adoption of a sales and use tax at the rate of ____ of one percent
2-56     (insert one-fourth, three-eighths, or one-half, as appropriate)."
2-57           (d)  The ballot for the election to repeal the tax shall be
2-58     printed to permit voting for or against the proposition:  "The
2-59     repeal of the sales and use tax for financing the __________ County
2-60     Assistance District (insert name of district)."
2-61           Sec. 384.011.  IMPOSITION OF TAX.  (a)  If the district
2-62     adopts the tax, a tax is imposed on the receipts from the sale at
2-63     retail of taxable items in the district at the rate approved at the
2-64     election.
2-65           (b)  There is also imposed an excise tax on the use, storage,
2-66     or other consumption in the district of tangible personal property
2-67     purchased, leased, or rented from a retailer during the period that
2-68     the tax is effective in the district.  The rate of the excise tax
2-69     is the same as the rate of the sales tax portion of the tax and is
 3-1     applied to the sale price of the tangible personal property.
 3-2           Sec. 384.012.  EFFECTIVE DATE OF TAX.  The adoption of the
 3-3     tax, the change of the tax rate, or the repeal of the tax takes
 3-4     effect on the first day of the first calendar quarter occurring
 3-5     after the expiration of the first complete quarter occurring after
 3-6     the date the comptroller receives a notice of the results of the
 3-7     election adopting, changing, or repealing the tax.
 3-8           SECTION 2.  The importance of this legislation and the
 3-9     crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
3-10     emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
3-11     constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
3-12     days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended,
3-13     and that this Act take effect and be in force from and after its
3-14     passage, and it is so enacted.
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