HBA-MSH H.B. 3557 77(R) BILL ANALYSIS Office of House Bill AnalysisH.B. 3557 By: Shields Urban Affairs 4/8/2001 Introduced BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE San Antonio has experienced steady increases in both population and economic growth over recent years, putting a strain on local transportation infrastructure. San Antonio has no local source of funds to use to obtain state and federal matching funds for local transportation projects. Other cities use sales and use taxes to fund transportation projects and to leverage state and federal highway funds. House Bill 3557 allows a county commissioners court in a county where the principal municipality has a population of more than 700,000 to create an advanced transportation district (district) and impose a sales and use tax to be used for advanced transportation purposes. 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 3557 amends the Transportation Code to remove light commuter rail from the definition of "advanced transportation" and to add high occupancy toll lanes, express lanes, general purpose freeway lanes, general purpose arterial lanes, freeway interchanges, busways, bus lanes, bus rapid transit, traffic management systems, transportation improvements along public ways, and other advanced transportation facilities and services including operating costs and management to that definition. The bill authorizes a county commissioners court in a county in which the principal municipality has a population of more than 700,000 and in which a metropolitan rapid transit authority's sales and use tax is imposed to order an election to create an advanced transportation district (district) and impose a sales and use tax for advanced transportation. The bill authorizes the rate of an approved sales and use tax to be from one-fourth to one half of one percent in one-eighth percent increments. The bill requires the proceeds of a sales and use tax to be used by the district in conformity with the metropolitan transportation plan of the metropolitan planning organization. The bill requires the proceeds to be expended as mutually agreed by the transit authority's board and the metropolitan planning organization's transportation steering committee. If the transit authority and the metropolitan planning organization's transportation steering committee fail to reach an agreement on the expenditure of the of the sales and use tax revenue, the bill requires a panel composed of five specified representatives of participating political jurisdictions to decide how to manage and disburse the tax revenues. The bill authorizes the metropolitan planning organization transportation steering committee to act as the governing body of the district. EFFECTIVE DATE September 1, 2001.