| TO: | Honorable David Dewhurst , Lieutenant Governor, Senate Honorable Tom Craddick, Speaker of the House, House of Representatives |
| FROM: | John Keel, Director, Legislative Budget Board |
| IN RE: | HB1702 by Taylor (Relating to the sale and subsequent lease of property by certain counties.), Conference Committee Report |
The bill would authorize counties with a population of more than 250,000 to sell land, buildings, facilities, or equipment for the purpose of making contracts for the lease, license or rental of land, buildings, facilities, or equipment or for receiving services from others for county purposes. The bill would take effect immediately if it receives a two-thirds vote in each house; otherwise, it would take effect September 1, 2003.
Under current statute, only counties with a population of more than 500,000 are authorized to use this form of financing mechanism. Provisions of the bill would authorize these additional counties to use this financing mechanism: Cameron, Collin, Denton, Fort Bend, Galveston, Jefferson, Montgomery, and Nueces.
It is assumed a county commissioners court would only take the actions authorized if doing so would be beneficial to the county and if this was the most cost-effective method for providing that benefit. According to the county auditor in Denton, there would be a savings, but it would not likely be significant.
| Source Agencies: |
| LBB Staff: | JK, SD, DLBa
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