Texas Almanac, 1947-1948 Page: 76
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6 TEXAS ALMANAC -1947-1948.
Article IX.-(Continued.); Article X.
subdivision (which is a governmental agency
and embraced within the boundaries of the
county) be transferred, either as to some or
all of the functions thereof, and yielded to the
control of the administrative body of the
county. No such transfer or yielding of func-
tions may be effected, unless the proposal is
submitted to a vote of the people, and, un-
less otherwise provided by a two-thirds vote
of the total membership of each house of the
Legislature, such a proposal shall be sub-
mitted as a separate issue, and the vote
within and without any such city, town, dis-
trict, or other defined governmental entity,
shall be separately cast and counted, and
unless two thirds of the qualified votes cast
within the yielding defined governmental en-
tity, and a majority of the qualified votes
cast in the remainder of the county, favor
the proposed merger, it shall not be effected.
In case of the mergers hereby authorized,
without express charter provision therefor,
In so far as may be required to make effec-
tive the object of the proposed merger, the
county shall succeed to all the appropriate
lawful powers, duties, rights, procedures, re-
strictions and limitations which prior to the
merger were reposed in, or imposed upon,
the yielding governmental agency. Particu-
larly, it is provided that the power to create
funded indebtedness and to levy taxes in
support thereof may be exercised only by
such procedures, and within such limits, as
now are, or hereafter may be, provided by
law to control such appropriate other govern-
mental agencies were they to be independ-
ently administered. Such mergers may be
effected under proposed contracts between
the county and any such yielding govern-
mental agency, to be approved at an election
as hereinbefore provided for. In order to in-
crease governmental efficiency and effect
economy the county may contract with the
principal city of the county to perform one
or more of its functions, provided such con-
tracts shall not be valid for more than two
(2) years.
b. In case of the partial or complete merger
of the government of a city operating under a
home rule charter, with the government of a
county operating hereunder, those city char-
ter provisions affected thereby shall cease
to control, and the county charter provisions
shall control.
c. When any embraced incorporated city or
town elects to merge its governmental func-
tions with those of the county under the pro-
visions hereof, such charter may provide for
defining or redefining the boundaries of such
cities and towns, provided, however, that in
defining or redefining the boundaries of such
cities and towns, such boundaries may be
extended only to include those areas con-
tiguous to such cities as are urban in char-
acter, and as to such cities or towns and for
the benefit thereof the county, in addition
to the primary city and county tax herein
authorized and any other lawful district tax,
may levy and collect taxes upon the property
taxable within such city or town as defined
or redefined, within the limits authorized by
Sections 4 and 5 of Article XI of this Consti-
tution (or any amendment thereof), for in-
corporated cities according to the population,
rovided that no tax greater than that exist-
ng at the time of such merger or for any
added purpose shall be imposed upon any
such city or town unless authorized by a
majority of all votes cast by the resident
qualified voters of such city or town.
d. Areas urban in character though not in-
corporated, under appropriate charter provi-
sion may be defined as such by the governing
body of the county, provided, however, that
no portion of the county shall be defined as
an urban area unless it has sufficient popu-
lation to entitle it to incorporate under the
then existing laws of the State; and no suchurban area, when created, shall be vested
with any taxing or bonding power which it
would not possess if it were operating as a
separate incorporated unit under the then
existing constitutional and statutory provi-
sions of this State; and provided further that
the governing body of the county for the
government of such areas shall have and
exercise all powers and authority granted
by law to the governing bodies of similar
areas when separately incorporated as a city
or town, and such areas shall be subject to
additional taxation within the same consti-
tutional limits as control taxation for a city
or a town of like population. Likewise such
charter may provide for the governing board
of the county subject to existing constitu-
tional and statutory provisions to define,
create and administer districts, and have and
exercise the powers and authority granted
by the Constitution and laws relative to the
same.
(7) No provision of this Constitution incon-
sonant with the provisions of this Section 3,
of Article IX, shall be held to control the
provisions of a charter adopted hereunder,
and conforming herewith. Charters adopted
hereunder shall make appropriate provision
for the abandonment, revocation, and amend-
ment thereof, subject only to the require-
ments that there must be a favoring majority
of the vote cast upon such a proposal, by
the qualified resident electors of the county;
and, no charter may forbid amendments
thereof for a time greater than two (2) years.
The provisions hereof shall be self-executing,
subject only to the duty of the Legislature
to pass all laws (consistent herewith) which
may be necessary to carry out the intent and
purpose hereof. Further, the Legislature shall
prescribe a procedure for submitting to deci-
sion, by a majority vote of the electors,
voting thereon, proposed alternate and elec-
tive charter provisions.
[Note.-The foregoing Sec. 3 of Art. IX, an
amendment, was added to the Constitution for
the purposes of providing for county government
under home rule charter, when of stated popula-
tion, making permissible consolidation of city and
county governments under stipulated conditions;
and for other stated purposes Submitted by the
Forty-Third Legislature (1933), and adopted in
an election Aug. 26, 1933.]
ARTICLE X.-RAILROADS.
Sec. 1. Railroads Connecting at State Lines;
Crossing; Continuous Lines.-Any railroad
corporation or association organized under
the law for the purpose shall have the right
to construct and operate a railroad between
any points within this State, and to connect
at the State line with railroads of other
States. Every railroad company shall have
the right with its road to intersect, connect
with or cross any other railroad; and shall
receive and transport each the other's pas-
sengers, tonnage and cars, loaded or empty,
without delay or discrimination, under such
regulations as shall be prescribed by law.
Article [Sec.] 2. Public Highways; Com-
mon Carriers; Duty of the Legislature; Fix-
ing Rates.-lRailroads heretofore constructed
or which may hereafter be constructed in this
State are hereby declared public highways
and railroad companies common carriers. The
Legislature shall pass laws to regulate rail-
road freight and passenger tariffs, to correct
abuses, and prevent unjust discrimination
and extortion in the rates of freight and
passenger tariffs on the different railroads
in this State, and enforce the same by ade-
quate penalties; and to the further accom-
plishment of these objects and purposes may
provide and establish all requisite means and
"Explanatory Note.-The legislative resolution
submitting this amendment erroneously used the
word, "Article," instead of the usual abbrevia-
tion, "Sec " Order used above is according to
official draft of the Constitution.
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Texas Almanac, 1947-1948, book, 1947; Dallas, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth117136/m1/78/: accessed April 24, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.