1-1     By:  Puente (Senate Sponsor - Van de Putte)           H.B. No. 3191
 1-2           (In the Senate - Received from the House April 23, 2001;
 1-3     April 24, 2001, read first time and referred to Committee on
 1-4     Intergovernmental Relations; May 9, 2001, reported favorably by the
 1-5     following vote:  Yeas 6, Nays 0; May 9, 2001, sent to printer.)
 1-6                            A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 1-7                                   AN ACT
 1-8     relating to the consent of certain municipalities to the inclusion
 1-9     of their extraterritorial jurisdiction in emergency services
1-10     districts.
1-11           BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-12           SECTION 1. Section 775.013(a), Health and Safety Code, is
1-13     amended to read as follows:
1-14           (a)  The petition prescribed by Section 775.011 or 775.012
1-15     must show:
1-16                 (1)  that the district is to be created and is to
1-17     operate under Article III, Section 48-e, of the Texas Constitution,
1-18     as proposed by S.J.R. No. 27, Acts of the 70th Legislature, Regular
1-19     Session, 1987, and adopted by the voters at an election held
1-20     November 3, 1987;
1-21                 (2)  the name of the proposed district;
1-22                 (3)  the district's boundaries as designated by metes
1-23     and bounds or other sufficient legal description;
1-24                 (4)  that none of the territory in the district is
1-25     included in another emergency services district; [and]
1-26                 (5)  the mailing address of each petitioner; and
1-27                 (6)  the name of each municipality whose consent must
1-28     be obtained under Section 775.014.
1-29           SECTION 2. Section 775.014, Health and Safety Code, is
1-30     amended by amending Subsection (a) and adding Subsections (h) and
1-31     (i) to read as follows:
1-32           (a)  Before a district may be created that contains territory
1-33     in a municipality's limits or extraterritorial jurisdiction, a
1-34     written request to be included in the district must be presented to
1-35     the municipality's governing body after the petition is filed under
1-36     Section 775.015.  Except as provided by Subsection (c), that
1-37     territory may not be included in the district unless the
1-38     municipality's governing body gives its written consent on or
1-39     before the 60th day after the date on which the municipality
1-40     receives the request.
1-41           (h)  The governing body of a municipality with a population
1-42     of more than one million may negotiate with the commissioners court
1-43     of a county with a population of less than 1.4 million that is the
1-44     county in which the majority of the territory inside the
1-45     municipality's corporate boundaries is located conditions under
1-46     which the municipality will grant its consent to the inclusion of
1-47     its extraterritorial jurisdiction in the district.  The negotiated
1-48     conditions may:
1-49                 (1)  limit the district's ability to incur debt;
1-50                 (2)  require the district to ensure that its equipment
1-51     is compatible with the municipality's equipment; and
1-52                 (3)  require the district to enter into mutual aid
1-53     agreements.
1-54           (i)  A request submitted under this section to a municipality
1-55     described by Subsection (h) must include:
1-56                 (1)  a copy of the petition submitted under Section
1-57     775.015; and
1-58                 (2)  a sufficient legal description of the portion  of
1-59     the municipality and its extraterritorial jurisdiction that would
1-60     be included in the district territory.
1-61           SECTION 3. Section 775.016(c), Health and Safety Code, is
1-62     amended to read as follows:
1-63           (c)  The commissioners court has exclusive jurisdiction to
1-64     determine each issue relating to the creation of the district,
 2-1     including any matters negotiated with a consenting municipality
 2-2     under Section 775.014(h), and may issue incidental orders it
 2-3     considers proper in relation to the issues before the commissioners
 2-4     court.  The commissioners court may adjourn the hearing as
 2-5     necessary.
 2-6           SECTION 4. Section 775.017(a), Health and Safety Code, is
 2-7     amended to read as follows:
 2-8           (a)  If after the hearing the commissioners court finds that
 2-9     creation of the district is feasible and will promote the public
2-10     safety, welfare, health, and convenience of persons residing in the
2-11     proposed district, the commissioners court shall grant the
2-12     petition, [and] fix the district's boundaries, and impose any
2-13     conditions negotiated under Section 775.014(h).  If the proposed
2-14     district, according to its boundaries stated in the petition, is
2-15     located wholly in a county with a population of more than 2.4
2-16     million, the commissioners court may amend the petition to change
2-17     the boundaries of the proposed district if the commissioners court
2-18     finds the change is necessary or desirable.  For the purposes of
2-19     this provision, the population of the county is determined
2-20     according to the most recent federal decennial census available at
2-21     the time the petition is filed.
2-22           SECTION 5. Section 775.018(a), Health and Safety Code, is
2-23     amended to read as follows:
2-24           (a)  Except as provided by Subsection (b), on the granting of
2-25     a petition, the commissioners court shall order an election to
2-26     confirm the district's creation and authorize the imposition of a
2-27     tax not to exceed 10 cents on each $100 of the taxable value of
2-28     property taxable by the district or three cents on each $100 of the
2-29     taxable value of property taxable by the district if any area in
2-30     the district is also included in a rural fire prevention district.
2-31     Any conditions negotiated under Section 775.014(h) must be included
2-32     on the ballot.
2-33           SECTION 6. Section 775.019, Health and Safety Code, is
2-34     amended by amending Subsection (b) and adding Subsection (f) to
2-35     read as follows:
2-36           (b)  A district may not include territory in a municipality's
2-37     limits or extraterritorial jurisdiction unless a majority of the
2-38     voters residing in that territory who vote at the election vote in
2-39     favor of creating the district subject to any conditions negotiated
2-40     under Section 775.014(h) and imposing a tax.  The exclusion of that
2-41     territory does not affect the creation of a district that includes
2-42     the remainder of the proposed territory if the commissioners
2-43     court's findings under Section 775.017 are favorable to the
2-44     district's creation.
2-45           (f)  Any conditions that were negotiated under Section
2-46     775.014(h) and included on the ballot must be included in the order
2-47     entered under this section.
2-48           SECTION 7. Section 775.031, Health and Safety Code, is
2-49     amended by adding Subsection (e) to read as follows:
2-50           (e)  In the event of a conflict between a power granted under
2-51     this chapter and a condition imposed in accordance with Section
2-52     775.019(f), the condition controls.
2-53           SECTION 8. This Act takes effect September 1, 2001.
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