HBA-NLM H.B. 1242 76(R) BILL ANALYSIS Office of House Bill AnalysisH.B. 1242 By: Hochberg Public Education 4/20/1999 Introduced BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Under current law, tax rates on debt issued to build and renovate school facilities may exceed $1.50 for such service. The state will help finance such debt service for debt issued after 1997, but school districts must bear the complete cost of interest and principal payments for old debt prior to 1997 by themselves. H.B. 1242 requires the state to help school districts pay for debt issued prior to 1997 that exceeds the $1.50 tax rate. This bill provides property tax relief for taxpayers by replacing some local tax effort above $1.50 with state dollars. RULEMAKING AUTHORITY It is the opinion of the Office of House Bill Analysis that this bill does not expressly delegate any additional rulemaking authority to a state officer, department, agency, or institution. SECTION BY SECTION ANALYSIS SECTION 1. Amends Section 42.303, Education Code, as follows: (a) Prohibits the district enrichment and facilities tax rate (DTR) under Section 42.302 (Allotment) from exceeding $0.64 per $100 of valuation, or the greater amount for any year provided by appropriation, except as provided for in Subsection (b). (b) Authorizes the tax rate to exceed the limit in Subsection (a) for taxes to pay debt service on bonds only under specified conditions. SECTION 2. Effective date: September 1, 1999. SECTION 3. Emergency clause.