Bill Text: TX HB3001 | 2019-2020 | 86th Legislature | Enrolled

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Bill Title: Relating to the fiscal transparency of special purpose districts and other political subdivisions.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 2-0)

Status: (Passed) 2019-06-10 - Effective on 9/1/19 [HB3001 Detail]

Download: Texas-2019-HB3001-Enrolled.html

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H.B. No. 3001

AN ACT
relating to the fiscal transparency of special purpose districts
and other political subdivisions.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Sections 403.0241(c) and (e), Government Code,
are amended to read as follows:
(c) For each special purpose district described by
Subsection (b), the database must include:
(1) the name of the special purpose district;
(2) the name of each board member of the special
purpose district;
(3) contact information for the main office of the
special purpose district, including the physical address, the
mailing address, and the main telephone number;
(4) if the special purpose district employs a person
as a general manager or executive director, or in another position
to perform duties or functions comparable to those of a general
manager or executive director, the name of the employee;
(5) if the special purpose district contracts with a
utility operator, contact information for a person representing the
utility operator, including a mailing address and a telephone
number;
(6) if the special purpose district contracts with a
tax assessor-collector, contact information for a person
representing the tax assessor-collector, including a mailing
address and telephone number;
(7) the special purpose district's Internet website
address, if any;
(8) the financial information described by [the
special purpose district is required to report under] Section
140.008(b) or (g), Local Government Code, including any revenue
obligations;
(9) the total amount of bonds authorized by the voters
of the special purpose district that are payable wholly or partly
from ad valorem taxes, excluding refunding bonds if refunding bonds
were separately authorized and excluding contract revenue bonds;
(10) the aggregate initial principal amount of all
bonds issued by the special purpose district that are payable
wholly or partly from ad valorem taxes, excluding refunding bonds
and contract revenue bonds;
(11) the rate of any sales and use tax the special
purpose district imposes; and
(12) for a special purpose district that imposes an ad
valorem tax:
(A) the ad valorem tax rate for the most recent
tax year if the district is a district as defined by Section 49.001,
Water Code; or
(B) the table of ad valorem tax rates for the most
recent tax year described by Section 26.16, Tax Code, in the form
required by that section, if the district is not a district as
defined by Section 49.001, Water Code.
(e) To the extent information required in the database is
otherwise collected or maintained by a state agency or special
purpose district, the comptroller may require the state agency or
special purpose district to provide that information and updates to
the information as necessary for inclusion in the database in the
form and manner prescribed by the comptroller. If the required
information is posted separately on an Internet website that the
state agency, comptroller, or special purpose district maintains or
causes to be maintained, the comptroller may include in the
database a direct link to, or a clear statement describing the
location of, the separately posted information instead of or in
addition to reproducing the information in the database.
SECTION 2. Section 140.008(a)(2), Local Government Code, is
amended to read as follows:
(2) "Political subdivision" means a county,
municipality, school district, junior college district, other
special district, or other subdivision of state government. The
term does not include a special purpose district described by
Section 403.0241(b), Government Code.
SECTION 3. Section 140.008, Local Government Code, is
amended by amending Subsections (d), (g), and (h) and adding
Subsection (i) to read as follows:
(d) As an alternative to providing an annual report under
Subsection (f), a political subdivision may provide to the
comptroller the information described by Subsection (b) and any
other related information required by the comptroller in the form
and in the manner prescribed by the comptroller. The comptroller
shall post the information provided by the political subdivision
and any other information the comptroller considers relevant or
necessary on the comptroller's Internet website. The comptroller
may post the information in the format that the comptroller
determines appropriate, provided that the information for each
political subdivision is easily located by searching the name of
the political subdivision on the Internet. If the political
subdivision maintains an Internet website, the political
subdivision shall provide a link from the website to the location on
the comptroller's website where the political subdivision's
financial information may be viewed. The comptroller shall adopt
rules necessary to implement this subsection.
(g) Notwithstanding any other provision of this section, a
district, as defined by Section 49.001, Water Code, satisfies the
requirements of this section if, on an annual basis, the district:
(1) complies with the requirements of Subchapter G,
Chapter 49, Water Code, regarding audit reports, affidavits of
financial dormancy, and annual financial reports; and
(2) either:
(A) submits the financial documents described by
Subchapter G, Chapter 49, Water Code, to the comptroller in the form
and manner prescribed by the comptroller; or
(B) takes action to ensure that the financial
documents described by Subchapter G, Chapter 49, Water Code, are
made available at a regular office of the district for inspection by
any person and, if the district maintains an Internet website, are
posted continuously for public viewing on the district's Internet
website.
(h) The comptroller shall post the documents submitted to
the comptroller under Subsection (g) and any other information the
comptroller considers relevant or necessary on the comptroller's
Internet website, to the extent that the documents as submitted to
the comptroller are in a form that facilitates compliance with
applicable technical accessibility standards and specifications
established in the electronic and information resources
accessibility policy adopted by the comptroller under other law.
The comptroller shall adopt rules necessary to implement this
subsection and Subsection (g).
(i) If information required to be posted by the comptroller
under this section is posted separately on an Internet website that
a state agency, the comptroller, or a political subdivision,
including a district as defined by Section 49.001, Water Code,
maintains or causes to be maintained, the comptroller may post on
the comptroller's Internet website a direct link to, or a clear
statement describing the location of, the separately posted
information instead of or in addition to reproducing the required
information on the comptroller's website.
SECTION 4. The changes in law made by this Act apply only to
a report required to be made on or after the effective date of this
Act. A report required to be made before the effective date of this
Act is governed by the law as it existed immediately before the
effective date of this Act, and that law is continued in effect for
that purpose.
SECTION 5. This Act takes effect September 1, 2019.
______________________________ ______________________________
President of the Senate Speaker of the House
I certify that H.B. No. 3001 was passed by the House on May
10, 2019, by the following vote: Yeas 132, Nays 0, 1 present, not
voting.
______________________________
Chief Clerk of the House
I certify that H.B. No. 3001 was passed by the Senate on May
22, 2019, by the following vote: Yeas 31, Nays 0.
______________________________
Secretary of the Senate
APPROVED: _____________________
Date
_____________________
Governor