This section lets certain school districts keep operating under former Chapter 24, and sets how municipal school district budgets and ad valorem taxes are heard, approved, and documented.
Sec. 11.303. MUNICIPAL SCHOOL DISTRICTS. (a) Except as otherwise provided by this section, a school district operating under former Chapter 24 may continue to operate under that chapter as it existed on May 1, 1995, and under state law generally applicable to school districts that does not conflict with that chapter. (b) The governing body of the municipality may participate in annual hearings or work sessions held by the board of trustees of the municipal school district on the budget and ad valorem tax rate for the coming year. (c) The board of trustees of a municipal school district and the governing body of the municipality shall jointly hold any hearing required by law as a condition for the adoption of an annual budget and imposition of an ad valorem tax. (d) Neither an annual budget for a municipal school district nor an ad valorem tax to be imposed for the district may be adopted without the affirmative vote of: (1) a majority of the members of the board of trustees of the municipal school district present and voting; and (2) at least three-quarters of the total of the voting members of the board of trustees and the governing body of the municipality that are present and voting. (e) If a quorum of the members of the governing body of the municipality is not present at a meeting required under Subsection (c), the board of trustees may adopt a budget or an ad valorem tax rate without regard to the requirements of Subsection (d). (f) Notwithstanding former Section 24.06(c), as it existed on May 1, 1995, the governing body of the municipality shall adopt an ordinance providing for the levy and assessment of the tax approved pursuant to Subsection (d) or (e). (g) After adopting an ordinance levying a tax for the municipal school district, the governing body of the municipality shall provide a certified copy of the ordinance to the district's board of trustees. (h) This section may not be construed as authorizing the governing body of a municipality to levy a tax for the support of schools of a municipal school district without fully complying with all applicable provisions of the Tax Code. Added by Acts 2003, 78th Leg., ch. 304, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 2003.