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.