Sec. 49.306. ANNEXATION OF PROPERTY. (a) The commissioner shall annex property detached under Section 49.305 to school districts eligible for annexation in accordance with this section. A school district is eligible for annexation of property to it under this subchapter only if, before any detachments or annexations are made in a year, the district's taxable value of property does not exceed the value necessary to generate maintenance and operations tax revenue in the amount equal to the district's entitlement under Section 48.202(a-1)(2).

(b) Property may be annexed to a school district without regard to whether the property is contiguous to other property in that district.

(c) The commissioner shall annex property detached from school districts beginning with the property detached from the school district with the greatest local revenue level in excess of entitlement before detachment, and continuing with the property detached from each other school district in descending order of the district's local revenue level in excess of entitlement before detachment.

(d) The commissioner shall annex the parcels or items of property detached from a school district to other school districts that are eligible for annexation of property in descending order of the taxable value of each parcel or item according to the following priorities:

(1) first, to the eligible school districts assigned to the same county as the school district from which the property is detached whose total adopted tax rate for the preceding tax year does not exceed by more than $0.15 the total tax rate adopted for that year by the school district from which the property is detached;

(2) second, to the eligible school districts served by the same regional education service center as the district from which the property is detached whose total adopted tax rate for the preceding tax year does not exceed by more than $0.10 the total tax rate adopted for that year by the school district from which the property is detached; and

(3) third, to other eligible school districts whose total adopted tax rate for the preceding tax year does not exceed by more than $0.05 the total tax rate adopted for that year by the school district from which the property is detached.

(e) If the districts identified by Subsection (d) for a school district are insufficient to annex all the property detached from the school district, the commissioner shall increase, for purposes of this section, all the maximum difference in tax rates allowed under Subsection (d) in increments of $0.01 until the districts are identified that are sufficient to annex all the property detached from the district.

(f) If only one school district is eligible to annex property detached from a school district within a priority group established by Subsections (d) and (e), the commissioner shall annex property to that district until it reaches the taxable value of property necessary to generate maintenance and operations tax revenue in the amount equal to the district's entitlement under Section 48.202(a-1)(2), by annexing whole parcels or items of property. Any remaining detached property shall be annexed to eligible school districts in the next priority group as provided by this section.

(g) If more than one school district is eligible to annex property detached from a school district within a priority group established by Subsections (d) and (e), the commissioner shall first annex property to the district within the priority group to which could be annexed the most taxable value of property without increasing the district's taxable value of property to an amount that exceeds the amount necessary to generate maintenance and operations tax revenue in the amount equal to the district's entitlement under Section 48.202(a-1)(2), until that district reaches a taxable value of property necessary to generate maintenance and operations tax revenue in the amount equal to the district's entitlement under Section 48.202(a-1)(2), by annexing whole parcels or items of property. Then any additional detached property shall be annexed in the same manner to other eligible school districts in the same priority group in descending order of capacity to receive taxable value of annexed property without increasing the district's taxable value of property to an amount that exceeds the amount necessary to generate maintenance and operations tax revenue in the amount equal to the district's entitlement under Section 48.202(a-1)(2). If every school district in a priority group reaches a taxable value of property necessary to generate maintenance and operations tax revenue in the amount equal to the district's entitlement under Section 48.202(a-1)(2), as nearly as possible, the remaining detached property shall be annexed to school districts in the next priority group in the manner provided by this section.

(h) For purposes of this section, a portion of a parcel or item of property detached in that subdivided form from a school district is treated as a whole parcel or item of property.

(i) The commissioner may order the annexation of a portion of a parcel or item of property, including a portion of property treated as a whole parcel or item under Subsection (h), if:

(1) the annexation of the whole parcel or item would result in the district eligible to receive it in the appropriate priority order provided by this section having a local revenue level greater than the amount by which the product of $10,000 multiplied by weighted average daily attendance exceeds the taxable value of property necessary to generate maintenance and operations tax revenue in the amount equal to the district's entitlement under Section 48.202(a-1)(2); or

(2) the commissioner determines that annexation of portions of the parcel or item would reduce disparities in district taxable values of property necessary to generate maintenance and operations tax revenue in the amount equal to a district's entitlement under Section 48.202(a-1)(2) more efficiently than would be possible if the parcel or item were annexed as a whole.

(j) The commissioner may modify the priorities established by this section as the commissioner considers reasonable to minimize or reduce the number of school districts to which the property detached from a school district is annexed, to minimize or reduce the geographic dispersal of property in a school district, to minimize or reduce disparities in school district taxable values of property necessary to generate maintenance and operations tax revenue in the amount equal to a district's entitlement under Section 48.202(a-1)(2) that would otherwise result, or to minimize or reduce any administrative burden or expense.

(k) For purposes of this section, a school district is assigned to a county if the school district is assigned to that county in the 1992-1993 Texas School Directory published by the Central Education Agency.

Added by Acts 1995, 74th Leg., ch. 260, Sec. 1, eff. May 30, 1995.

Transferred, redesignated and amended from Education Code, Subchapter G, Chapter 41 by Acts 2019, 86th Leg., R.S., Ch. 943 (H.B. 3), Sec. 1.059, eff. September 1, 2019.