HBA-MSH H.B. 2751 77(R)BILL ANALYSIS


Office of House Bill AnalysisH.B. 2751
By: Jones, Elizabeth
County Affairs
7/26/2001
Enrolled



BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE 

Prior to the 77th Legislature, the amount of compensation and allowances of
a county auditor was prohibited from exceeding the amount of compensation
and allowances received from all sources by the highest paid elected county
officer other than a judge of a statutory county court.  This limit made it
more difficult to attract experienced and qualified candidates for a
position as a county auditor, especially in larger cities where the local
competition for individuals with auditing skills is greater.  House Bill
2751 allows the salary of a county auditor in specified counties to be the
same as the amount paid to the county budget officer. 

RULEMAKING AUTHORITY

It is the opinion of the Office of House Bill Analysis that this bill does
not expressly delegate any additional rulemaking authority to a state
officer, department, agency, or institution. 

ANALYSIS

House Bill 2751 amends the Local Government Code to prohibit the amount of
the compensation and allowances of a county auditor from exceeding the
amount of the compensation and allowances received from all sources by the
county budget officer.  If the county hires a county budget officer at a
salary lower than the salary of the previous county budget officer, the
bill prohibits the county auditor's salary from being reduced on that
basis.  The bill provides that these provisions apply only to a county that
employs an arena venue project manager hired as of March 7, 2001 and that
has a population of less than 1.4 million in which a municipality with a
population of more than one million is located. 

EFFECTIVE DATE

September 1, 2001.