By: Duncan S.B. No. 556
(In the Senate - Filed February 18, 2003; February 24, 2003,
read first time and referred to Committee on Intergovernmental
Relations; April 3, 2003, reported favorably by the following
vote: Yeas 5, Nays 0; April 3, 2003, sent to printer.)
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the powers and duties of the Hardeman County Hospital
District.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 4, Chapter 214, Acts of the 66th
Legislature, Regular Session, 1979, is amended by amending
Subsection (a) and adding Subsection (j) to read as follows:
(a) The board shall manage, control, and administer the
hospital system and all funds and resources of the district. The
board shall invest[, but in no event shall] any operating,
depreciation, or building reserves [be invested] in accordance with
Chapter 2256, Government Code [any funds or securities other than
those specified in Article 836 or 837, Revised Statutes]. The
district through its board may sue and be sued and may promulgate
rules governing the operation of the hospital, hospital system, its
staff, and its employees. The board may appoint qualified persons
as administrator of the hospital district, attorney for the
district, and assistant to the administrator. The administrator,
the attorney, and the assistant administrator, if any, shall serve
at the will of the board and shall receive the compensation
determined by the board. The administrator may, on assuming his or
her duties, execute a bond payable to the hospital district in an
amount to be set by the board, in no event less than $5,000,
conditioned that he or she shall perform the duties required of him
or her and containing such other conditions as the board may
require. The board may pay for the bond with district funds. The
administrator shall supervise all the work and activities of the
district and shall have general direction of the affairs of the
district, subject to the limitations as may be prescribed by the
board. The board may appoint to the staff doctors it may deem
necessary for the efficient operation of the district and may
provide for temporary appointments to the staff if warranted by
circumstances. The board may delegate to the administrator the
authority to employ technicians, nurses, and employees of the
district.
(j) The district may sponsor and create a nonprofit
corporation under the Texas Non-Profit Corporation Act (Article
1396-1.01 et seq., Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes) and may
contribute funds to or solicit funds on behalf of the corporation.
The corporation may use district funds only to provide health care
or other services the district is authorized to provide under this
Act. The board shall establish adequate controls to ensure that the
corporation uses its funds in accordance with this subsection. The
corporation may invest corporation funds in any manner that the
district may invest funds, including investments authorized under
Chapter 2256, Government Code.
SECTION 2. Section 6, Chapter 214, Acts of the 66th
Legislature, Regular Session, 1979, is amended to read as follows:
Sec. 6. GENERAL OBLIGATION BONDS. (a) The board may issue
and sell its bonds in the name and on the faith and credit of the
hospital district for any purpose related to the purchase,
construction, acquisition, repair, and renovation of buildings and
improvements and equipping the same for hospital purposes. At the
time of the issuance of any bonds payable from taxation, a tax shall
be levied by the board sufficient to create an interest and sinking
fund to pay the interest on and principal of the bonds as they
mature, providing that the tax together with any other taxes levied
for the district shall not exceed the limit approved by the voters
at the election authorizing the levy of taxes. No bonds may be
issued by the hospital district except refunding bonds until
authorized by a majority of the qualified electors of the district.
Section 41.001(a) [The board, in ordering a bond election, shall
specify the date of the election, the amount of bonds to be
authorized, the maximum maturity of the bonds, the place or places
where the election will be held, and the presiding judge and
alternate judge for each voting place and shall provide for clerks
as in county elections. Chapter 41], Election Code, does not apply
to a bond election ordered by the board. A [Notice of any] bond
election shall be [given as provided in Article 704, Revised
Statutes, and the election shall be] conducted in accordance with
Chapter 1251, Government [the Election] Code, except as otherwise
provided by [modified by the provisions of] this Act. [The board
shall canvass the returns and declare the results.]
(b) Refunding bonds of the district may be issued for the
purpose of refunding and paying off any outstanding indebtedness it
has issued or assumed. The refunding bonds may be sold and the
proceeds applied to the payment of outstanding indebtedness or may
be exchanged in whole or in part for not less than a similar
principal amount of outstanding indebtedness. [If the refunding
bonds are to be sold and the proceeds applied to the payment of any
outstanding indebtedness, the refunding bonds shall be issued and
payments made in the manner specified by Chapter 503, Acts of the
54th Legislature, 1955, as amended (Article 717k, Vernon's Texas
Civil Statutes).] Refunding bonds shall be issued in accordance
[conformity] with Chapter 1207, Government Code [784, Acts of the
61st Legislature, Regular Session, 1969 (Article 717k-3, Vernon's
Texas Civil Statutes)].
