HBA-CMT H.B. 1735 77(R)    BILL ANALYSIS


Office of House Bill AnalysisH.B. 1735
By: Allen
County Affairs
3/5/2001
Introduced



BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE 

The Dallas Nature Center manages 630 acres of land belonging to Dallas
County, the City of Dallas, and the Dallas Nature Center along the Mountain
Creek Escarpment in southwest Dallas County.  The Nature Center is a
non-profit entity that has managed this land since 1975, providing marked
walking trails and educational classes as well as other interpretive
features such as the butterfly garden and the newly installed prairie dog
area.  House Bill 1735 authorizes certain  non-profit nature centers to
charge an admission fee. 

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 1735 amends the Local Government Code to authorize the board of
directors of a not-for-profit entity that maintains county and municipal
park property abutting property that is owned by  the entity and operated
as a nature center to charge an admission fee that is approved each year by
the county and the municipality, and that does not exceed $3 per day for an
adult and $1 a day for a child younger than 13 years of age.  Any fees
collected are to be used only to provide educational programs conducted on
county and municipal property, or to maintain or construct improvements to
the property.  The bill requires the fees collected to be audited annually
by an independent auditor, and all audit reports to be submitted to the
county and municipality once completed.  The provisions of this bill apply
only to a county with a population of 1.8 million or more. 

EFFECTIVE DATE

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