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HomeMy WebLinkAbout025115 RES - 11/19/2002A RESOLUTION ADOPTING THE CITY OF CORPUS CHRISTI'S LEGISLATIVE PROGRAM FOR THE SEVENTY-EIGHTH SESSION OF THE TEXAS LEGISLATURE AND FOR THE UNITED STATES CONGRESS. WHEREAS, the 78th Texas Legislature convenes in January 2003; and WHEREAS, the Texas Legislature and the United States Congress will consider many measures that may affect the City of Corpus Christi; and WHEREAS, it is necessary to provide guidance for City officers and representatives in conducting the City's legislative efforts and relations. NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF CORPUS CHRISTI, TEXAS: SECTION 1. The City Council adopts the Legislative Program, which is attached to and incorporated into this resolution. SECTION 2. This Legislative Program remains in effect until amended by the City Council. SECTION 3. The City Manager is directed to distribute this Legislative Program to the local legislative delegation and solicit their advice and support. ATTEST: THE CITY OF CORPUS CHRISTI Armando Chapa City Secretary APPROVED: (/~ day of S~muel L. I~al Jr. Mayor 2002. Corpus Christi, Texas ,2002 The above resolution was passed by the following vote: Samuel L. Neal Jr. Brent Chesney Javier D. Colmenero Henry Garrett William Kelly Rex A. Kinnison John Longoria Jesse Noyola Mark Scott CITY OF CORPUS CHRISTI Legislative Program 78th Legislative Session including Federal Legislation November 19, 2002 INTRODUCTION Prior to the commencement of each legislative session, the City of Corpus Christi staff, working with input from the City Council, other local interests, Texas Municipal League, and other cities, prepares a recommended legislative program for City Council consideration and approval. The legislative program, after consideration and approval by the City Council, is then transmitted to our local legislative delegation and forms the basis for the City's activities during the 140 days of the session. In each legislative session, the number of bills that are introduced is massive. For example in 2001, 5,712 bills were introduced, over 1600 actually passed, with approximately 1,200 of the bills City-related, of which slightly more than 150 passed. Unfortunately a large percentage of the efforts by cities are necessarily directed at simply stopping bad pieces of legislation which would negatively affect cities. Over the past few legislative sessions, the City of Corpus Christi, with the tremendous support and action of our local legislative delegation, has had very good success in not only stopping bad bills which would negatively impact us, but also in the passage of legislation which very positively affects us. For example, in the 1999 legislative session, a serious assault on cities' annexation powers was successfully defeated, while at the same time, the City, through our local legislative delegation, was able to fund expansion and renovation of the Convention Center, provide liability protection for our Latchkey Program, acquired the official designation of the Museum of Science and History as the Texas Maritime Repository, and funding of the local Estuary Program, among a number of other issues. In the last session (2001), the City had a number of wins. Legislation was passed that: 1) allows cities to use design build 2) allows creation of Fire Control and Prevention Districts 3) desalinated water was exempted from interbasin regulations 4) water development grants to cities allowable for desal efforts In addition, virtually all harmful bills were defeated. The upcoming 78th legislative session will undoubtedly consider many issues that are detrimental to cities, and will be extremely complex because many of the long-term committee chairmen chose not to run for reelection, and the State's financial position appears bleak. As in the past, the City anticipates working very closely with our local legislative delegation. In addition, we will work with the Texas Municipal League as well as the very active legislative lobbying group of the eight largest cities (this latter group meets once a week during the legislative session with TML staff to coordinate action.) The following legislative program is broken down into sections each representing a major part of municipal government beginning with a general statement of policies and procedures. 1 A separate section of Federal legislation issues is included at the end of the program and is considered to be a part of our overall legislative effort. The communication of this legislative program is carried out on a day to day basis by the Special Assistant to the City Manager, with substantial assistance from the City Attorney and his staff under the general direction of the City Manager after approval of the program by the City Council. The Mayor and City Council Members, as well as City staff including the Police and Fire Chiefs, members of the City Attorney's Office, and departments heads are called upon to testify in Austin and in Washington, on a case by case basis. 2 I. GENERAL POLICY AND PROCEDURES a. The City will support legislation and administrative actions that: 1. Will protect and enhance City revenues. 2. Reduce costs to the City. 3. Provide for more local control. 