1-1 By: Lucio S.B. No. 1609
1-2 (In the Senate - Filed March 12, 1999; March 15, 1999, read
1-3 first time and referred to Committee on Intergovernmental
1-4 Relations; April 12, 1999, reported adversely, with favorable
1-5 Committee Substitute by the following vote: Yeas 5, Nays 0;
1-6 April 12, 1999, sent to printer.)
1-7 COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR S.B. No. 1609 By: Nixon
1-8 A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-9 AN ACT
1-10 relating to emergency services districts.
1-11 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-12 SECTION 1. Subsection (b), Section 775.012, Health and
1-13 Safety Code, is amended to read as follows:
1-14 (b) The name of the district proposed by the petition must
1-15 be "____________ Emergency Services District No. _______." The
1-16 name of each county must be inserted in the first blank, and the
1-17 next available district number must be inserted into the second
1-18 blank.
1-19 SECTION 2. Subsection (g), Section 775.014, Health and
1-20 Safety Code, is amended to read as follows:
1-21 (g) This section does not apply if the proposed district
1-22 contains territory in [is wholly within] the unincorporated area of
1-23 a county with [that has] a population of 2.4 million or more
1-24 [according to the most recent federal decennial census].
1-25 SECTION 3. Subsection (b), Section 775.018, Health and
1-26 Safety Code, is amended to read as follows:
1-27 (b) If a proposed district is located wholly in a county
1-28 with a population of more than 2.4 million, the commissioners court
1-29 shall order an election to confirm the district's creation and
1-30 authorize the imposition of an ad valorem tax not to exceed three
1-31 cents on each $100 of the taxable value of property taxable by the
1-32 district[, except that if the petition seeks conversion of a rural
1-33 fire prevention district into an emergency services district, the
1-34 election must be to authorize the imposition of an ad valorem tax
1-35 not to exceed six cents on each $100 of the taxable value of
1-36 property taxable by the district]. For the purposes of this
1-37 subsection, the population of the county is determined according to
1-38 the most recent federal decennial census available at the time the
1-39 petition is filed.
1-40 SECTION 4. Subsections (a) and (c), Section 775.022, Health
1-41 and Safety Code, are amended to read as follows:
1-42 (a) If a municipality annexes territory in a district, the
1-43 board shall, on receipt of a written request of the municipality,
1-44 immediately disannex the territory from the district and shall
1-45 cease to provide further services to the residents of that
1-46 territory.
1-47 (c) If a municipality annexes a portion of a district, the
1-48 municipality shall compensate the district in an amount equal to
1-49 the annexed territory's pro rata share of the district's bonded and
1-50 other indebtedness based on the unpaid principal balances and the
1-51 actual property values at the time the territory is annexed. The
1-52 district shall apply compensation received from a municipality
1-53 under this subsection exclusively to the payment of the annexed
1-54 territory's pro rata share of the district's bonded and other
1-55 indebtedness.
1-56 SECTION 5. Subsections (a) and (b), Section 775.031, Health
1-57 and Safety Code, are amended to read as follows:
1-58 (a) A district is a political subdivision of the state. To
1-59 perform the functions of the district and to provide emergency
1-60 services, a district may:
1-61 (1) acquire, purchase, hold, lease, manage, occupy,
1-62 and sell real and personal property or an interest in property;
1-63 (2) enter into and perform necessary contracts;
1-64 (3) appoint and employ necessary officers, agents, and
2-1 employees;
2-2 (4) sue and be sued;
2-3 (5) impose and collect taxes as prescribed by this
2-4 chapter;
2-5 (6) accept and receive donations;
2-6 (7) lease, own, maintain, operate, and provide
2-7 emergency services vehicles and other necessary or proper
2-8 apparatus, instrumentalities, equipment, and machinery to provide
2-9 emergency services;
2-10 (8) construct, lease, own, and maintain real property,
2-11 improvements, and fixtures necessary to house, repair, and maintain
2-12 emergency services vehicles and equipment;
2-13 (9) contract with other entities, including other
2-14 districts or municipalities, to make emergency services facilities
2-15 and emergency services available to the district;
2-16 (10) contract with other entities, including other
2-17 districts or municipalities, for reciprocal operation of services
2-18 and facilities if the contracting parties find that reciprocal
2-19 operation would be mutually beneficial and not detrimental to the
2-20 district; [and]
2-21 (11) borrow money; and
2-22 (12) perform other acts necessary to carry out the
2-23 intent of this chapter.
