78S40753 JD-F

By:  Casteel                                                      H.B. No. 58 



A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to providing for an increase in certain tax rates of a 
taxing unit because of the imposition of an unfunded federal 
mandate or approval of a local measure.
	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:                        
	SECTION 1.  Chapter 26, Tax Code, is amended by adding 
Section 26.046 to read as follows:
	Sec. 26.046.  ROLLBACK RELIEF FOR UNFUNDED FEDERAL MANDATE 
OR LOCAL MEASURE MANDATE.  (a)  In this section:
		(1)  "Federal mandate" means a statutory provision 
enacted by the Congress of the United States or a decision, rule, 
regulation, or order implementing a federal law that is prescribed 
by a federal or state agency, officer, or court that:
			(A)  takes effect on or after January 1, 2005; and                    
			(B)  requires the expenditure by a taxing unit of 
revenue that would not have been required in the absence of the 
statute, decision, rule, regulation, or order.
		(2)  "Local measure mandate" means a measure approved 
by the voters of a taxing unit in an election held on or after 
January 1, 2005, that requires the taxing unit to establish, 
expand, or change an activity in a manner that requires the 
expenditure by the taxing unit of maintenance and operations tax 
revenue that would not have been required in the absence of the 
approval of the measure in the election.
	(b)  For purposes of this section, a federal mandate is 
considered to be unfunded during any period for which the federal 
government has not provided, by congressional appropriation or 
otherwise, measures by which an affected taxing unit will receive 
federal funds in amounts sufficient to meet the cost of complying 
with or implementing the federal mandate.
	(c)  In the first year in which a taxing unit adopts a tax 
rate after the year in which an unfunded federal mandate or a local 
measure mandate first applies to the taxing unit, the effective tax 
rate and the rollback tax rate for the taxing unit are increased by 
the rate that, if applied to current total value, would impose an 
amount of taxes equal to the amount the taxing unit is required to 
spend to comply with or implement the mandate in that year.
	(d)  In each subsequent year that the taxing unit adopts a 
tax rate, if the amount the taxing unit is required to spend to 
comply with or implement the unfunded federal mandate or the local 
measure mandate is greater than the amount required to be spent for 
the mandate in the preceding year, the effective tax rate and the 
rollback tax rate for the taxing unit are increased by the rate 
that, if applied to current total value, would impose an amount of 
taxes equal to the increase in the amount required to be spent for 
the mandate in that year.
	(e)  A taxing unit shall include a notice of an increase in 
the effective tax rate and the rollback tax rate made as provided by 
this section, including a description of and the estimated amount 
of the unfunded federal mandate or the local measure mandate, in the 
information published under Sections 26.04(e) and 26.06(b).
	SECTION 2.  This Act takes effect immediately if it receives 
a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as 
provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution.  If this 
Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this 
Act takes effect on the 91st day after the last day of the 
legislative session.