House Special District Committee & Senate IGR Mirror Recommendations. The details:

House Committee on Special Purpose District 2016 interim committee report makes the following recommendations:

• Follows Senate IGR to recommend committee policy changes requiring local notices for annexation & MMDs before legislation is considered 
• Use of standard MMD language
• A committee check list:
  • Enforce existing and additional notice requirements outlined in Recommendation No. 1 (Notice requirements);
  • Enforce the use of the MMD Standard Language described in Recommendation No. 2a (Standard MMD language);
  • Clearly differentiate between the various types of special district legislation heard by the Committee and focus on the relevant questions and issues by type
  • Document local support for the creation of an MMD; and
  • Confirm that a bill proposing to create an MMD does not contain provisions that the Committee or the Legislature generally consider unacceptable. 
• Committee Red Flags for MMD legislation:
  • The power of eminent domain;
  • Elections to be held on non-uniform election dates;
  • Levy of sales tax in excess of the maximum rate allowed by general law;
  • Issuance of water, sewer, and drainage bonds without TCEQ approval (as required by Section 375.208, Local Government Code);
  • Issuance of bonds secured by property taxes without an election; and
  • Levy of a property tax without an election. 
• Chapter 375, Local Government Code should be reformed like in 2015’s HB 3097 to include:
  • A majority-in-value of landowners requirement for petitions to create new MMDs through the TCEQ;
  • The ability of the owners of a majority of the assessed value of property subject to assessment by the MMD to recommend the appointment of persons to the MMD board of directors; and
  • A lowering of the threshold of landowner petitions required for dissolution of an MMD from “75% or more” to “at least two-thirds.” 

From November 2016, informed:intel:

The Senate IGR Interim Committee Report has a laundry list of municipal management district (MMD) reforms. Here’s what you need to know:

• Notices to create a MMD must be before legislation is considered
  • This is a change in committee policy
• New MMDs that overlap also require notice to TCEQ
  • This is a change in committee policy
• If property owners are annexed into an existing MMD, notice needs to be the same as when the MMD is created
• New MMDs should ahve a 2nd notice when the new MMD bill is filed with the bill number