By:  Kuempel                                                      H.B. No. 2917



A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to the collection and expenditure of county fees for child 
safety. 
	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:                        
	SECTION 1.  Subchapter D, Chapter 502, Texas Transportation 
Code, is amended to read as follows:
	Sec. 502.173.  OPTIONAL COUNTY FEE FOR CHILD SAFETY.  (a)  
The commissioners court of a county that has a population of 75,000 
or greater [than 1.3 million and in which a municipality with a 
population of more than one million is primarily located] may 
impose by order an additional fee of not less than 50 cents or more 
than $1.50 for registering a vehicle in the county.  The 
commissioners court of [any other] a county that has a population of 
less than 75,000 may impose by order an additional fee of not more 
than $1.50 for registering a vehicle in the county.
	(b)  A vehicle that may be registered under this chapter 
without payment of a registration fee may be registered in a county 
imposing a fee under this section without payment of the additional 
fee.
	(c)  A fee imposed under this section may take effect only on 
January 1 of a year.  The county must adopt the order and notify the 
department not later than September 10 of the year preceding the 
year in which the fee takes effect.
	(d)  In counties with a population of 75,000 or greater, a 
fee imposed under this section may be reduced to not less than 50 
cents or increased to not more than $1.50 for registering a vehicle 
in the county.  A county may reduce or increase the fee only by:
		(1)  amending the order imposing the fee; and                          
		(2)  notifying the department not later than September 
1 of the year preceding the year in which the reduction or increase 
takes effect.
	[(d)] (e)  A fee imposed under this section may be removed.  
The removal may take effect only on January 1 of a year.  A county 
may remove the fee only by:
		(1)  rescinding the order imposing the fee; and                               
		(2)  notifying the department not later than September 
1 of the year preceding the year in which the removal takes effect.
	[(e)] (f)  The county assessor-collector of a county 
imposing a fee under this section shall collect the additional fee 
for a vehicle when other fees imposed under this chapter are 
collected.
	[(f)] (g)  A county imposing a fee under this section may 
deduct for administrative costs an amount of not more than 10 
percent of the revenue it receives from the fee.  The county may 
also deduct from the fee revenue an amount proportional to the 
percentage of county residents who live in unincorporated areas of 
the county.  After making the deductions provided for by this 
subsection, the county shall send the remainder of the fee revenue 
to the municipalities in the county according to their population.
	[(g)] (h)  A municipality with a population greater than 
850,000 shall deposit revenue from a fee imposed under this 
subsection to the credit of the child safety trust fund created 
under Section 106.001, Local Government Code. A municipality with a 
population less than 850,000 shall use revenue from a fee imposed 
under this section in accordance with Subsection (f), Article 
102.014, Code of Criminal Procedure.
	[(h)] (i)  After deducting administrative costs, a county 
may use revenue from a fee imposed under this section only for a 
purpose permitted by Subsection (g), Article 102.014, Code of 
Criminal Procedure.
	SECTION 2.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2005.