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89(R) SB 2965 - Enrolled version - Bill Text
S.B. No. 2965
AN ACT
relating to territory in an emergency services district that is
annexed by a municipality.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 775.022, Health and Safety Code, is
amended by amending Subsection (a) and adding Subsection (a-1) to
read as follows:
(a) If a municipality completes all other procedures
necessary to annex territory in a district
, including the
preparation of a service plan if required by Section 43.056, Local
Government Code,
[
and if
] the municipality intends to remove the
territory from the district
,
and
the municipality is capable at the
time of the removal of being
[
be
] the sole provider of emergency
services to the territory by the use of municipal personnel or by
some method other than by use of the district, the municipality
shall send written notice of those facts
, and the completed service
plan, if applicable,
to the board
not later than the 30th day after
completing the necessary procedures
. The municipality must send
the notice to the secretary of the board by certified mail, return
receipt requested. The territory remains part of the district and
does not become part of the municipality until the secretary of the
board receives the notice
and the board by resolution disannexes
the territory from the district
.
The board must send a copy of the
resolution to the municipality by certified mail, return receipt
requested, not later than the 30th day after the date on which the
board adopts the resolution. If the governing body of the
municipality disagrees with the board's determination that the
municipal services will not meet or exceed the level of service
provided by the district, the municipality may adopt a resolution
stating the grounds for the disagreement and requesting arbitration
in the manner provided by Section 775.0221.
If the board determines
that the municipal services planned to be provided in the territory
will not meet or exceed the level of service provided by the
district in the territory, the board shall adopt that determination
in a resolution and may not by resolution disannex the territory
from the district.
If the board determines that municipal services
planned to be provided in the territory will meet or exceed the
level of service provided by the district in the territory at the
time of disannexation
[
On receipt of the notice
], the board shall
by
resolution disannex the territory from the district, notify the
appraisal district to
[
immediately
] change its records to show that
the territory has been disannexed from the district
,
and [
shall
]
cease to provide further services to the residents of that
territory. This subsection does not require a municipality to
remove from a district territory the municipality has annexed.
For
the purposes of this subsection, "level of service" for fire and
emergency medical protection means the location, deployment, and
response time of fire suppression or medical resources originally
dispatched to a structural or wildland fire or emergency medical
incident.
(a-1)
A board is considered to have approved a disannexation
of territory under Subsection (a) if the board fails to provide to
the municipality a resolution disapproving or approving the
disannexation before the 30th day after the date the board receives
the notice under Subsection (a) from the municipality.
SECTION 2. Section 775.0221, Health and Safety Code, is
amended by adding Subsection (a-1) and amending Subsection (b) to
read as follows:
(a-1)
If the governing body of a municipality adopts a
resolution under Section 775.022 disputing the determination of the
board of a district that municipal services will not meet or exceed
the level of service provided by the district and requesting
arbitration, the municipality and the district shall resolve the
dispute using binding arbitration.
(b) A request for binding arbitration must be in writing and
may not be made before the 60th day after the date the municipality
receives
, as applicable:
(1)
a resolution from the district under Section
775.022 determining that municipal services will not meet or exceed
the level of service provided by the district; or
(2)
notice from the district regarding the amount of
compensation required under Section 775.022.
SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2025.
______________________________
______________________________
President of the Senate
Speaker of the House
I hereby certify that S.B. No. 2965 passed the Senate on
May 9, 2025, by the following vote: Yeas 30, Nays 1; and that the
Senate concurred in House amendment on May 30, 2025, by the
following vote: Yeas 31, Nays 0.
______________________________
Secretary of the Senate
I hereby certify that S.B. No. 2965 passed the House, with
amendment, on May 28, 2025, by the following vote: Yeas 124,
Nays 14, three present not voting.
______________________________
Chief Clerk of the House
Approved:
______________________________
Date
______________________________
Governor