4. Protect those policies previously established through the Charter, ordinances, resolutions, and master plans. 5. Provide increased educational opportunities for the citizens of Corpus Christi and the region. b. The City will oppose legislation or administrative actions that: 1. Undermine the principle of home rule and local self-government. 2. Result in the loss of revenue growth to the City. 3. Diminish the authority of cities to regulate and manage their growth and development. 4. Nullify or undermine the City's policies contained in existing provisions of the Charter, ordinances, resolutions, and master plans, unless such changes expand the City's ability to manage its own affairs. 5. Diminish any existing authority of cities. 6. Impose mandates that require any expenditure by the City unless all costs of same, including administrative as well as direct out-of-pocket costs, are fully reimbursed by the mandating government. c. The City Council will determine the City position on all legislative issues, d. The City's Boards, Commissions, and Advisory Groups may not represent in oral testimony or in writing a position on proposed legislation or administrative action unless that position is first approved by the City Council. e. Positions on legislative or administrative matters originating outside of the City Council, but within the City's governmental framework shall be submitted to the City Manager for review prior to consideration by the City Council. 3 The legislative or administrative positions herein approved, and others separately approved by the City Council, shall be communicated to the legislative and congressional delegations, to the Legislature and Congress, in general, and/or to the appropriate legislative committees, committee members, and administrative agencies or to others by members of the City Council, the City Manager, staff persons, and consultants and others designated by the City Manager. Where possible and where there is a commonality of interest, the City will coordinate its legislative and administrative program with other political jurisdictions and provide assistance to those political jurisdictions. The city will support the legislative program of the Texas Municipal League, except to the extent it conflicts with any policy herein. It is recognized that this policy will often be implemented in the context of great numbers of voluminous proposals being considered within short time periods. City representatives, under the direction of the City Manager, shall be authorized to act on behalf of the City consistent with the necessarily broad policy concerns set forth in this policy. In this policy, items are classified under three levels of importance, Priority, Actively Support, and Endorse, as follows: Priority means that the City will actively pursue and support (or oppose, as specified) the policy including, if necessary, seeking introduction and passage of legislation. This would include purely local Corpus Christi bills, as well as very important legislation of statewide application. 2, Actively Support means the City will aggressively attempt to obtain passage of a measure if it is introduced by some other entity (or actively oppose, as specified). Endorse means that the City will make its (support or opposition) known, but will not actively pursue the issue. 4 II. FINANCIAL INTEGRITY PRIORITY Franchise Fees. The City unalterably opposes any measure which would reduce the City's existing franchise fees, the growth of those franchise fees, or its ability to charge franchise fees, and any measure which would prevent the City from requiring utilities to bear 100% of costs associated with relocations of utilities required by the City or which would impair City regulation of use of rights-of-way. Franchise fees are essential to continuation of basic services. A vote to reduce franchise fees would be a vote to increase local ad valorem taxes or reduce basic local services such as police, fire, roads, and parks, and would constitute a gift of public property for private purposes. The City also advocates legislation which would effectively hold the City harmless from any fluctuations in franchise fees. State Hotel Tax for Beach Maintenance. The City supports legislation which would provide State hotel tax funding of 1% for beach maintenance. Street Accessibility Improvements. The City supports legislation which would authorize a street use fee or other funding source to construct facilities to enhance disabled access. Clarification of Hotel Tax for Beaches. In 1999, the legislature authorized Corpus Christi to use tax revenues from hotels previously subject to a county hotel occupancy tax to clean and maintain public beaches in the municipality. The intent was to use taxes from hotels in beach areas annexed for beaches. However, this could be construed as only applying to existing hotels, which would be inequitable. This needs to be changed. ACTIVELY SUPPORT Delinquent Ambulance Bill Collection. Allow delinquent ambulance bills to be billed on a City's utility bill, to be paid out over time, not exceeding 10% of any monthly bill. Liability Law. The City supports legislation to reduce potential liability of municipalities and municipal employees for