BILL ANALYSIS

 

 

                                                                                                                                           H.B. 3834

                                                                                                                                       By: Gonzales

                                                                                                                                    County Affairs

                                                                                                       Committee Report (Unamended)

 

 

 

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE

 

Currently, Texas Law does not allow the fee that a county assesses for a utility certificate to exceed the amount of the fee imposed by the municipality for a subdivision located in the extraterritorial jurisdiction of the municipality. In order to prepare the necessary paperwork and the field verification, it often takes the county anywhere from 30 minutes to 2 hours to process the request for a utility clearance. Because in many cases the municipalities do not charge a fee, the law, as currently written, prevents the county from charging a fee.

 

H.B. 3834 would allow the amount of the county fee to be the greater of $30.00 or the amount of the fee imposed by the municipality. This will help to offset the costs incurred from processing the paperwork that is needed to issue a certificate.

 

 

RULEMAKING AUTHORITY

 

It is the committee's opinion that this bill does not expressly grant any additional rulemaking authority to a state officer, department, agency, or institution. 

 

 

ANALYSIS

 

H.B. 3834 authorizes the amount of a fee charged by certain defined counties for issuing utility certificates to be the greater of $30.00 or the fee imposed by the municipality.

 

 

EFFECTIVE DATE

 

Upon passage, or, if the Act does not receive the necessary vote, the Act takes effect September 1, 2007.