85R6537 MEW-F
 
  By: VanDeaver H.B. No. 2047
 
 
 
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 
AN ACT
  relating to the detachment and annexation of school district
  territory by agreement.
         BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
         SECTION 1.  Subchapter B, Chapter 13, Education Code, is
  amended by adding Section 13.0515 to read as follows:
         Sec. 13.0515.  DETACHMENT AND ANNEXATION OF TERRITORY BY
  AGREEMENT. (a) In accordance with this section, two or more
  contiguous school districts may enter into a boundary change
  agreement to transfer or exchange territory through detachment and
  annexation. Each school district that is a party to the agreement
  to detach and annex territory must conduct a hearing and adopt a
  resolution approving the boundary change as provided by this
  section.
         (b)  Before adopting a boundary change agreement, each
  school district shall appoint two members from the district's board
  of trustees and one member from the district's administration to a
  boundary change committee.
         (c)  The boundary change committee established under
  Subsection (b):
               (1)  shall investigate a potential transfer or exchange
  of territory through detachment and annexation between the school
  districts; and
               (2)  may develop and propose a written boundary change
  plan to present to the board of trustees of each school district.
         (d)  A boundary change plan developed under Subsection (c)
  must include:
               (1)  a designation of each territory to be detached and
  annexed by a metes and bounds description;
               (2)  the total taxable valuation of the property in
  each designated territory according to the most recent certified
  appraisal roll;
               (3)  a summary of any social, economic, or educational
  effects of approving the boundary changes;
               (4)  a summary of the educational interests of the
  current students residing or future students expected to reside in
  each designated territory;
               (5)  a school finance summary that shows the fiscal
  impact of the proposed boundary changes for each affected school
  district; and
               (6)  a proposed boundary change agreement describing
  the proposed boundary changes.
         (e)  The territory designated for detachment and annexation
  under a boundary change agreement must be contiguous to the school
  district receiving the territory.
         (f)  A boundary change agreement may not reduce a school
  district's territory to an area of less than nine square miles.
         (g)  A boundary change committee may not propose a boundary
  change plan unless at least two of the three members of the
  committee from each school district approve the plan. On approval
  of the plan, the committee shall submit the written boundary change
  plan to the board of trustees of each affected school district.
         (h)  Immediately following receipt of the boundary change
  plan, each affected board of trustees shall give notice of the
  proposed boundary change plan by publishing and posting a notice in
  the manner required for an election order under Section 13.003. The
  notice must specify the place and date at which a hearing on the
  proposed boundary change shall be held. Unless the districts hold a
  joint hearing, the districts must hold hearings on separate dates.
  At each hearing, members of the boundary change committee and
  affected persons are entitled to an opportunity to be heard.
         (i)  At the hearing, each board of trustees shall consider
  the boundary change plan, the information received from members of
  the boundary change committee and affected persons, the educational
  interests of the current students residing or future students
  expected to reside in each designated territory and in each
  affected district, and the social, economic, and educational
  effects of the proposed boundary change plan. A board of trustees
  may not amend the proposed boundary change plan or agreement. After
  the conclusion of the hearing, each board of trustees shall adopt a
  resolution approving or disapproving the boundary change plan and
  agreement. The resolution and boundary change agreement shall be
  recorded in the minutes of each affected board of trustees and shall
  be reported to the commissioners court of each county to which a
  district receiving territory is assigned for administrative
  purposes by the agency and to the commissioners court of each county
  to which a district from which territory is to be detached is
  assigned for administrative purposes.
         (j)  If each board of trustees of the affected districts
  approves the boundary change agreement, the commissioners court or
  commissioners courts to whom the matter is required to be reported
  shall enter an order redefining the boundaries of the districts
  affected by the transfer or exchange of territory in accordance
  with the boundary change agreement. Title to all real property of a
  district from which territory is detached within the territory
  annexed vests in the receiving district, and the receiving district
  assumes and is liable for any portion of the indebtedness of a
  district from which the territory is to be detached that is
  allocated to the receiving district under Section 13.004.
         (k)  If the board of trustees of each district that is a party
  to the boundary change agreement approves the agreement, the
  decisions are final and may not be appealed.
         (l)  Section 13.002 does not apply to this section.
         (m)  Any additional tax resulting from a change of use, as
  provided for by Chapter 23, Tax Code, and the interest and penalty
  on the additional tax, that is imposed for any year on land in
  annexed territory shall be paid to the school district that imposed
  the tax.
         SECTION 2.  The heading to Section 13.051, Education Code,
  is amended to read as follows:
         Sec. 13.051.  DETACHMENT AND ANNEXATION OF TERRITORY BY
  PETITION.
         SECTION 3.  This Act takes effect immediately if it receives
  a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as
  provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution.  If this
  Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this
  Act takes effect September 1, 2017.