HBA-MPA H.B. 1756 76(R) BILL ANALYSIS Office of House Bill AnalysisH.B. 1756 By: Puente County Affairs 4/11/1999 Introduced BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE This is the enabling legislation for H.J.R. 61, which allows the voters of certain counties to adopt a charter that restructures and empowers the county government and that may allow the integration of the county government with certain other political subdivisions located, in whole or in part, in the county. H.B. 1756 sets the framework for the process of forming a charter writing commission, spells out the requirements for membership on the commission and other safeguards, and ensures that the charter commission membership is representative of the population of Bexar County. 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 Title 3, Local Government Code, by adding Subtitle C, as follows: SUBTITLE C. COUNTY CHARTER CHAPTER 92. COUNTY CHARTER IN BEXAR COUNTY Sec. 92.001. APPOINTMENT OF CHARTER COMMISSION BY COMMISSIONERS COURT. (a) Authorizes the commissioners court of Bexar County (court) to appoint at any time a commission to draft a charter under Section 64A (contingent on the approval by voters of HJR 61), Article III, Texas Constitution (commission). Requires that the commission represent the unincorporated areas of the county, and municipalities located partly or wholly in the county, other than San Antonio (towns). (b) Requires the court, if it is notified that the governing body of San Antonio (council) that it intends to appoint a commission or the court is petitioned to do so, to appoint a commission representing the unincorporated areas of the county and towns. Sec. 92.002. APPOINTMENT OF CHARTER COMMISSION BY SAN ANTONIO GOVERNING BODY. Authorizes the council at any time to appoint members representing San Antonio on the commission. Requires the council to appoint members representing San Antonio on the commission if notified of the court's intention to appoint a commission. Sec. 92.003. INITIATION OF CHARTER PROCESS BY PETITION. Provides that a petition for the appointment of a commission must be filed with the county clerk, be signed by a number of registered voters in Bexar County (county) equal to 10 percent of the vote received for governor in the most recent gubernatorial election, and comply with the applicable requirements for a petition filed in connection with an election. Sec. 92.004. VERIFICATION OF PETITION. Requires the county clerk to verify, no later than 30 days after it is filed, that the petition meets the requirements of this chapter and certify it to the court. Requires the court, if the county clerk certifies that the petition is valid, to make its appointments to the commission no later than 120 days after receiving the clerk's certification. Requires the county clerk to state the reason for the determination if the petition is certified as invalid. Provides that the person circulating the petition has 60 days after the certification to submit additional petitions or signatures to cure the determination of deficiency. Requires the county clerk to determine whether the additional petitions or signatures are sufficient to cure the deficiency no later than 21 days after the filing of the additional petitions or signatures, and certify that determination to the court. Sec. 92.005. NOTIFICATION TO POLITICAL SUBDIVISIONS. (a) Requires the court to notify the governing body of any towns of the court's intention to appoint a commission after the court decides to do so or no later than 30 days after it is compelled to do so by a petition. Provides that the notice to the council must state the number of commission members who are appointed to represent San Antonio. (b) Requires the council to give notice to the court and to the towns of its intention to appoint a commission no later than 30 days after making that decision. Provides that the notice to the court must specify the number of members appointed to represent the towns and the unincorporated areas of the county on the commission. Sec. 92.006. COMMISSION COMPOSITION. (a) Requires the members of the commission to be divided between members appointed by the council and by the court as nearly as possible based on a ratio of San Antonio's population within the county to the population of the remainder of the county. Requires the total number of commission members to be determined by the court if appointment of the commission is initiated by the court or by petition, and by the council if it is initiated by the council. (b) Requires the court to appoint the requisite number of San Antonio residents to the commission, if the council fails to do so within 60 days of receiving notice of the court's intent to appoint a commission. Requires the council to appoint the requisite number of residents of the towns and the unincorporated areas to the commission, if the court fails to do so within 60 days of receiving notice of the council's intent to appoint a commission. (c) Provides that membership of the commission must reasonably reflect the ethnic distribution of the population of San Antonio and the remainder of the county. (d) Provides that the membership of the commission, other than the members representing San Antonio, must be reasonably balanced between members who are residents of the towns and of the unincorporated areas of the county. Sec. 92.007. PREPARATION OF CHARTER. (a) Requires the commission to prepare the charter. Requires the commission to file its proposed charter with the court on or before the second anniversary of the first commission appointment. (b) Requires the court to submit the proposed charter, when it is filed, to the United States Department of Justice for preclearance under the federal Voting Rights Act (42 U.S.C. Section 1973c et seq.), as amended. Requires the court to submit the proposed charter to the attorney general, if the requirement for preclearence under the Voting Rights Act is not applicable. Requires the attorney general to determine whether the adoption of the proposed charter would result in any retrogression in the effective voting strength of minority populations in the county under similar standards and analyses to those applied to local government charters under the Voting Rights Act. (c) Requires the court to order an election, if the proposed charter is precleared or the attorney general determines no retrogression would occur, to approve the charter as proposed by the commission to be held on the first authorized uniform election day after the charter is filed with the court, provided there is sufficient time to comply with applicable requirements of general law. (d) Requires the court to return the charter one time to the commission for revision and refiling within 180 days, if it is not precleared or the attorney general determines it would result in retrogression in the effective voting strength of minority populations. Requires the court to dissolve the commission if the revised proposed charter is also not precleared or the attorney general determines that retrogression still would occur. Authorizes a new commission to be appointed under the provisions of this chapter. (e) Provides that the