BILL ANALYSIS

 

 

Senate Research Center                                                                                               C.S.S.B. 1537

80R15436 ATP-D                                                                                                              By: Fraser

                                                                                                               Intergovernmental Relations

                                                                                                                                            4/20/2007

                                                                                                        Committee Report (Substituted)

 

 

AUTHOR'S / SPONSOR'S STATEMENT OF INTENT

 

Section 42.022(b) (regarding expansion of extraterritorial jurisdiction), Local Government Code, authorizes property owners to request their property to be included in a city's extraterritorial jurisdiction.  This provision has created additional administrative paperwork for various municipalities and, in some instances, has created an extraterritorial jurisdiction made up of a patchwork of land. 

 

Section 43.024 (Authority of Type A General-Law Municipality to Annex Area on Request of Area Voters), Local Government Code, establishes a mechanism for a group of property owners to vote to be annexed by a municipality.  Under this mechanism, if a majority of the qualified voters of the area vote in favor of becoming a part of the municipality, any three of those voters are authorized to prepare an affidavit to the vote and file the petition with the request with the municipality, which is then authorized to take action on annexing the area as a whole.  Such a mechanism provides property owners with more options to be included in a municipality's extraterritorial jurisdiction and can reduce the administrative work for municipalities.

 

C.S.S.B. 1537 creates a similar mechanism for inclusion of an area in a municipality's extraterritorial jurisdiction.  This mechanism requires a majority of the qualified voters of the area to vote in favor of becoming part of the extraterritorial jurisdiction and requires an affidavit prepared by three voters to be filed with the municipality.  At that time, the governing body of the municipality is authorized to take action to include the entire area in its extraterritorial jurisdiction. 

 

RULEMAKING AUTHORITY

 

This bill does not expressly grant any additional rulemaking authority to a state officer, institution, or agency.

 

SECTION BY SECTION ANALYSIS

 

SECTION 1.  Amends Subchapter B, Chapter 42, Local Government Code, by adding Section 42.027, as follows:

 

Sec. 42.027.  AUTHORITY OF GENERAL-LAW MUNICIPALITY TO INCLUDE AREA IN EXTRATERRITORIAL JURISDICTION ON REQUEST OF AREA PROPERTY OWNERS.  (a)  Provides that this section applies only to a general-law municipality that has an extraterritorial jurisdiction of more than one mile at any point contiguous to the municipality's corporate boundaries.

 

(b)  Authorizes any three property owners, if a majority of the property owners of an area contiguous to the municipality's extraterritorial jurisdiction of a general-law municipality vote in favor of becoming a part of the municipality's extraterritorial jurisdiction, to prepare an affidavit regarding the petition and file the affidavit, with a metes and bounds description of the area attached, with the presiding officer of the governing body of the municipality.

 

(c)  Requires the presiding officer of the governing body of the municipality to certify the filed affidavit, with a metes and bounds description of the area attached, to the governing body of the municipality.  Authorizes the governing body, on receipt of the certified affidavit, with a metes and bounds description of the area attached, by ordinance to include the described area in the municipality's extraterritorial jurisdiction.

 

(d)  Provides that, on the effective date of the ordinance, the area becomes a part of the municipality's extraterritorial jurisdiction and the inhabitants of the area are bound by the acts and ordinances adopted by the municipality that apply to the municipality's extraterritorial jurisdiction.

 

SECTION 2.  Effective date: September 1, 2007.