TCAA/TML Legal Defense Program: Amicus Briefs and Comments Filed

TCAA, in conjunction with the Texas Municipal League, files amicus briefs and comments in support of cities on many issues. To keep up to date on the status of these issues, go to https://www.tml.org/DocumentCenter/View/2332/AmicusBriefUpdate_111420.

Sales Tax/County Assistance District: RQ-0382-KP, TML and TCAA filed comments in support of the City of Odessa’s request for an attorney general opinion. Ector County created a county assistance district (CAD) without notifying the city or the city’s EDC, as required by Local Government Code section 387.003(b-1). The county argued that it could do so because its election excluded all territory within the municipal limits of the City of Odessa. The city completed a voluntary annexation of a portion of its ETJ in the proposed CAD after the election creating the CAD, but before the CAD’s sales tax went into effect. TML and TCAA argued that: (1) the county’s failure to provide notice renders its election void; (2) the county’s decision to exclude the city means that it excludes the city as it exists in the future, including future annexations into its ETJ; and (3) the county’s exclusion created a contract under article 1, section 16 of the Texas Constitution with the voters to exclude the city’s boundaries, including future boundaries. The comment letter was filed on November 6, 2020.