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Amend CSSB 855, in SECTION 1 of the bill, in Chapter 446,
Local Government Code, by adding Subchapter G to read as follows:
SUBCHAPTER G. SOUTH TEXAS REGION
Sec. 446.301. APPLICABILITY OF SUBCHAPTER. This subchapter
applies only to a county that has a population of more than 325,000
and that is located adjacent to:
(1) an international border; and
(2) a county that has a population of more than
550,000.
Sec. 446.302. DEFINITION. In this subchapter, "mobility
improvement project" includes:
(1) sidewalks; and
(2) paths, lanes, ways, and trails for bicycling or
hiking and facilities related to such paths, lanes, ways, and
trails.
Sec. 446.303. PROJECT SELECTION AND BALLOT COMMITTEE. The
governing body of the regional mobility authority operating in a
county to which this subchapter applies shall establish a project
selection and ballot committee to prepare a ballot proposition and
related plans and information as required under this chapter. A
county's project selection and ballot committee must be established
before any local option election under this subchapter may be held
in the county.
Sec. 446.304. COMMITTEE MEMBERSHIP. (a) Each county
project selection and ballot committee is composed of 11 members
appointed by the governing body of the regional mobility authority
operating in the county as follows:
(1) two members who are elected county officials;
(2) two members who are elected officials of the most
populous municipality located in the county;
(3) six members who are elected officials of the next
six most populous municipalities located in the county; and
(4) one member who is a member of the governing board
of the transit or transportation authority with the largest service
area in the county.
(b) A vacancy in a committee shall be filled by appointment
by the regional mobility authority of an individual qualifying
under Subsection (a) in the same manner as the vacating member.
(c) A committee member is not entitled to compensation for
serving on the committee but is entitled to reimbursement for
actual and necessary expenses incurred in performing the official
duties of office.
(d) Appointments to a committee shall be made without regard
to the race, color, disability, sex, religion, age, or national
origin of the appointees.
(e) A committee must elect a chair from among its members
and may adopt rules for the conduct of its activities.
(f) At the discretion of the committee, employees of the
department, the county, or a municipality, regional metropolitan
planning organization, airport, or transit or transportation
authority located in the county may be asked to provide staff
support services to a committee.
(g) All meetings of a committee are open meetings. Notice
of committee meetings must be provided in accordance with Sections
551.041, 551.0411, 551.042, 551.043, and 551.049, Government Code,
as if the committee were a governmental body under that chapter.
(h) A project selection and ballot committee established
under this subchapter is abolished, and all the duties of the
committee expire, on the date the committee submits a final
recommended ballot under Section 446.307.
Sec. 446.305. SELECTION OF PROJECTS AND METHODS OF LOCAL
OPTION FUNDING. (a) A project selection and ballot committee, by
majority vote of its membership, shall:
(1) determine and propose each mobility improvement
project located in the county or benefiting the county;
(2) determine and propose one or more methods of local
option funding authorized by this chapter sufficient to fund each
mobility improvement project; and
(3) determine and propose an appropriate rate for each
proposed method of local option funding for the construction of
each mobility improvement project and a separate proposed rate for
each project's continued maintenance and operation, if applicable.
(b) In making the determinations required by Subsection
(a), the project selection and ballot committee must:
(1) consult with:
(A) the county;
(B) the metropolitan planning organization for
the region in which the county is located;
(C) the municipalities located in the county;
(D) the regional mobility authority created
under Chapter 370, Transportation Code, operating in the county;
(E) any transit or transportation authority
created or operating under Subtitle K, Title 6, Transportation
Code, that serves the county; and
(F) any commuter rail district operating wholly
or partially in the county;
(2) give first consideration to mobility improvement
projects of regional significance that complement or supplement the
regional transportation system; and
(3) consider the geographic location of other
state-funded or federally funded transportation projects and
mobility improvement projects so as to foster geographic equity in
the planning and development of regional projects.
Sec. 446.306. ADDITIONAL VEHICLE REGISTRATION FEE. (a) In
addition to the methods of local option funding authorized by
Subchapter B, a county project selection and ballot committee under
this subchapter may propose as a method of local option funding an
additional fee, not to exceed $45, for registering a vehicle in the
county.
(b) Notwithstanding any other provision of this chapter,
the county commissioners court shall by order allocate money
collected from the additional fee authorized by this section among
county funds used by the county for deposit of money collected under
Sections 502.172 and 502.1725, Transportation Code.
