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.