torts and other actions and opposes legislation which would increase such liability. Prompt Payment Statute. The City opposes legislation increasing the requirements of the prompt payment statute. Indemnity Provisions. The City opposes legislation limiting or prohibiting indemnity provisions in public works contracts. Mandated Fees. The City opposes legislation which would require a city to raise any municipal fee and remit the revenue to the state, unless use of the monies would be clearly dedicated for programs beneficial to the City. Municipal Court Failure-to-Appear Fee. The City supports legislation that enables a city to recover from municipal court defendants, who fail to appear as required by citation or court process, the city's cost of collection and administration caused by their failure to appear. ENDORSE Appraisal Appeals. The City supports legislation to allow cities to challenge the appraisal or appeal of an appraisal of a specific property. Municipal Court Costs. The City supports legislation which would consolidate all State court costs collectible by municipal courts into one fee payable to the State, and require that, in case of partial payments, a city and the state will split the payments until both receive the proper amount of revenue. The City opposes additional State or County fees or court costs on municipal courts. Sale of Tax Liens. The City supports legislation to authorize cities to sell tax liens. 6 III. ESSENTIAL INFRASTRUCTURE PRIORITY a. Water. Protection of Water Rights. As its highest priority, the City supports legislation to protect the City's water supply and water rights, and to enable the City to expand its water supply and rights, and strongly opposes legislation which would diminish or challenge such water supply or water rights or the City's ability to expand such. Desal Projects. The City supports legislation to provide special set-aside funding for desalination programs and projects. Free Market in Water. The City strongly supports legislation that would remove barriers to a free market between willing sellers and buyers of water and water dghts, subject to applicable laws for protection of the environment, and strongly opposes legislation that would create new barriers. b= Packery Channel. The City strongly supports State assistance/legislation/efforts to facilitate the North Padre Island Storm Damage and Governmental Restoration Project. ACTIVELY SUPPORT c. Transportation. Resources. The City strongly supports legislation assuring the equitable allocation of transportation resources from the State. Funding for Construction and Maintenance. The City supports legislation that would increase the level and availability of state transportation funding for construction and maintenance. Streamlining: The City supports legislation that would streamline the Texas Department of Transportation to make it more effective and efficient. City Streets/Maintenance. Maintenance of City streets throughout the State is chronically under funded. The City strongly supports legislation which would allow cities to have additional local revenue sources specifically earmarked for street maintenance. Supply of Surplus Materials. In 2001, the State legislation authorized TxDOT to provide surplus materials such as salvaged passing to cities. The City supports continuation of this position. 7 IV. COMMUNITY PROTECTION AND DEVELOPMENT PRIORITY Development. The City strongly opposes legislation which would erode municipal authority to regulate development for the public safety, health and welfare, including, but not limited to, locations of manufactured housing, annexation, condemnation, platting, zoning, extraterritorial jurisdictions and building and housing codes. Marine Archeological Repository Funding. The City supports legislation which at a minimum provides equitable funding to the City's Museum from any state allocation of funds for marine archeological repositories. Regulation of Location of Manufactured Housing. The City opposes legislation that would erode the authority of cities to regulate the location of manufactured housing. Annexation Authority. The City opposes legislation that would erode current annexation authority. ACTIVELY SUPPORT e= Affordable Housing. The City supports affordable housing initiatives which do not undermine the City's regulatory authority to 3rotect the public health, safety, and welfare. Building Codes. The City supports maintaining and expanding municipal authority to select building codes and make local amendments as determined by local city councils, and opposes legislation eroding such authority such as by mandating adoption of particular codes. Historic Courthouse Preservation. The City supports full State funding for preservation of historic courthouses for which preservation is feasible. Nuisance. The City supports legislation to strengthen municipal enforcement authority with respect to nuisances. Condemnation Authority. The City opposes legislation that would erode condemnation authority. Dune Protection. The City supports city administered dune protection within city limits and cities' ETJ. 8 ENDORSE Electrical Licensing. The City opposes legislation which would impose a statewide electrical licensing law. Alcoholic Beverage Regulation. The City supports legislation to protect and strengthen city authority to regulate alcoholic beverage sales and consumptions. Group Homes. The City supports legislation to protect and strengthen city authority to regulate group homes. 