(c) Bonds of the district shall mature within 40 years of
their date, shall be executed in the name of the hospital district
and in its behalf by the president of the board, shall be
countersigned by the secretary in the manner provided by Chapter
618, Government Code [204, Acts of the 57th Legislature, Regular
Session, 1961, as amended (Article 717j-1, Vernon's Texas Civil
Statutes)], shall bear interest at a rate not to exceed that
prescribed by Chapter 1204, Government Code [3, Acts of the 61st
Legislature, Regular Session, 1969, as amended (Article 717k-2,
Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes)], and shall be subject to the same
requirements in the manner of approval by the attorney general and
registration by the comptroller of public accounts as are by law
provided for approval and registration of bonds issued by counties.
On the approval of the bonds by the attorney general and
registration by the comptroller, the bonds shall be incontestable
for any cause.
SECTION 3. Chapter 214, Acts of the 66th Legislature,
Regular Session, 1979, is amended by adding Sections 8A and 8B to
read as follows:
Sec. 8A. ADDITIONAL MEANS OF SECURING REPAYMENT OF BONDS.
In addition to the power to issue bonds payable solely from and
secured by taxes imposed by the district as authorized by Section 6
of this Act and the power to issue bonds payable from and secured by
revenues and other sources as authorized by Section 8 of this Act,
the board may provide for the security and payment of district bonds
from a pledge of a combination of ad valorem taxes, as authorized by
Section 6 of this Act, and the revenues and other sources authorized
by Section 8 of this Act. Bonds, other than refunding bonds, that
the board proposes to secure wholly or partly by an ad valorem tax
must be approved at an election held in the district in accordance
with Section 6 of this Act.
Sec. 8B. USE OF CERTAIN PROCEEDS; PAYMENT OF EXPENSES.
(a) The district may use the proceeds of bonds described by
Section 6, 8, or 8A of this Act to pay:
(1) any expense the board determines is reasonable and
necessary to effect the issuance, sale, and delivery of the bonds;
(2) interest payments on the bonds during a period of
acquisition or construction of a project or facility to be provided
through the bonds;
(3) costs related to the operation and maintenance of
a project or facility to be provided through the bonds during an
estimated period of acquisition or construction and for one year
after the project or facility is acquired or constructed;
(4) costs related to the financing of the bond funds,
including debt service reserve and contingency funds;
(5) costs related to the issuance of the bonds;
(6) costs related to the acquisition of land or
interests in land for a project or facility to be provided through
the bonds; and
(7) costs of construction of a project or facility to
be provided through the bonds, including the payment of related
professional services and expenses.
(b) A "period of acquisition or construction," as that term
is used in Subsection (a) of this section, may not exceed five
years.
SECTION 4. Subsection (b), Section 9, Chapter 214, Acts of
the 66th Legislature, Regular Session, 1979, is amended to read as
follows:
(b) The board may prescribe the method and manner of making
purchases and expenditures by and for the hospital district and may
prescribe all accounting and control procedures. A contract
[Contracts] for construction that requires expenditures in excess
of the amount prescribed by Section 271.024, Local Government Code,
[involving the expenditure of more than $15,000] may be made only
after competitive bidding [advertising] as provided by Subchapter
B, Chapter 271, Local Government Code. The provisions of Chapter
2253, Government Code, relating to performance and payment bonds
shall apply to construction contracts let by the district. The
district may acquire equipment for use in its hospital system and
mortgage or pledge the property acquired as security for the
payment of the purchase price. Except as permitted in the preceding
sentence and Sections 6, 7, and 8 of this Act, the district may
incur no obligation payable from revenues of the district, tax or
otherwise, except those on hand or to be on hand within the then
current and following fiscal years of the district.
SECTION 5. Chapter 214, Acts of the 66th Legislature,
Regular Session, 1979, is amended by adding Section 14B to read as
follows:
Sec. 14B. VALIDATION; REFUNDING OF VALIDATED OBLIGATIONS.
(a) The following are validated in all respects as though they
were originally and duly authorized, issued, accomplished,
validated, ratified, approved, and confirmed:
(1) all proceedings, resolutions, orders, and other
acts or attempted acts of the district before the effective date of
this section that relate to the issuance of notes, warrants, and
other obligations evidencing borrowings of the district;
(2) all proceedings of the district before the
effective date of this section authorizing the issuance, execution,
and delivery of notes, warrants, and other obligations evidencing
borrowings of the district; and
(3) all notes, warrants, and other obligations issued
before the effective date of this section evidencing borrowings of
the district.
(b) Notes, warrants, and other obligations evidencing
borrowings of the district that are validated under this section
may be refunded by refunding bonds payable from and secured by a
source authorized by Section 6, 8, or 8A of this Act. Refunding
bonds must be issued in accordance with Chapter 1207, Government
Code, and must mature not later than the 40th anniversary of the
date of issuance.
SECTION 6. 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 September 1, 2003.
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