The Senate Committee on Intergovernmental Relation has published its report to the 82nd Legislature. Below is a summary of the recommendations.
Senate Committee on Intergovernmental Relations Report to the 82nd Legislature
Executive Summary
Charge 1: Study current law governing homeowners associations with respect to ensuring that homeowners are given adequate protections against unfair foreclosures and are given proper channels for redress in case of foreclosure.
Recommendation:
1.1 Existing statutory provisions regarding homeowners associations do not ensure adequate protections for homeowners. The 82nd Texas Legislature should pass legislation ensuring the basic private property rights of individuals residing within homeowners associations, including, but not limited to, appropriate: notice of association dedicatory instruments, by-laws, and guidelines; descriptions of fees and fines assessed and the ability to cure violations prior to enforcement; access to association books and records, including financial documents; notice and access to association meetings; election procedures of board members; and notice and redress in case of foreclosure.
Charge 2: Monitor the proliferation of municipal utility districts (MUDs) outside the corporate limits or extraterritorial jurisdiction of municipalities and whether increased oversight of these districts by other political subdivisions is needed. Review the process for the creation of municipal utility districts (MUDs) through the template developed during the 81st Legislative Session, including any changes needed to increase the efficiency and oversight over the creation of proposed districts. Review the process for creating special districts, including whether the creation of a template, similar to the one created for municipal utility districts (MUDs), is feasible and would enable the legislature to more effectively evaluate other proposed special districts during future Sessions.
Recommendations:
2.1 No additional changes are needed to the municipal utility district template developed during the 80th Legislative Interim to improve the efficiency and oversight over the creation of districts.
2.2 Additional language should be added to the existing municipal utility district template to require a two-thirds vote of all members of the Texas Senate and House of Representatives to grant a municipal utility district the authority of eminent domain.
2.3 In order to assist the Senate Committee on Intergovernmental Relations and members of the Texas Legislature in evaluating the size of proposed municipal utility districts, an additional questionnaire will be required to be submitted with the “Request for Hearing,” which will request the approximate size (acreage) of the proposed district. Proposed municipal utility districts over 3,000 acres, especially those requesting the authority to divide, may need to provide additional justification to the committee.
2.4 In order to assist in the evaluation of proposed municipal utility districts, the Senate Committee on Intergovernmental Relations will require evidence of local support to be submitted when the “Request for Hearing” is provided to the committee.
Charge 3: Review the process and costs for local governments to make government information available online. Consider ways to encourage local governments to provide more transparency, including the Comptroller’s experience with transparency and her offer to assist local governments, and consider penalties for entities that fail to comply with the online requirement.
Recommendations:
3.1 Due to increasing voluntary efforts by local governments to provide public access to government information and records online, there is no need for additional statutory requirements or penalties.
3.2 City and county organizations should continue to collaborate and partner with each other to overcome existing obstacles to transparency, including working with the appropriate divisions in the Comptroller’s office on the development of a standardized template for local governments to use in providing information in an online format. In addition, these organizations should continue to improve transparency efforts within their membership, including increasing participation in the Comptroller’s Leadership Circle.
Charge 4: Assess ways to facilitate property ownership registration to better enable individuals to participate in federal programs and make recommendations to improve processing times to provide improved access to funds.
Recommendations:
4.1 Proving ownership of real property is difficult for many individuals in need of state and federal disaster assistance. Changes should be made to Chapter 41, Texas Property Code, to provide a mechanism for those individuals in possession of real property and impacted by natural disasters to obtain a power of attorney for the purpose of receiving funds for the improvement of real property.
4.2 The inability of individual heirs to obtain fee simple title to property renders vast amounts of land untransferable. Changes should be made to existing adverse possession statutes (Chapter 16, Texas Civil Practices and Remedies Code), which build upon existing practices and common real property law, by providing a mechanism for individuals to obtain insurable title by recording an Affidavit of Heirship (Section 52A, Texas Probate Code) and an Affidavit of Possession for an acceptable amount of time.