9 V. CHILDREN AND YOUTH PRIORITY Juvenile Crime. The City supports legislation to reduce crime and delinquency among children and youth, to promote their development and well-being, and continued funding of CYD programs. 10 VI. EDUCATION PRIORITY Higher Education. The City supports legislation to advance and obtain sufficient support for education in this area, especially legislation to enable Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi to operate as a strong and viable four-year university, including special item funding; and legislation to insure adequate funding for the operation and programs of the Del Mar Junior College District, including Full Formula Funding. Support of Local School Districts. In general, the City supports the legislative programs of local school districts leading to enhancement of educational opportunities for citizens of Corpus Christi. ACTIVELY SUPPORT South Texas/Border Initiative. The City supports continued funding of the South Texas/Border Initiative. 11 VII. PUBLIC SAFETY AND HEALTH PRIORITY Fire Control and Prevention District. The City supports legislation permitting 1/8¢ over the 2¢ local Sales Tax cap for Fire Control and Prevention Districts. Child Safety Registration Fee. The City supports legislation to amend current law to increase the optional vehicle registration fee for child safety from $1.50 to $3.00 and to allow cities to impose the fee. CHIPS. The City strongly supports continuation and expansion of the Children's Health Insurance Program and the simplification of enrollment and program eligibility. ACTIVELY SUPPORT Pawnshops. The City supports legislation which would 1) require licensed pawnshops to provide electronic access to local law enforcement agencies of all pawn transactions, 2) and which would protect and strengthen cities' authority to regulate pawnshops. Liability Limit Outside of Jurisdiction. The City supports legislation that would limit liability against City emergency service providers when requested to provide service on an emergency basis in another jurisdiction. Photographic Traffic Signal Enforcement: The City supports legislation that would allow cities to effectively employ photographic traffic signal enforcement. 911 Emergency Service Systems. The City opposes legislation which would hinder the City's operation of its 911 system, which would inequitably affect the Corpus Christi area on 911 funding, or which would limit its ability to charge a fee for 911 services. Crime and Fire Control and Prevention District. The City supports changing the statute to use the City sales tax base for a City-created Crime or Fire Control and Prevention district so that City sales taxes are administered consistently. Animal Vaccinations at City Health Facilities. The City supports legislation that would permit City employees to vaccinate animals at City animal shelter facilities. 12 ENDORSE Community Service for Minors. The City supports legislation to eliminate the requirement that mandatory community service imposed on a minor convicted of certain alcohol or tobacco offenses be alcohol or tobacco-related. Impoundment of Uninsured Vehicles. The City supports legislation to authorize the impoundment of motor vehicles that are not covered by insurance. Felony Forfeitures. The City opposes legislation which would detrimentally change the existing felony forfeiture statute. Peace Officers. The City opposes legislation to authorize additional entities to employ and commission peace officers. The City opposes legislation that would restrict its ability to maintain specialized peace officers outside the Police Department and legislation applicable to the Police Department. 13 VIII. UTILITIES PRIORITY Electric Industry Deregulation. The City supports continued electric industry deregulation legislation but only if it (1) fully preserves municipal authority over rights-of-way or other public property and (2) fully preserves municipal authority to impose a right-of-way fee that: (a) equal to that received prior to competition (b) increases with growth; (c) ensures that all citizens will benefit through lower rates; (d) assures that electric system reliability and service quality will be maintained at standards equal to or better than the reliability and service standards which exist today; (e) allows cities to serve as aggregators; (t~ provides checks and balances against concentration of market power through takeovers, mergers, acquisitions, or other means; (g) protects the ability of a municipally owned utility (MOU) to operate profitably, continues to exempt MOU's from regulation by the Public Utility Commission, and protects the financial integrity of any city; (h) holds a city harmless over time vis-a-vis revenue. Electric Franchise Base Date. The City supports changing the electric franchise tax base to 2001, indexed for inflation, and flexible rules for negotiating above the base. Right-of-Way Control. The City opposes legislation which would erode the authority of cities to