HBA-ATS H.B. 3407 76(R) BILL ANALYSIS Office of House Bill AnalysisH.B. 3407 By: Williams Business & Industry 3/26/1999 Introduced BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Under the Texas Open Meetings Act (Act), every regular, special, or called meeting of a governmental body is required to be open to the public, with a few exceptions. Courts have construed the intent of the Act to be to safeguard the public's interest in knowing the workings of its governmental bodies. To achieve this purpose, some courts have held that the provisions of the Act should be liberally construed to effect its purpose. Because some property owners' associations are similar to municipalities in that these associations assess ad valorem taxes and provide basic community services, it can be argued that these associations should be subject to the requirements of the Act. Currently, residents of property owners' associations neither have the right to attend the meetings of the governing boards of these associations nor the right to request and secure records or documents belonging to the association. H.B. 3407 provides that a property owners' association is subject to the Texas Open Meetings Act in the same manner as a governmental body if the association possesses three qualities. First, membership in the association must be mandatory for owners or for a defined class of owners of private real property in a defined geographic area. Second, the association must have the power to make mandatory special assessments for capital improvements or mandatory regular assessments. Third, the amount of the mandatory special or regular assessments must be or have been based in whole or in part on the value at which the state or a local governmental body assesses the property for purposes of ad valorem taxation under Section 20, Article VIII, Texas Constitution. RULEMAKING AUTHORITY It is the opinion of the Office of House Bill Analysis that this bill does not expressly delegate any additional rulemaking authority to a state officer, department, agency, or institution. SECTION BY SECTION ANALYSIS SECTION 1. Amends Subchapter A, Chapter 551, Government Code, by adding Section 551.0015, as follows: Sec. 551.0015. CERTAIN PROPERTY OWNERS' ASSOCIATIONS SUBJECT TO LAW. (a) Provides that a property owners' association (association) is subject to this chapter (Open Meetings) in the same manner as a governmental body if all of the following apply: _membership in the association is mandatory for owners or for a defined class of owners of private real property in a defined geographic area; _the association has the power to make mandatory special assessments for capital improvements or mandatory regular assessments; and _the amount of the mandatory special or regular assessments is or has ever been based in whole or in part on the value at which the state or a local governmental body assesses the property for purposes of ad valorem taxation under Section 20 (Fair Cash Market Value Not to Be Exceeded; Discounts for Advance Payment), Article VIII (Taxation and Revenue), Texas Constitution. (b) Provides that an association's governing body and committee and members of both of those entities are subject to this chapter in the same manner as a governmental body's governing body and committee and members of both those entities. SECTION 2. Amends Subchapter A, Chapter 552, Government Code, by adding Section 552.0035, as follows: Sec. 552.0035. CERTAIN PROPERTY OWNERS' ASSOCIATIONS SUBJECT TO LAW. Provides that an association is subject to this chapter (Public Information) in the same manner as a governmental body if all of the following apply: _membership in the association is mandatory for owners or for a defined class of owners of private real property in a defined geographic area; _the association has the power to make mandatory special assessments for capital improvements or mandatory regular assessments; and _the amount of the mandatory special or regular assessments is or has ever been based in whole or in part on the value at which the state or a local governmental body assesses the property for purposes of ad valorem taxation under Section 20 (Fair Cash Market Value Not to Be Exceeded; Discounts for Advance Payment), Article VIII (Taxation and Revenue), Texas Constitution. SECTION 3. Effective date: September 1, 1999. Makes application of Section 551.0015 prospective. SECTION 4. Emergency clause.