4.3 The Senate Committee on Intergovernmental Relations will be submitting a request to the United States Senate and Congressional delegation from Texas requesting consideration of the following amendments to federal law:
- Change the federal requirement under the HOME Investment Partnerships Program (HOME) from a requirement of fee simple ownership and good and marketable title to a requirement that the person(s) requesting assistance be principal occupants.
- Change the federal requirement under the I’IOME program to accept criteria as identified in Section 2306.188. Texas Government Code, which allows someone to establish via affidavit that they are the principal occupants and have been acting as owners by providing supporting evidence such as tax statements or utility bills.
4.4 Favorable consideration should be given to legislation that: ( I) creates an expedited process for giving notice to potential claimants and establishes tide by a suit to quiet title: (2) creates a rebuttable presumption of fee title for persons who establish that they are acting as owners by being the principal occupants and the taxpayers of record for a specified period, assuming they can establish that they attempted to reach any other owners and been unsuccessful: (3) provides for an annual publication, similar to the escheat report; or (4) creates a fund to compensate injured claimants.
4.5 During the probate of any estate, dissolution of marriage, or other legal proceedings impacting title, it should be required that title records be updated in the county where sited, whether pro se or with legal representation. Letters testamentary should not be allowed after six months unless the update has been done or a valid reason for not updating the title has been provided to the court.
Charge 5: Study the reasons for and the impacts of hospitals directly hiring physicians. Examine practices in other states. Make recommendations, if needed, to permit hospitals to directly hire physicians.
Recommendatio
ns:
5.1 The inability to directly employ physicians is a barrier to the recruitment of healthcare providers for hospitals, particularly in rural and underserved areas. Favorable consideration should be given to legislative proposals that remove this obstacle or further expand current exceptions, thereby allowing physicians to be employees of rural hospitals, especially for facilities designated as critical access hospitals (42 U.S.C. Section 1395i·4) or sole community hospitals (42 USC Section 1395ww (d)(5)(D)(iii). Any proposals should include appropriate safeguards to ensure that healthcare providers employed by hospitals are able to exercise independent medical judgment and that patient access to quality healthcare is maintained, including a review by the Texas Medical Board to determine if any additional rules or statutory changes should be adopted.
Charge 6: Review state and local policies related to development and growth in rural and unincorporated regions of the state with regard to annexation and zoning authority. Focus on impacts to private property rights. Determine the appropriateness of existing extraterritorial jurisdiction authority. Make recommendations regarding possible changes to this authority.
Recommendations:
6.1 Recent statutory changes, including Senate Bill 89 (76th Legislature), House Bill 1445 (77Th Legislature) and Senate Bill 1867 (80th Legislature) have created balanced policies related to annexation, zoning, and authority in the extraterritorial jurisdiction (ETJ ) and unincorporated areas. Any concerns regarding development and growth are localized and do not warrant a shift in state policy at this time.
Charge 7: Review the types of support state government can provide to assist local government consolidations with county governments. Evaluate budget implications for city and county government consolidations. Research the appropriateness and cost savings of eliminating duplicity between city and county governments in different regions of the state.
Recommendations:
7.1 Existing constitutional and statutory limitations impede the ability of local governments to achieve cost savings and reduce the duplication of services through consolidation. Support for the functional consolidation of services by cities and counties can be achieved by alleviating these restrictions. Specifically, the 82nd Legislature should approve the following constitutional and statutory changes:
- Changes to Article 11, Section 7, Texas Constitution, to clarify that debt resulting from contracts entered into between two or more local governments under Chapter 791, Texas Government Code, which is not a result of pledged bonds or other similar obligations, would not require a sinking fund and a tax levy.
- Changes to Chapter 791, Texas Government Code, to clarify that a local government can enter into contracts with one or more local governments for a term longer than one year.
