HBA-LJP H.B. 2200 77(R) BILL ANALYSIS Office of House Bill AnalysisH.B. 2200 By: Mowery Land & Resource Management 3/28/2001 Introduced BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Texas faces a challenge of balancing the competing interest of residents of unincorporated areas with those of annexing authorities. Under current law, except for home-rule municipalities with a charter that requires an election to be held to approve an annexation, municipalities have the authority to force an area to be annexed without the consent of the property owners or residents. House Bill 2200 requires a municipality to obtain the consent of an area by a petition before annexing an area. 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. ANALYSIS House Bill 2200 amends the Local Government Code to provide that on or after the 20th day but before the 30th day after the date of an adoption or amendment of an annexation plan, the governing body of a municipality (board) must conduct the first of two public hearings in the area proposed for annexation at which persons interested in the annexation are given an opportunity to be heard. The bill provides that on or after the 50th day but before the 60th day after an adoption or amendment of an annexation plan, the board must conduct the second hearing in the area proposed for annexation. The bill provides that the municipality must provide notice of the hearings on or before the 10th day before the date of each hearing and sets forth notification requirements. On or before the 30th day after the date a municipality proposing an annexation submits a written request for tax records, the bill requires the chief appraiser of each appraisal district of the proposed area for annexation to furnish to the annexing municipality the name and address of each owner of real and personal property located in the area proposed for annexation and the appraised value of the property (Sec. 43.0521). Except for annexations for limited purposes or when area land owners or a school board petitions a municipality for annexation, the bill prohibits a municipality under a municipal annexation plan from annexing an area unless the municipality circulates a written petition to obtain the consent of owners of real and personal property to the proposed annexation during the period beginning on the date of the last required hearing and ending on the 30th day after the date of the last required hearing. The bill sets forth the percentage of certain property owners' signatures and the determination of the number of signatures required on the petition for the annexing municipality to obtain consent of the property owners. The bill also provides that the annexing municipality must file the petition with the county clerk of each county in which the area proposed for annexation is located and submit a sworn affidavit with the petition verifying that no part of the area proposed for annexation is exempt from annexation by the municipality. The bill prohibits the municipality from amending its annexation plan to increase or reduce the area proposed for annexation after the petition begins to be circulated for signatures (Secs. 43.0522 and 43.0523). The bill provides that a municipal annexation plan must include a map of the areas proposed for annexation, including each county road and right-of-way that is exempt from ad valorem taxes and is within or contiguous to the boundaries of an area proposed for annexation. The bill shortens the time period, from the 90th day to the 20th day after the date a municipality adopts or amends an annexation plan, that a municipality is required to give written notice (Sec. 43.052). The bill provides that all information required to be filed under a municipal annexation plan relating to a proposed annexation must be made available for public inspection (Sec. 43.0524). The bill requires a municipality that annexes an area under a required petition and that has a comprehensive zoning ordinance applying to other parts of the municipality to adopt zoning classifications for the annexed area that permit densities and uses no more restrictive than those permitted in the area immediately before the annexation. The bill provides that a subsequent change in zoning in the annexed area must comply with the general procedures established by the municipality for rezoning land (Sec. 43.058). The bill removes provisions relating to judicial remedies regarding a municipality not annexing an area for full purposes and the forced annexation of an area by a municipality (Sec. 43.128). The bill authorizes the attorney general, a county or district attorney for the county in the annexed area, a municipal attorney, or another affected party to file suit in a district court in a county in which the annexed area is located to contest the validity of an annexation within 30 days after the date an ordinance annexing the area is adopted. If a municipality other than the annexing municipality presents evidence to the court that demonstrates that the municipality has actively pursued annexation of the area, the bill requires the court to consider any oral or written agreements between the municipalities in making a determination in the suit (Sec. 43.059). The bill removes provisions relating to the notice requirements of annexation procedures for certain areas exempt from the required municipal annexation plan (Sec. 43.062). The bill repeals provisions relating to the voter approval of an annexation by a of home-rule municipality and the annexation of certain areas with a proposed farm-to-market road by a home-rule municipality. The bill repeals provisions relating to the election in a municipal utility district to approve of the annexation by a home-rule municipality, a municipality proposing to separately annex two or more certain areas if no reason exists under generally accepted municipal planning principals and practices, and the authority of certain municipalities in urban counties to annex a small and surrounded general-law municipality. The bill also repeals certain provisions relating to the authority of, or the annexation by, a general-law municipality (SECTION 18). The bill expands provisions relating to the authority of certain small municipalities to annex unoccupied areas on petition of a school board to all municipalities (Sec. 43.029). The bill expands the authority of municipalities to annex sparsely occupied areas on petition of area landowners to include the annexation of any area contiguous to a municipality and provides that the petition be signed by each owner of real property in the area (Sec. 43.028). The bill incorporates these expansions in provisions relating to width requirements of a proposed area to annex, the authority of certain municipalities to annex certain areas only because the area is contiguous to a municipality area with a certain width, and the maximum amount of annexations a year for a municipality (Secs. 43.054 - 43.055). The bill also expands provisions relating to the authority of a home-rule municipality to annex an area and take other actions regarding boundaries to all municipalities (Sec. 43.021). EFFECTIVE DATE September 1, 2001.