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� H.B.�No.�492
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AN ACT
� relating to the removal, transfer, or exclusion of territory in
� emergency services districts.
� �������BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
� �������SECTION�1.��Chapter 775, Health and Safety Code, is amended
� by adding Subchapter H to read as follows:
� SUBCHAPTER H. CHANGE IN BOUNDARIES OF DISTRICT WITH PLANNED
� COMMUNITY
� �������Sec.�775.201.��DEFINITION. �In this subchapter, "planned
� community" means a planned community of 25,000 or more acres of land
� originally established under the Urban Growth and New Community
� Development Act of 1970 (42 U.S.C. Section 4501 et seq.) that is:
� �������������(1)��located wholly or partly in a county with a
� population of 2.8 million or more; and
� �������������(2)��subject to restrictive covenants containing ad
� valorem or annual variable budget-based assessments on real
� property for use in part to finance services of the same general
� type provided by the district.
� �������Sec.�775.202.��AGREEMENT ON BOUNDARIES WITH PROPERTY OWNERS
� IN PLANNED COMMUNITY. �(a) �After a hearing, a district located
� wholly in a county with a population of 2.8 million or more may
� exclude territory by making changes in the district's boundaries in
� accordance with an agreement among the district and the owners of
� two-thirds or more in acreage and two-thirds or more in taxable
� value, according to the most recent certified county property tax
� rolls, of a defined area of territory of a planned community.
� �������(b)��The agreement must be in writing and describe:
� �������������(1)��the affected territory by metes and bounds,
� including the changes in the boundaries to be made;
� �������������(2)��the amount of any compensation to be paid to the
� district under Section 775.205;
� �������������(3)��the effective date for the changes in boundaries;
� and
� �������������(4)��any other applicable terms.
� �������Sec.�775.203.��NOTICE OF HEARING. (a) The board secretary
� shall give notice of the hearing.
� �������(b)��The notice must contain the time and place for the
� hearing and a description of the territory proposed to be excluded.
� �������(c)��The secretary shall:
� �������������(1)��post copies of the notice for at least 15 days
� before the date of the hearing in three public places in the
� district, one of which must be in the territory proposed to be
� excluded; and
� �������������(2)��not later than the 16th day before the date on
� which the hearing is held, publish the notice once in a newspaper of
� general circulation in each county in which the excluded territory
� is located.
� �������Sec.�775.204.��ADOPTION OF AGREEMENT AND APPROVAL OF
� EXCLUSION. �After the hearing, if the board finds that the exclusion
� of the territory would be feasible and would benefit the district,
� the board shall by a resolution entered in its minutes:
� �������������(1)��adopt the agreement; and
� �������������(2)��approve the exclusion.
� �������Sec.�775.205.��EFFECT OF ADOPTION OF AGREEMENT AND APPROVAL
� OF EXCLUSION. (a) �After adoption and approval under Section
� 775.204, the district's tax on the property in the excluded
� territory continues until all agreed compensation has been paid in
� full.
� �������(b)��The district shall apply the compensation received
� under this section toward the payment of the obligations described
� by Subsection (c).
� �������(c)��The agreement must provide for the excluded territory to
� compensate the district in an amount equal to the excluded
� territory's pro rata share of the outstanding and unpaid bonds,
� warrants, or other direct and indirect obligations, including loans
� and lease-purchase agreements and written funding assistance
� agreements of the district and any not-for-profit fire departments
� and ambulance agencies or associations, for the financing and
� payment for firefighting, emergency medical service and emergency
� rescue equipment, fire and ambulance stations, or similar long-term
� capital assets to serve the district.
� �������(d)��The excluded territory's pro rata share is the unpaid
� principal balances of the outstanding loans and other obligations
� enumerated by Subsection (c) multiplied by a fraction, the
� numerator of which is the taxable value of the property in the
� excluded territory and the denominator of which is the taxable
� value of the entire district, including the excluded territory. The
� taxable value calculated under this subsection for property in the
� excluded territory, including as part of the entire district, does
� not include any special appraisal or exemptions for the property.
� �������(e)��The agreement to compensate the district does not
� include the following expenses incurred by the district after the
� boundaries change:
� �������������(1)��expenses for district operations and maintenance;
� and
� �������������(2)��expenses for district services.
� �������(f)��The agreement to compensate the district is required
� regardless of whether the loans and other obligations are subject
� to non-appropriation by the district or termination by either party
� before payment in full of the unpaid principal balance.
� �������Sec.�775.206.��NO EFFECT ON OUTSTANDING OBLIGATIONS. A
� change in boundaries under this subchapter does not diminish or
� impair the rights of the holders of any outstanding and unpaid
� bonds, warrants, or other district obligations.
� �������SECTION�2.��Section 776.052(a), Health and Safety Code, is
� amended to read as follows:
� �������(a)��If territory in a municipality's limits [or
� extraterritorial jurisdiction] is included in a district, the
� municipality's governing body may remove that territory from the
� district if:
� �������������(1)��the municipality agrees to provide emergency
� protection to the territory as prescribed by Section 776.014; or
� �������������(2)��the territory is designated an industrial district
� under Section 42.044, Local Government Code.
� �������SECTION�3.��The change in law made by this Act applies only
� to a removal of territory that occurs, or a change in boundaries
� agreed to, on or after the effective date of this Act. �A removal of
� territory that occurs, or a change in boundaries agreed to, before
� the effective date of this Act is governed by the law in effect on
� the date the territory is removed, and that law is continued in
� effect for that purpose.
� �������SECTION�4.��This Act takes effect September 1, 2007.
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� ______________________________ ______________________________
� ���President of the Senate Speaker of the House�����
�
�
� �������I certify that H.B. No. 492 was passed by the House on April
� 13, 2007, by the following vote:��Yeas 143, Nays 0, 2 present, not
� voting; and that the House concurred in Senate amendments to H.B.
� No. 492 on May 24, 2007, by the following vote:��Yeas 143, Nays 0, 2
� present, not voting.
�
� ______________________________
� Chief Clerk of the House���
�
� �������I certify that H.B. No. 492 was passed by the Senate, with
� amendments, on May 22, 2007, by the following vote:��Yeas 31, Nays
� 0.
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� ______________________________
� Secretary of the Senate���
� APPROVED: __________________
� ����������������Date�������
� �
� �������� __________________
� ��������������Governor�������
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