HBA-SEP, CBW H.B. 122 77(R)    BILL ANALYSIS


Office of House Bill AnalysisH.B. 122
By: West, George "Buddy"
Land and Resource Management
2/15/2001
Introduced



BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE 

Current law provides that before land owned by a political subdivision of
the state may be sold or exchanged for other land notice to the general
public of the offer of land for sale or exchange must be published.  In
many cases, nonprofit entities have difficulty acquiring the property
because they are outbid by other public or private entities.  House Bill
122 permits a municipality to transfer property to a nonprofit organization
without complying with existing notice and bidding requirements.   

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. 

ANALYSIS

House Bill 122 amends the Local Government Code to authorize a municipality
to transfer real property or an interest in real property to a nonprofit
organization without complying with existing notice and bidding
requirements for a political subdivision of the state or other law.  The
bill requires that consideration for the transfer be in the form of an
agreement between the parties that requires the nonprofit organization to
use the property in a manner that primarily promotes a public purpose of
the municipality.  The bill requires that the municipality transfer the
property by an appropriate instrument of transfer.  The bill provides that
the instrument of transfer must  include a provision that requires the
nonprofit organization  to use the property in a manner that primarily
promotes a public purpose of the municipality and indicates that failure to
use the property in such a  manner at any time will result in the property
automatically reverting to the  municipality.  

EFFECTIVE DATE

On passage, or if the Act does not receive the necessary vote, the Act
takes effect September 1, 2001.