By: Menéndez  S.B. No. 1794
         (In the Senate - Filed March 7, 2023; March 20, 2023, read
  first time and referred to Committee on Local Government;
  April 24, 2023, reported favorably by the following vote:  Yeas 8,
  Nays 0; April 24, 2023, sent to printer.)
Click here to see the committee vote
 
 
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 
AN ACT
 
  relating to conditions imposed on an emergency services district
  that includes territory in the extraterritorial jurisdiction of
  certain municipalities.
         BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
         SECTION 1.  Section 775.014(i), Health and Safety Code, is
  amended to read as follows:
         (i)  If a [A] request [submitted] under this section is
  submitted to a municipality that has a population of more than one
  million and the majority of the territory inside the municipality's
  corporate boundaries is located inside a county with a population
  of less than 2.1 million, the request [described by Subsection (h)]
  must include:
               (1)  a copy of the petition submitted under Section
  775.015; and
               (2)  a sufficient legal description of the portion of
  the municipality and its extraterritorial jurisdiction that would
  be included in the district territory.
         SECTION 2.  Section 775.016(c), Health and Safety Code, is
  amended to read as follows:
         (c)  The commissioners court has exclusive jurisdiction to
  determine each issue relating to the creation of the district[,
  including any matters negotiated with a consenting municipality
  under Section 775.014(h),] and may issue incidental orders it
  considers proper in relation to the issues before the commissioners
  court. The commissioners court may adjourn the hearing as
  necessary.
         SECTION 3.  Section 775.017(a), Health and Safety Code, is
  amended to read as follows:
         (a)  If after the hearing the commissioners court finds that
  creation of the district is feasible and will promote the public
  safety, welfare, health, and convenience of persons residing in the
  proposed district, the commissioners court shall grant the petition
  and[,] fix the district's boundaries[, and impose any conditions
  negotiated under Section 775.014(h)]. If the proposed district,
  according to its boundaries stated in the petition, is located
  wholly in a county with a population of more than 3.3 million, the
  commissioners court may amend the petition to change the boundaries
  of the proposed district if the commissioners court finds the
  change is necessary or desirable. For the purposes of this
  provision, the population of the county is determined according to
  the most recent federal decennial census available at the time the
  petition is filed.
         SECTION 4.  Section 775.018(a), Health and Safety Code, is
  amended to read as follows:
         (a)  On the granting of a petition, the commissioners court
  shall order an election to confirm the district's creation and
  authorize the imposition of a tax not to exceed the rate allowed by
  Section 48-e, Article III, Texas Constitution. [Any conditions
  negotiated under Section 775.014(h) must be included on the
  ballot.]
         SECTION 5.  Section 775.019(b), Health and Safety Code, is
  amended to read as follows:
         (b)  A district may not include territory in a municipality's
  limits or extraterritorial jurisdiction unless a majority of the
  voters residing in that territory who vote at the election vote in
  favor of creating the district [subject to any conditions
  negotiated under Section 775.014(h)] and imposing a tax. The
  exclusion of that territory does not affect the creation of a
  district that includes the remainder of the proposed territory if
  the commissioners court's findings under Section 775.017 are
  favorable to the district's creation.
         SECTION 6.  Section 775.022(g), Health and Safety Code, is
  amended to read as follows:
         (g)  The amount of compensation under Subsection (c) shall be
  determined under Subsection (e) regardless of whether Subsection
  (e-1) would yield a greater amount if:
               (1)  the municipality has a population of more than one
  million and the majority of the territory inside the municipality's
  corporate boundaries is located inside a county with a population
  of less than 2.1 million [is a municipality described by Section
  775.014(h)]; and
               (2)  the municipality and the district enter into an
  agreement on or before September 1, 2019, regarding the district's
  bonded and other indebtedness.
         SECTION 7.  The following sections of the Health and Safety
  Code are repealed:
               (1)  Section 775.014(h);
               (2)  Section 775.019(f); and
               (3)  Section 775.031(e).
         SECTION 8.  Any conditions that were negotiated by the
  governing body of a municipality and the commissioners court of a
  county under Section 775.014(h), Health and Safety Code, as that
  section existed immediately before the effective date of this Act,
  are terminated and have no effect.
         SECTION 9.  The changes in law made by this Act do not affect
  the validity or enforceability of a contract that was entered into
  by the board of emergency services commissioners of an emergency
  services district before the effective date of this Act.
         SECTION 10.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2023.
 
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