SB 400
by Sen. Lonnie Paxton, modifies population requirements to allow county commissioners to assist with municipal street and road maintenance and repairs. This bill is scheduled to be heard on Thursday, February 28 in the Senate General Government Committee. The time is
now
for these Senate Members to hear from you!
• A portion of the Gross Production Tax (GPT) paid by oil & gas is set aside and distributed to
counties
for the purposes of repairing and maintaining roads.
• Tell your legislators that this bill simply changes the law to say a county
“MAY”
distribute GPT funding to municipalities to address road repair caused by oil and gas trucks and equipment. There is no other significant change in the law.
• Millions of dollars of damage have been caused to
municipal
roadways by oil & gas trucks and equipment. State law does not distribute
any
of the GPT to municipalities, but SB 400 could help change that.
• The oil & gas industry is paying taxes to repair roads, but state law has created massive barriers to allowing the tax revenue to come directly to the municipalities impacted. As a result,
municipal residents must pay additional taxes to repair the damage
.
• For municipalities over 5,000 in population, the county may
"choose"
to assist with roads if the municipality has levied a sales tax dedicated to streets. However, because the law is silent as to what counties with less than 150,000 in population
“may”
do, counties are claiming they are prohibited from helping these municipalities.
•
SB 400
merely adds language to the statute to allow for those counties with a population of less than 150,000 to enter into an agreement
if the counties choose
to assist with roads; it additionally eliminates the municipal population cap.
