By: Watson S.B. No. 579
 
 
 
   
 
 
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 
AN ACT
  relating to optional fees on registration of vehicles in certain
  counties to fund transportation projects; authorizing a fee.
         BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
         SECTION 1.  Section 502.402(a), Transportation Code, as
  amended by Chapters 1273 (H.B. 1198) and 1277 (H.B. 1573), Acts of
  the 83rd Legislature, Regular Session, 2013, is reenacted to read
  as follows:
         (a)  This section applies only to:
               (1)  a county that:
                     (A)  borders the United Mexican States; and
                     (B)  has a population of more than 250,000; and
               (2)  a county that has a population of more than 1.5
  million that is coterminous with a regional mobility authority.
         SECTION 2.  Subchapter H, Chapter 502, Transportation Code,
  is amended by adding Section 502.406 to read as follows:
         Sec. 502.406.  OPTIONAL COUNTY FEE FOR PROJECTS OF REGIONAL
  MOBILITY AUTHORITIES.  (a)  This section applies only to the most
  populous county that is part of a regional mobility authority
  created under Chapter 370 with at least two counties, at least one
  of which has a population of more than one million.
         (b)  The commissioners court of a county by order may impose
  an additional fee for a vehicle registered in the county. Except as
  provided by Subsection (c), the fee may not exceed $10.
         (c)  The commissioners court of a county may increase the
  additional fee to $20 adjusted annually to reflect the percentage
  change during the preceding year in the construction cost index if
  approved by a majority of the qualified voters of the county voting
  on the issue at a referendum election, which the commissioners
  court may order and hold for that purpose. The ballot language must
  clearly state that the fee will increase annually in accordance
  with the construction cost index. For purposes of this subsection,
  the "construction cost index" means the most recent construction
  cost index published by Engineering News-Record as a measure of
  inflation or, if the construction cost index is not published,
  another similar index chosen by the commissioners court.
         (d)  A vehicle that may be registered under this chapter
  without payment of a registration fee may be registered under this
  section without payment of the additional fee.
         (e)  A fee imposed under this section may take effect and be
  removed in accordance with the requirements of Section 502.401.
         (f)  The additional fee shall be collected for a vehicle when
  other fees imposed under this chapter are collected. The fee
  revenue collected shall be sent to the regional mobility authority
  in which the county is located to fund transportation projects that
  are consistent with the purposes specified by Section 7-a, Article
  VIII, Texas Constitution. Notwithstanding Section 370.251(i),
  before a county may impose a fee under this section, a regional
  mobility authority which is to receive fees from a county pursuant
  to this section must enter into an agreement with the county that
  identifies, or provides a process for identifying, transportation
  projects which will be funded by fee revenue.  The agreement must be
  approved by the county commissioners court, the board of directors
  of the regional mobility authority, and a majority of the board
  members of the regional mobility authority who were appointed by
  the county which adopted or approved the fee.
         (g)  Additional fees adopted by a county pursuant to this
  section may only be used by the regional mobility authority for
  projects located in the unincorporated and incorporated portions of
  the county that adopted the fee, unless, in the agreement required
  by Subsection (f), the county commissioners court and the regional
  mobility authority make findings that:
               (1)  a project located wholly or partly within another
  county will improve the safety and mobility of residents located
  within the county that adopted the fee; and
               (2)  the development of the transportation project will
  serve a public purpose.
         (h)  The department shall adopt rules necessary to
  administer registration for a vehicle being registered in a county
  imposing a fee under this section.
         SECTION 3.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2015.