2-24 (b) A district located wholly within a county with a
2-25 population of more than 2.4 million may not provide fire prevention
2-26 or fire-fighting services unless the district was originally a
2-27 rural fire prevention district and was converted under Section
2-28 794.100 [775.056].
2-29 SECTION 6. Subsection (a), Section 775.034, Health and
2-30 Safety Code, is amended to read as follows:
2-31 (a) The commissioners court of a county in which a
2-32 single-county district is located shall appoint a five-member board
2-33 of emergency services commissioners to serve as the district's
2-34 governing body. To be qualified to serve as a member of the board
2-35 a person must be at least 18 years of age, a resident citizen of
2-36 the state, and a qualified voter within areas served by the
2-37 district or the owner of land subject to taxation in the district.
2-38 Except as prescribed by Subsection (b), commissioners serve
2-39 two-year terms.
2-40 SECTION 7. Subsections (b) and (h), Section 775.035, Health
2-41 and Safety Code, are amended to read as follows:
2-42 (b) After a district located in more than one county is
2-43 created, the county judges of each county in the district shall
2-44 mutually establish a convenient day provided by Section 41.001,
2-45 Election Code [in November, other than the date of the general
2-46 election for state and county officers], to conduct an election to
2-47 elect the initial emergency services commissioners.
2-48 (h) The general election for commissioner shall be held
2-49 annually on an authorized uniform election date as provided by
2-50 Chapter 41, Election Code. The board may change the election date
2-51 from one authorized election date to another authorized election
2-52 date and shall adjust the terms of office to conform to the new
2-53 election date.
2-54 SECTION 8. Section 775.036, Health and Safety Code, is
2-55 amended by amending Subsection (b) and by adding Subsections (e)
2-56 and (f) to read as follows:
2-57 (b) The board may adopt and enforce a fire code, including
2-58 fines for any violations, that does not conflict with a fire code
2-59 adopted by another political subdivision that also contains within
2-60 its boundaries any portion of the land contained in the district
2-61 and may require inspections in the district relating to the causes
2-62 and prevention of fires and medical emergencies, except as provided
2-63 by Section 775.031(b). The board may not enforce the district's
2-64 fire code within the boundaries of a municipality that has adopted
2-65 a fire code. The board of a district located wholly within a
2-66 county with a population of 2.4 million or more may not adopt a
2-67 fire code or a fine for a violation of the district's fire code
2-68 unless the commissioners court of the county consents to the
2-69 adoption of the code or fine.
3-1 (e) Chapter 551, Government Code, does not apply to a
3-2 meeting of a committee:
3-3 (1) of the board if less than a board quorum attends;
3-4 or
3-5 (2) composed of representatives of more than one
3-6 board, if less than a quorum of any of the boards attends.
3-7 (f) Each January, the board shall publish the street address
3-8 of the district's administrative office in eight-point type in the
3-9 legal notices section of a newspaper of general circulation in the
3-10 district. In a district's first year of operation, the board shall
3-11 publish the notice not later than the 60th day after the date the
3-12 initial board is appointed.
3-13 SECTION 9. Section 775.040, Health and Safety Code, is
3-14 amended to read as follows:
3-15 Sec. 775.040. FEES FOR PROVIDING SERVICES. A district, or a
3-16 person authorized by contract on the district's behalf, may charge
3-17 a reasonable fee for emergency services performed for or on behalf
3-18 of a person or entity, including a fee for responding to a false
3-19 alarm or for a fire code inspection.
3-20 SECTION 10. Subchapter C, Chapter 775, Health and Safety
3-21 Code, is amended by adding Sections 775.041 and 775.042 to read as
3-22 follows:
3-23 Sec. 775.041. FEE PAYMENT AND COLLECTION. (a) A fee
3-24 imposed by a district under Section 775.040 must be paid within a
3-25 reasonable amount of time as established by the district.
3-26 (b) If the fee has not been paid in the amount of time
3-27 established by the district, the district may collect the fee by
3-28 filing a complaint in the appropriate court of jurisdiction in the
3-29 county in which the district's principal office or meeting place is
3-30 located.
3-31 (c) If the district prevails in any suit to collect the fee,
3-32 it may, in the same action, recover reasonable fees for attorneys,
3-33 expert witnesses, and other costs incurred by the district in the
3-34 suit. The court shall determine the amount of the attorney's fees.
3-35 Sec. 775.042. REMOVAL OF BOARD MEMBER. (a) A board may
3-36 remove a member if:
3-37 (1) the member is absent from more than half of the
3-38 regularly scheduled board meetings that the member is eligible to
3-39 attend during a calendar year without an excuse approved by a
3-40 majority vote of the board; and
3-41 (2) the other members of the board unanimously vote to
3-42 remove that member.