Charge 8: Review the statutory authority granted to municipal management districts (MMDs) and to emergency service districts (ESDs), the authority of municipalities and counties to create public improvement districts (PIDs). Determine whether the authority granted for each entity is adequate to accomplish the goals of local governments. Assess whether the consolidation of ESDs under one statute would improve uniformity and provision of fire and emergency services through these districts.
Recommendations (MMDs):
8.1 Chapter 375, Texas local Government Code, otherwise known as the municipal management district statute, is in need of revision. Amendments need to be made to this statute that would better reflect the current use of municipal management districts, provide greater oversight by the appropriate state agencies, and clarify common administrative procedures.
8.2 The popularity of municipal management districts has increased significantly over the past decade, resulting in an increase in the legislation field to authorize the creation of these districts.
In order to ensure a more effective evaluation of proposed districts, the committee is making the following recommendations:
- Individuals seeking to file legislation to create a municipal management district should use standardized language regarding the “powers and duties” of the proposed district on file with the Texas Legislative Council. This would allow for a better understanding by members of the Texas Legislature and greater uniformity of the authority granted to proposed districts.
- The Senate Committee on Intergovernmental Relations will develop an additional questionnaire to be submitted with the “Request for Hearing.” This questionnaire will request information regarding the purpose for which the proposed municipal management district is being created and the type of authority, including taxing and assessment authority, the legislation creating the district is requesting.
Recommendation (ESDs):
8.3 The Senate Committee on Intergovernmental Relations found that the vast majority of emergency service districts (ESDs) currently have the authority granted under Chapter 775, Texas Health and Safety Code, while some districts still have different authority granted under Chapter 776, Texas Health and Safety Code. In order 10 improve the uniformity and provision of fire and emergency services through these districts, the standardization of ESD authority should be considered.
Recommendation (PIDs):
8.4 While first conceived as a means by which local governments could pay for routine maintenance activities, public improvement districts, in practice, have evolved into a financing vehicle for more substantial projects of public benefit. Guidance offered by the Office of the Attorney General in 2008 recognized the maturation of these districts, but created some uncertainty and tension between the letter of the law and its application. Clarifying the statute (Chapter 372, Texas Local Government Code) to reflect currently accepted and approved uses of public improvement district financing would provide certainty for cities and counties interested in using this tool to create public infrastructure and generate economic development.
Charge 9: Monitor the implementation of legislation addressed by the Senate Committee on Intergovernmental Relations, 81st Legislature, Regular and Called Sessions, and make recommendations for any legislation needed to improve, enhance, and/or complete implementation.
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- Monitor the use of the expanded funds provided by the 81st Legislature to the Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs.
Recommendations:
9.1 Through the distribution of federal American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) funds. The Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs (TDHCA) gained valuable insight in reporting the number of job opportunities created and maintained following an investment of resources. TDHCA should build upon these experiences and review internal reporting mechanisms to determine if a community-based jobs tracking component should be added to appropriate programs in order to evaluate whether funds provided to a certain area of the state benefit the members of that community.
9.2 Improving the coordination of services provided to special needs communities has the potential to increase the level of services provided to individuals and households and to improve the efficient distribution
of state and federal resources In order to accomplish these goals, amendments should be made to Chapter 2306. Texas Government Code to·
Require the Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs (TDHCA) to gather the special needs category status of each individual or household served through TDHCA including, but not limited to: homeless, veterans, farm workers, youth aging out of foster care, and any other population, as determined by TDHCA rule; and
Amend the information provided in the Low Income Housing Report (Section 2306.072), published annually by TDHCA, to include a tracking item to identify the number of individuals and households who meet these special needs categories and how these populations were served during the previous year, including any recommendations on how to improve the coordination of services for these populations across agency programs.
A complete copy of the report can be found at:
http://www.senate.state.tx.us/75r/Senate/commit/c520/c520.InterimReport81.pdf
