79R6960 JRJ-D
By: Luna H.B. No. 2221
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to extending the boundaries of a junior college district
to include territory in the district's service area.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Subchapter D, Chapter 130, Education Code, is
amended by adding Section 130.0661 to read as follows:
Sec. 130.0661. EXTENDING BOUNDARIES OF JUNIOR COLLEGE
DISTRICT IN DISTRICT'S SERVICE AREA. (a) The governing board of a
junior college district may order an election on the question of
establishing expanded boundaries for the junior college district to
encompass all of the territory located within the district's
service area established by Subchapter J, other than territory
located in the service area of another junior college district, if:
(1) more than 25 percent of the total number of
students who enrolled in the junior college district in the most
recent academic year resided outside of the existing junior college
district; or
(2) a petition requesting that the territory be added
to the junior college district signed by 50 registered voters in the
territory to be added or by a number of those registered voters
equal to at least five percent of the number of registered voters in
that territory as of the most recent general election for state and
county officers, whichever number is less, is presented to the
governing board of the junior college district.
(b) The governing board of a junior college district may
order an election on the question of establishing expanded
boundaries for the junior college district to encompass part of the
territory located within the district's service area established by
Subchapter J, other than territory located in the service area of
another junior college district, if:
(1) more than 15 percent of the high school graduates
for the preceding five academic years in the territory proposed to
be added to the district have enrolled in the junior college
district; or
(2) a petition requesting that the territory be added
to the junior college district signed by a number of registered
voters in the territory to be added equal to at least five percent
of the number of registered voters in that territory as of the most
recent general election for state and county officers is presented
to the governing board of the junior college district.
(c) Territory may be added to a junior college district as
provided by this section only if the territory is located wholly
within a single school district or municipality. This subsection
does not prohibit a junior college district from conducting
elections or other procedures for the purpose of establishing
expanded boundaries for the junior college district for more than
one territory at the same time.
(d) Before the governing board of the junior college
district may order an election under this section, the board must
hold a public hearing within the territory proposed to be added.
The hearing must be held not earlier than the 45th day and not later
than the 30th day before the date the board issues the order for the
election.
(e) Not later than the 30th day before the date of a public
hearing held under Subsection (d), the governing board shall
complete and publish a service plan for the territory proposed to be
added. The service plan must include:
(1) the maximum property tax rate that the board may
adopt;
(2) the most recent property tax rate adopted by the
board and any tax rate increase proposed or anticipated to occur
after the addition;
(3) the tuition rate that would apply after the
addition for a student who resides in the district;
(4) plans for providing educational services in the
territory, including proposed or contemplated campus and facility
expansion in the territory;
(5) plans for cooperation with local workforce
agencies; and
(6) any other elements consistent with this subchapter
prescribed by rule of the Texas Higher Education Coordinating
Board.
(f) The election shall be held in the combined territory of
the junior college district and any territory proposed to be added.
The order must:
(1) describe the entire territory proposed to be
included in the new boundaries of the district; and
(2) set a date for the election, which must be the next
uniform election date that is more than 65 days after the date of
the order and that affords enough time to hold the election in the
manner provided by law.
(g) The ballot for the election shall be printed to provide
for voting for or against the proposition: "Establishing expanded
boundaries for the ______________ (with the blank filled in with
the name of the junior college district) as
follows:_________________ (with the blank filled in with a
description of the entire territory that will be included in the
expanded district if the proposition is approved)."
(h) The proposition is adopted if approved by a majority of
the votes cast at the election.
(i) If the proposition is adopted, the governing board of
the junior college district shall enter an order stating that the
new boundaries are established for the district for junior college
purposes.
(j) If the proposition is adopted and the governing board is
elected from single-member districts, the governing board in the
order entered under Subsection (i) shall assign the new territory
to one or more of the current single-member districts. The
governing board shall divide the territory of the expanded junior
college district into the appropriate number of single-member
districts before the next election for members of the governing
board.
(k) The addition of territory to a junior college district
under this section and any resulting change in the single-member
districts from which members of the governing board are elected
does not affect the term of a member of the governing board serving
on the date the addition or redistricting takes effect. The
governing board shall provide that each member of the governing
board representing a single-member district who is holding office
on the date the addition takes effect serve the remainder of the
member's term and represent a single-member district in the
expanded junior college district for that term regardless of
whether the member resides in that single-member district.
(l) A junior college district may not adopt new boundaries
for the district under this section that extend within the service
area of another junior college district.
(m) If the proposition to establish new boundaries for the
junior college district is not adopted at the election, another
election to extend the boundaries of the same junior college
district may not be held under this section earlier than the fifth
anniversary of the date of the election on the proposition.
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 September 1, 2005.