manage and control their rights-of-way and other public property. ACTIVELY SUPPORT Underground Facilities Notification. The City opposes legislation that would amend the Underground Facilities Statute to 1) raise the $1.25 cap on the fee paid by a facility operator, 2) levy a fee on an excavator, 3) raise the registration fee unless the fee is determined on a more equitable basis, and 4) require mandatory participation by cities as Class B operators. Sections 401 and 404 Certifications. The City supports legislation that, with regard to Sections 401 and 404 certifications (Clean Water Act), would prevent the Texas Natural Resource Conservation Commission (TNRCC) from expanding the scope of its activities beyond that required by law. 14 IX. ENVIRONMENT PRIORITY Air Quality. The City supports continued allocation of financial resources for near non-attainment areas, which is essential for those communities striving to remain within federal guidelines for air quality. National Estuary Program. During the last legislative session, the City of Corpus Christi actively supported State funding of the local National Estuary Program. It is an important priority that the program continue to be funded, possibly at an elevated level. Regional Water Planning. The City supports continued funding of regional water planning. ACTIVELY SUPPORT Parks and Recreation. The City supports additional funding for State grants to cities for park acquisition and development. Beach Cleaning. The City supports full State funding of the beach cleaning program. Oil Spill Response Program. The City supports continued and expanded State support for the Oil Spill Response Program and the location of a major center in the Corpus Christi area. Drainage/Stormwater. The City opposes further unfunded mandates with respect to drainage and stormwater, and supports increased State programs to assist in solving such problems. Solid Waste. The City supports legislation that would enhance its ability to maintain adequate funding for the operation of its present and future landfills or that would strengthen city authority over landfill operations, and the City opposes legislation that would undermine adequate funding of city landfills, impose regulations more stringent than federal law, or erode city authority over landfill operations. Glass and Plastic Bottles. Several states have enacted State-wide container deposit laws for both glass and plastic bottles. Such a deposit system would substantially enhance litter removal from public rights-of-way in the City of Corpus Christi. The City supports a statewide deposit statute. X. PERSONNEL ACTIVELY SUPPORT Emergency Response. The City opposes legislation which would erode current municipal authority to establish standards relating to response of non-resident employees to civil emergencies or which would in any other way, erode current municipal options regarding residency policies. Collective Bargaining Law. The City opposes legislation which would broaden current law regarding adoption of collective bargaining. State Fire and Police Civil Service. The City supports amending the State Fire and Police Civil Service law to: (1) remove age limits for hiring; (2) permit rehiring of certified personnel within 18 months of severance without going through the full selection process; (3) clarify how many applicants are required for a promotional test to be deemed competitive; and (4) clarify information to be placed in the personnel file and the departmental file. The City supports amendments beneficial to the efficient administration of the service, and opposes amendments detrimental to the efficient administration of the service. ENDORSE Internal Investigations. The City opposes legislation which would create special employment rights for any group of public employees who may be the subject of internal investigations. Mandated Job Protection. The City opposes legislation that would erode the employment-at-will doctrine. 16 Xl. ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT PRIORITY Military. The City supports continued funding and legislative support of the Texas Strategic Military Planning Commission and other efforts to preserve existing military bases in Texas.. b. Spaceport. The City supports efforts to procure the Spaceport for South Texas. Co Insurance Rates. Local insurance rates for homeowners and automobile coverage are some of the highest in the State. The City finds that these rates have a major depressive influence on local economic development. The City supports State legislation and/or other efforts to aggressively and innovatively reduce local rates. Ballot Language for Economic Development Sales Tax. The City supports amendment of Sections 4A and 4B of the Development Corporation Act to provide greater local flexibility in presenting projects to the voters individually or combined. ACTIVELY SUPPORT Economic Development Authority. The City opposes legislation which would erode municipal economic development authority. f. Child Care. The City supports increased, sustained State funding for child care. Texas Public Libraries. The City supports legislation that would increase support of Texas public libraries through TexShare and the Library of Texas for improved access to electronic information. E-Commerce Taxation. The City supports a level playing field for all businesses whether they are locally operating or operating through e-commerce. The City opposes any system of taxation which restricts a local government's ability to collect sales tax on commerce over the internet. ENDORSE Waiver of Agricultural Rebate. The City supports legislation which would allow a city the option of waiving the payment of three years of recalculated property taxes when agricultural land is converted to a different use. Workforce Development. The City supports local control over employment training programs, continuation of Smart Job training grants and the Skills Development Fund, and State funding for adult literacy programs. 