AUTHOR'S / SPONSOR'S STATEMENT OF INTENT

 

Current law requires that notice of the date, time, and place that certain commissioners courts (those in counties near an international border) will consider an application to revise a subdivision plat be published three times in a newspaper of general circulation in a county.  Furthermore, certain landowners must be provided notice of the meeting by certified or registered mail.  In most cases, the cost of publication and mailing exceeds the plat process fee as set by order of the commissioners court.  This bill addresses this issue by enabling affected counties to recoup the costs for these publication requirements.

 

S.B. 744 authorizes the commissioners court of a local government to recoup the costs for an application under this section.  The bill requires the amount of the charge to be based on the cost of processing the application, including publishing any required notices.

 

As proposed, S.B. 744 amends current law relating to a fee for an application filed with a county commissioners court to revise a subdivision plat.

 

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 Section 232.041, Local Government Code, by adding Subsection (e), as follows:

 

(e) Authorizes the commissioners court to impose a fee for filing an application under this section.  Requires that the amount of the fee be based on the cost of processing the application, including publishing the notices required under Subsection (b) (relating to the required published notice to revise a subdivision plat).

 

SECTION 2.  Makes application of this Act prospective.

 

SECTION 3.  Effective date: upon passage or September 1, 2011.