SB1503 - Relating to the expansion of the territory of an emergency services district into the territory of a municipality.

  89R9742 JTZ-D     By: Bettencourt S.B. No. 1503       A BILL TO BE ENTITLED   AN ACT   relating to the expansion of the territory of an emergency services   district into the territory of a municipality.          BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:          SECTION 1.  Section 775.051(a), Health and Safety Code, is   amended to read as follows:          (a)  Qualified voters who own taxable real property in a   defined territory that is not included in a district may file a   petition with the secretary of the board requesting the inclusion   of the territory in the district. The petition must :                 (1)   be signed by at least 50 qualified voters who own   taxable real property in the territory or a majority of those   voters, whichever is less ; and                 (2)     show the name of each municipality whose consent   must be obtained under Section 775.0515 .          SECTION 2.  Subchapter D, Chapter 775, Health and Safety   Code, is amended by adding Section 775.0515 to read as follows:           Sec.   775.0515.     EXPANSION OF DISTRICT THAT INCLUDES   MUNICIPAL TERRITORY. (a) Before territory in a municipality's   limits or extraterritorial jurisdiction may be annexed into a   district under Section 775.051, a written request to be annexed   into the district must be presented to the municipality's governing   body after the petition is filed under Section 775.051. Except as   provided by Subsection (c), that territory may not be annexed into   the district unless the municipality's governing body gives its   written consent on or before the 60th day after the date the   municipality receives the request.           (b)     If the municipality's governing body does not consent to   annexation within the 60-day period prescribed by Subsection (a), a   majority of the qualified voters and the owners of at least 50   percent of the territory in the municipality's limits or   extraterritorial jurisdiction that would have been annexed into the   district may petition the governing body to make fire control and   emergency medical and ambulance services available in the   territory. The petition must be submitted to the governing body not   later than the 90th day after the date the municipality receives the   request under Subsection (a).           (c)     If the municipality's governing body refuses or fails to   act on the petition requesting fire control and emergency medical   and ambulance services within six months after the date on which the   petition submitted under Subsection (b) is received, the governing   body's refusal or failure to act constitutes consent for the   territory that is the subject of the petition to be annexed into the   district.           (d)     If the territory proposed to be annexed into the   district will include territory designated by a municipality as an   industrial district under Section 42.044, Local Government Code,   consent to include the industrial district must be obtained from   the municipality's governing body in the same manner provided by   this section for obtaining consent to annex territory within the   limits or extraterritorial jurisdiction of a municipality.           (e)     If the municipality's governing body consents to   annexation of territory within its limits or extraterritorial   jurisdiction, or in an industrial district, the territory may be   annexed into the district in the same manner as other territory is   annexed under this chapter.           (f)     A governing body's consent to annex territory into the   district expires six months after the date the consent is given.           (g)     This section does not apply if territory proposed to be   annexed into the district is in the unincorporated area of a county   with a population of 3.3 million or more.          SECTION 3.  The changes in law made by this Act apply only to   a petition for the expansion of an emergency services district   filed with the board of the emergency services district on or after   the effective date of this Act. A petition pending before the board   of an emergency services district on the effective date of this Act   is governed by the law in effect at the time the petition was filed,   and that law is continued in effect for that purpose.          SECTION 4.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2025.