17 Xll. EFFICIENT ADMINISTRATION PRIORITY City Election Date Statute. The Texas Election Code permits Corpus Christi to have its general election in April of odd-numbered years. This was done to avoid conflict with Buccaneer Days. The State uniform election date in the spring remains the first Saturday in May, which in odd-numbered years, conflicts with Buccaneer Days. It is not explicitly stated in the Corpus Christi Statute that this date cannot be used by the City, which could create a problem based on timing of a petition. If the date were held to be available, it could result in a general city election the first Saturday in April, a runoff the third Saturday in April, and a referendum election the first Saturday in May. It should be clarified that the May date is not available. Effective Tax Rate Calculation. The City supports legislation that would allow a city to adjust its effective tax rate calculation to account for mandated (statutorily- imposed) reductions in general fund revenue. ACTIVELY SUPPORT Sales Tax Exemption. The City opposes legislation that would enact a sales tax exemption that isn't a local option exemption. Property Tax Exemption. The City opposes legislation that would enact a property tax exemption that would shift the burden to other taxpayers and that would be a substantial erosion of the tax base. Delinquent Sale Tax. The City opposes legislation that would abolish the authority of cities to sue for delinquent sales taxes or to join in an attorney general's suit. Notification of Delinquent Amounts of Sales Taxes. The City opposes legislation that would repeal the requirement that the comptroller notify cities of delinquent amounts of sales taxes. Rate Case and Complaint Dockets. The City supports legislation that would establish the right of cities to recover expenses related to rate case and complaint dockets within a reasonable time and require utilities to recover rate case expenses out of stockholders' equity when a rate case is found to be unjustified. Water or Wastewater Permittees Fees. The City opposes legislation that would increase fees paid by water or wastewater permittees. Sales Tax Pledge. The City supports allowing the pledge of sales tax for financial obligations outside of economic development. 18 ENDORSE Open Meetings Act. The City supports legislation clearly exempting from the Open Meetings Act attendance by a quorum at public community events, and clarifying restrictions on meetings in less than a quorum. The City opposes making the Act more restrictive. Open Records Act. The City supports legislation which would clearly exempt from disclosure information on utility facilities, pipelines, and other facilities which could compromise security. Collective Bargaining Executive Sessions. State collective bargaining law for Fire and Police does not allow closed sessions on bargaining issues, except legal matters. This is detrimental to sound bargaining, and should be eliminated. 19 FEDERAL LEGISLATION/ACTION Aw Packery Channel. The City strongly supports legislation/action to continue the North Padre Island Storm Damage Reduction and Environmental Retention Project to its completion. CDBGIHOME Funding. The City has found Federal funding of the CDBG and HOME Program to be essential to the continued wellbeing and revitalization of the City. Therefore, the City strongly supports continued and increased funding for the programs. Ct Diversion to State. The City supports direct Federal funding of programs to cities and generally opposes funding to cities being routed through State government. Homeland Security. Due to greatly increased costs of local security activities, the City supports continued and increased direct Federal funding of homeland security to cities. Et Military. The city strongly supports legislation/funding/actions to maintain our local areas' military facilities as one of the City's highest priorities. Coordination with Local Agencies. Whenever possible and particularly where there is a commonality of interest, the City will support local agencies or units such as the County, RTA and the Port in their efforts to secure favorable legislation and/or funding. Protection of Right of Way Fees and Authority. The City strongly supports its traditional authority to charge rental value to private companies for the use of valuable public rights of way, and to reasonably regulate the rights of way for the benefit of the public. The City strongly opposes any dilution of its traditional authority. 2O