commission is dissolved on the date of the election held under Subsection (c). Sec. 92.008. ADOPTION OF CHARTER. (a) Provides that the charter must be initially approved by a majority of the votes received from the county's voters. (b) Requires the governing body of each town to call an election on the question of whether the town is to be integrated into an integrated county government (ICG), if the charter calls for that. Requires the election to be held on the first authorized uniform election day after the charter is approved, provided there is sufficient time to comply with applicable requirements of general law. (c) Requires the town to be integrated into the ICG if the majority of the votes received in an election under Subsection (b) favor the integration. (d) Requires the town, if the majority of the votes in the election do not favor integration, to continue to exist and function as a municipality in the county area under its charter or general law, as applicable. (e) Requires the court to call an election in the unincorporated portion of each commissioner's precinct that is to be integrated into an urban service district (USD), if such integration is called for by the charter. Requires the election to be held on the first authorized uniform election day after the charter is approved, provided there is sufficient time to comply with applicable requirements of general law. (f) Requires the unincorporated portion of each commissioner's precinct to be integrated into the USD if the majority of the votes received in an election under Subsection (b) favor the integration. (g) Requires that the unincorporated portion of each commissioner's precinct remain outside the district, subject to any charter provisions on expansion of the district, if the majority of votes received in the election do not favor integration. (h) Authorizes the county to later integrate additional towns, special districts or authorities, or other political subdivisions (subdivisions) following the adoption of a charter calling for integration of the county with municipalities (inte-charter) and the election on integration of the county with municipalities (integration), if the county follows the conditions of the charter, if any, for integration, and the majority of votes received at an election within the subdivision approves the additional integration. Sec. 92.009. GOVERNING BODY OF INTEGRATED COUNTY GOVERNMENT. (a) Provides that an inte-charter must provide for a governing body consisting of a presiding officer elected at large, four members elected from single-member districts which together encompass the entire area of the county, and a number of members elected from singlemember districts that together encompass the territory of the ICG, including territory outside the county of any integrated town and excluding the area of any unintegrated town. (b) Provides that the number of districts encompassing the integrated territory must be sufficient to ensure that in the first election after integration the average population of a district is no greater than the average population of a council district before the integration. Sec. 92.010. SERVICE DISTRICTS. (a) Provides that to ensure equity among taxpayers, if the charter calls for integration, the integrated county area must be divided into service districts (SD) for the purposes of taxation and provision of services. (b) Requires that one district encompass the entire territory of the county before integration. Requires that in this district the services provided by the integrated county government be financed by levy of ad valorem taxes or revenues that are uniform throughout the district. (c) Requires that one district encompass the entire territory of San Antonio before integration. Authorizes that this district may be expanded to coincide with the growth of urbanized areas, outside the territory and extraterritorial jurisdiction (ETJ) of unintegrated towns. Requires that services in this district by the ICG, in addition to or in excess of the services provided by the county SD, be financed by an additional levy of ad valorem taxes or the imposition of additional taxes or revenues raised solely in the district. Requires this district to be known as the urban service district (USD). (d) Requires that one district encompass both the USD and all other territory of the ICG outside of unintegrated towns. Requires that incremental services provided by the ICG in this district be financed by an additional levy of ad valorem taxes or the imposition of additional taxes or revenues raised solely in the district. Requires that this district be known as the general services district. (e) Authorizes a town, if it is integrated with the ICG, to become part of the USD or to become an additional and separate urban service district, as provided by the charter. Sec. 92.011. AD VALOREM TAXES. Requires that, to ensure equity among the taxpayers of the ICG, ad valorem taxes levied for debt service of general obligation debt authorized or issued by any subdivision that is integrated with the ICG be levied only in the area of the urban service district that replaces the integrated town, and only in the area of the subdivision that is integrated. Sec. 92.012. CONSOLIDATION OF EMPLOYEES. Provides that every employee, other than an elected official, of the county, municipality, or other subdivision whose position is abolished as a result of integration or whose position is abolished within two years of adoption of the inte-charter as a result of a reduction in force or administrative reorganization, be offered alternative employment by the ICG at a salary at least equal to the salary of the abolished position with substantially equal benefits, and that the inte-charter reflect this. Sec. 92.013. RETIREMENT BENEFITS. Provides that the inte-charter provide for the continuation of the pension funds and the retirement system contributions of the ICG and by the component political subdivisions as they would have been before integration. Requires that employees of the ICG after the adoption of the inte-charter be placed in an appropriate pension fund or retirement system. Sec. 92.014. COLLECTIVE BARGAINING. Prohibits the inte-charter from diminishing the right of employees of the ICG to organize, meet and confer, and bargain collectively over wages, hours of work, and other terms of employment as provided by state law. Sec. 92.015. ANNEXATION. Provides that the inte-charter must establish procedures for expansion of the USD within the county. Authorizes the ICG to take any action in respect to the USD that a municipality of the same size and population would take to annex territory, extend its ETJ, or alter its boundaries under this code. Prohibits the ETJ in the county of an unintegrated town from being expanded as a consequence of annexation. Authorizes the town to engage in boundary adjustments by agreement with the ICG. SECTION 2. Provides that this Act takes effect on the day that the constitutional amendment adding Section 64A, Article III, Texas Constitution (as proposed in H.J.R. 61) takes effect, and that if that amendment is not approved, this Act has no effect. SECTION 3. Emergency clause.