By: Coleman H.B. No. 3731
 
 
 
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 
AN ACT
  relating to the creation of and sales and use taxes imposed by
  county assistance districts.
         BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
         SECTION 1.  Section 387.003, Local Government Code, is
  amended to read as follows:
         Sec. 387.003.  CREATION AND FUNCTIONS OF DISTRICT. (a)  The
  commissioners court of a [the] county may create by order [call an
  election on the question of creating] a county assistance district
  under this chapter to perform the following functions in the
  district:
               (1)  the construction, maintenance, or improvement of
  roads or highways;
               (2)  the provision of law enforcement and detention
  services;
               (3)  the maintenance or improvement of libraries,
  museums, parks, or other recreational facilities;
               (4)  the provision of services that benefit the public
  health or welfare, including the provision of firefighting and fire
  prevention services; or
               (5)  the promotion of economic development and tourism.
         (b)  Before the commissioners court of a county may create a
  county assistance district under this chapter, the commissioners
  court shall conduct two public hearings at which members of the
  public who wish to present testimony or evidence regarding the
  proposed district shall be given the opportunity to do so.  Notice
  of the public hearing shall be provided by the county in the same
  manner as notice of a hearing is provided by a municipality under
  Section 43.0751(d).  The notice [The order calling the election]
  must[:
               [(1)] define the boundaries of the district to include
  any portion of the county in which the combined tax rate of all
  local sales and use taxes imposed, including the rate to be imposed
  by the district if approved [at the election], would not exceed two
  percent.  The notice must state that a sales and use tax shall be
  imposed for the purpose of financing the district and shall state
  the rate of the tax[; and
               [(2)     call for the election to be held within those
  boundaries].
         (b-1)  If the proposed district includes any territory of a
  municipality, the commissioners court shall send notice by
  certified mail to the governing body of the municipality of the
  commissioners court's intent to create the district.  If the
  municipality has created a development corporation under Section 4A
  or 4B, Development Corporation Act of 1979 (Article 5190.6,
  Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes), the commissioners court shall also
  send the notice to the board of directors of the corporation.  The
  commissioners court must send the notice not later than the 60th day
  before the date the commissioners court enters the order creating
  the district [orders the election].  The governing body of the
  municipality may exclude the territory of the municipality from the
  proposed district by sending notice by certified mail to the
  commissioners court of the governing body's desire to exclude the
  municipal territory from the district.  The governing body must
  send the notice not later than the 45th day after the date the
  governing body receives notice from the commissioners court under
  this subsection.  The territory of a municipality that is excluded
  under this subsection may subsequently be included in the district
  [in an election held under Subsection (f)] with the consent of the
  municipality.
         [(c)     The ballot at the election must be printed to permit
  voting for or against the proposition: "Authorizing the creation
  of the ____ County Assistance District (insert name of district)
  and the imposition of a sales and use tax at the rate of ____ of one
  percent (insert one-eighth, one-fourth, three-eighths, or
  one-half, as appropriate) for the purpose of financing the
  operations of the district."
         [(d)     The district is created if a majority of the votes
  received at the election favor the creation of the district.
         [(e)     If a majority of the votes received at the election are
  against the creation of the district, another election on the
  question of creating a county assistance district may not be held in
  the county before the first anniversary of the most recent election
  concerning the creation of a district.
         [(f)     The commissioners court may call an election to be held
  in an area of the county that is not located in a district created
  under this section to determine whether the area should be included
  in the district and whether the district's sales and use tax should
  be imposed in the area.     An election may not be held in an area in
  which the combined tax rate of all local sales and use taxes
  imposed, including the rate to be imposed by the district if
  approved at the election, would exceed two percent.
         [(g)     The area in which an election is held under Subsection
  (f) is included in the district and the sales and use tax is imposed
  if a majority of the votes received at the election favor inclusion
  in the district and imposition of the sales and use tax.
         [(h)     If more than one election to authorize a local sales
  and use tax is held on the same day in the area of a proposed
  district or an area proposed to be added to a district and if the
  resulting approval by the voters would cause the imposition of a
  local sales and use tax in any area to exceed two percent, only a tax
  authorized at an election under this section may be imposed.]
         SECTION 2.  Subsection (a), Section 387.007, Local
  Government Code, is amended to read as follows:
         (a)  A district by order may impose a sales and use tax under
  this chapter to finance the operations of the district [only if the
  tax is approved at an election held under Section 387.003].
         SECTION 3.  Subsection (a), Section 387.010, Local
  Government Code, is amended to read as follows:
         (a)  A district that has adopted a sales and use tax under
  this chapter may, by order and subject to Section 387.007(b),
  change the rate of the tax or repeal the tax [if the change or repeal
  is approved by a majority of the votes received in the district at
  an election held for that purpose].
         SECTION 4.  Subsection (a), Section 387.011, Local
  Government Code, is amended to read as follows:
         (a)  If the district adopts the tax by order as provided by
  Section 387.007, a tax is imposed on the receipts from the sale at
  retail of taxable items in the district at the rate imposed by the
  order [approved at the election].
         SECTION 5.  Section 387.012, Local Government Code, is
  amended to read as follows:
         Sec. 387.012.  EFFECTIVE DATE OF TAX. The adoption of the
  tax, the change of the tax rate, or the repeal of the tax takes
  effect on the first day of the first calendar quarter occurring
  after the expiration of the first complete quarter occurring after
  the date the comptroller receives a notice of the order [results of
  the election] adopting, changing, or repealing the tax.
         SECTION 6.  Subsections (c) and (d), Section 387.010, Local
  Government Code, are repealed.
         SECTION 7.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2009.