(c) A vehicle that may be registered under Chapter 502 or
504, Transportation Code, without payment of a registration fee may
be registered in the county without payment of the additional fee.
(d) A fee authorized by this section may take effect only on
January 1 of a year. The county must notify the department not
later than September 1 of the year preceding the year in which the
fee takes effect.
(e) A fee authorized by this section may be abolished if the
county commissioners court orders an election held in the county on
that issue and the abolition of the fee is approved by a majority of
voters of the county voting at the election. Abolition of the fee
may take effect only on January 1 of a year. The county must notify
the department not later than September 1 of the year preceding the
year in which the abolition takes effect.
(f) The county assessor-collector of a county imposing a fee
authorized by this section shall collect the fee for a vehicle when
other fees imposed under Chapter 502 or 504, Transportation Code,
are collected.
(g) The department shall collect the additional fee on a
vehicle that is owned by a resident of the county and that, under
Chapter 502 or 504, Transportation Code, must be registered
directly with the department. The department shall send all fees
collected for a county under this section to the county for deposit
as described by Subsection (b).
(h) The department shall adopt rules and develop forms
necessary to administer registration by mail for a vehicle being
registered in the county or a vehicle that is owned by a resident of
the county.
Sec. 446.307. FINAL RECOMMENDED BALLOT. (a) Before an
election may be held in a county under this subchapter, the county's
project selection and ballot committee must submit a final
recommended ballot to the county commissioners court that contains
the information described by Subsection (b).
(b) The final recommended ballot must:
(1) list each proposed mobility improvement project to
be funded;
(2) designate each proposed method of local option
funding and the proposed rate or amount to be used to fund capital
construction of each proposed mobility improvement project or group
of projects and, if applicable, designate a separate and
corresponding proposed rate or amount for the maintenance and
operation of each proposed project or group of projects;
(3) state the estimated date or dates on which each
proposed method of local option funding is expected to expire; and
(4) if applicable, list the estimated annual
maintenance and operation expenses for each proposed mobility
improvement project or group of projects for which a rate or amount
is proposed under Subdivision (2).
Sec. 446.308. COUNTY OPTION TO CALL ELECTION; PETITION
PROCESS. (a) On receiving a proposed ballot from a project
selection and ballot committee under Section 446.307, the county
commissioners court, after holding at least two public hearings
regarding the ballot, may by majority vote at a regularly held
public meeting of the commissioners court:
(1) order an election to be held on the issue of
authorizing the ballot; or
(2) reject the ballot.
(b) If the county commissioners court has not taken action
under Subsection (a)(1) or (2) on a proposed ballot within three
months of receiving the ballot under Section 446.307, the
commissioners court must order an election to be held on the next
uniform election date in November or May on the issue of authorizing
the ballot.
(c) If a county commissioners court rejects a proposed
ballot under Subsection (a)(2), the commissioners court must
nonetheless call an election to be held on the next uniform election
date in November or May on the issue of authorizing the ballot if
the commissioners court receives:
(1) a resolution requesting that the election be
called on the ballot as submitted by the project selection and
ballot committee that has been adopted by the governing bodies of at
least two municipalities that:
(A) are located partially or wholly in the
county; and
(B) contain at least 60 percent of the county's
total population; or
(2) a petition requesting that the election be called
on the ballot as submitted by the project selection and ballot
committee that is signed by a number of registered voters in the
county equal to at least 10 percent of the total number of votes
cast in the county for all candidates for governor in the most
recent gubernatorial general election.
(d) A county commissioners court may not amend in any way
the list of mobility improvement projects or methods of local
option funding contained in a proposed ballot submitted to the
commissioners court by a project selection and ballot committee.
(e) Before an election may be called under this subchapter,
the metropolitan planning organization for the region in which the
county calling the election is located must certify by majority
vote that the proposed mobility improvement projects included on
the proposed ballot are consistent with the organization's current
long-range transportation plan.
(f) An election called under this subchapter may only be
held on a uniform election date in November or May.
(g) An election under this subchapter may be called not more
than 120 days prior to election day.
Sec. 446.309. SUBSEQUENT ELECTIONS. (a) After initial
mobility improvement projects and methods of local option funding
are determined and an initial election is called under Sections
446.303-446.308, a regional mobility authority may establish a new
project selection and ballot committee to prepare a ballot
proposition for additional projects and funding, and additional
elections may be called, using the procedures described by those
sections.
(b) Notwithstanding Section 446.308, the commissioners
court of a county may not call an election under this subchapter
before the 11th month following an election previously called under
this subchapter.