3-43 (b) Not later than the 30th day after the date of a vote to
3-44 remove a member under Subsection (a), that member may file a
3-45 written appeal for reinstatement to the commissioners court of the
3-46 county in which a single-county district is located or, if the
3-47 district is located in more than one county, the commissioners
3-48 court of the county where the member resides. The court may
3-49 reinstate the member if it finds the removal unwarranted after
3-50 considering:
3-51 (1) a reason for an absence;
3-52 (2) the time and place of a missed meeting;
3-53 (3) the business conducted at a missed meeting; and
3-54 (4) any other factors or circumstances the court
3-55 considers relevant.
3-56 (c) The validity of a board action is not affected because
3-57 it is taken when a ground for removal of a board member exists.
3-58 SECTION 11. Section 775.071, Health and Safety Code, is
3-59 amended to read as follows:
3-60 Sec. 775.071. LIMITATION ON INDEBTEDNESS. Except as
3-61 provided by Section 775.051, Section 775.072, [and] Sections
3-62 775.077-775.081, and Section 775.085, a district may not contract
3-63 for an amount of indebtedness in any one year that is in excess of
3-64 the funds then on hand and anticipated [or that may be paid from
3-65 current] revenues for the year.
3-66 SECTION 12. Section 775.0741, Health and Safety Code, is
3-67 amended to read as follows:
3-68 Sec. 775.0741. AD VALOREM TAX IN DISTRICT LOCATED WHOLLY IN
3-69 POPULOUS COUNTY. (a) This section applies only to [The board of]
4-1 a district located wholly in a county with a population of more
4-2 than 2.4 million [shall prepare annually a budget for the district
4-3 and shall submit the budget to the commissioners court of the
4-4 county for approval. The budget shall be treated in the same
4-5 manner as a budget submitted by a county agency or department].
4-6 (b) The board [commissioners court] shall annually impose an
4-7 ad valorem tax on all real and personal property located in the
4-8 district and subject to district taxation for the district's
4-9 support and the purposes authorized by this chapter.
4-10 (c) The tax may not exceed three cents on each $100 of the
4-11 taxable value of property taxable by the district. If the district
4-12 was originally a rural fire prevention district and was converted
4-13 under Section 794.100 [775.056], the tax may not exceed six cents
4-14 on each $100 of the taxable value of property taxable by the
4-15 district.
4-16 (d) In setting and certifying the tax rate, the board
4-17 [commissioners court] is subject to [the same duties that are
4-18 imposed on a board by] Sections 775.074(b) through (e).
4-19 [(e) The funds collected under this section shall be
4-20 deposited in a county depository except as provided by Section
4-21 775.072(b).]
4-22 SECTION 13. Subchapter E, Chapter 775, Health and Safety
4-23 Code, is amended by adding Section 775.085 to read as follows:
4-24 Sec. 775.085. LOAN FOR EMERGENCY SERVICES EQUIPMENT.
4-25 (a) The board, on the behalf of the district, may borrow money and
4-26 make other financial arrangements to purchase emergency services
4-27 equipment in the amount and subject to a rate of interest or other
4-28 conditions the board considers advisable.
4-29 (b) To secure a loan under this section, the board may
4-30 pledge:
4-31 (1) tax revenues or funds on hand that are not
4-32 otherwise pledged to pay a debt of the district; or
4-33 (2) the equipment acquired with the borrowed money.
4-34 (c) If tax revenues are pledged to pay a loan, the loan must
4-35 mature not later than the fifth anniversary of the date the loan is
4-36 made.
4-37 SECTION 14. Subsection (f), Section 775.074, Health and
4-38 Safety Code, is repealed.
4-39 SECTION 15. (a) This Act takes effect September 1, 1999.
4-40 (b) The changes in law made by Section 6 of this Act in the
4-41 qualifications of, and the prohibitions applying to, members of the
4-42 emergency services commissioners board do not affect the
4-43 entitlement of a member serving on the board immediately before the
4-44 effective date of this Act to continue to carry out the board's
4-45 functions for the remainder of the member's term. The changes in
4-46 law apply only to a member appointed on or after the effective date
4-47 of this Act. This Act does not prohibit a person who is a member
4-48 of the board on the effective date of this Act from being
4-49 reappointed to the board if the person has the qualifications
4-50 required for a member under Section 775.034, Health and Safety
4-51 Code, as amended by this Act.
4-52 SECTION 16. The importance of this legislation and the
4-53 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
4-54 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
4-55 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
4-56 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.
4-57 * * * * *