By: Zaffirini S.B. No. 1340

(In the Senate - Filed March 1, 2023; March 16, 2023, read first time and referred to Committee on Natural Resources & Economic Development; April 17, 2023, reported adversely, with favorable Committee Substitute by the following vote: Yeas 8, Nays 0; April 17, 2023, sent to printer.) Click here to see the committee vote

COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR S.B. No. 1340 By: Zaffirini

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to the local development agreement database maintained by the comptroller of public accounts.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:

SECTION 1. Sections 403.0246(a)(2) and (3), Government Code, are amended to read as follows:

(2) "Local development agreement" means:

(A) an agreement entered into by a municipality under Section 380.001 or 380.002, Local Government Code;

(B) an agreement entered into by a county under Section 381.004, Local Government Code; [or]

(C) an agreement entered into by a local government under Chapter 312, Tax Code; or

(D) any other agreement to grant or otherwise commit public money or other resources for economic development purposes by a local government under Chapter 380 or 381, Local Government Code.

(3) "Local government" includes:

(A) a municipality;

(B) a county;

(C) a school district;

(D) a county industrial commission under Section 381.001, Local Government Code; or

(E) [(D)] a board of development under Section 381.002, Local Government Code.

SECTION 2. Section 403.0246, Government Code, is amended by amending Subsections (b) and (c) and adding Subsection (h) to read as follows:

(b) The comptroller shall create and make accessible on the Internet a database, to be known as the Local Development [Chapter 380 and 381] Agreement Database, that contains information regarding all local development agreements in this state.

(c) For each local development agreement described by Subsection (b), the database must include:

(1) the name of the local government that entered into the agreement;

(2) a numerical code assigned to the local government by the comptroller;

(3) the address of the local government's administrative offices and public contact information;

(4) the name of the appropriate officer or other person representing the local government and that person's contact information;

(5) the name and contact information of any entity or the entity's agent that entered into the agreement with the local government, including the business address and any assumed names of the entity;

(6) the date on which the agreement went into effect and the date and terms on which the agreement expires;

(7) the focus or scope of the agreement;

(8) an electronic copy of the agreement; [and]

(9) the name and contact information of the individual reporting the information to the comptroller;

(10) the total monetary value of the agreement; and

(11) the source of the money used or type of tax implicated by the agreement, including a sales and use tax, ad valorem tax, or hotel occupancy tax.

(h) The comptroller may prescribe the form and manner in which a local government must submit information under Subsection (c).

SECTION 3. Section 312.005(a), Tax Code, is amended to read as follows:

(a) The comptroller shall maintain a central registry of reinvestment zones designated under this chapter and of ad valorem tax abatement agreements executed under this chapter. The chief appraiser of each appraisal district that appraises property for a taxing unit that has designated a reinvestment zone or executed a tax abatement agreement under this chapter shall deliver to the comptroller before July 1 of the year following the year in which the zone is designated or the agreement is executed a report providing the following information:

(1) for a reinvestment zone, a general description of the zone, including its size, the types of property located in it, its duration, and the guidelines and criteria established for the reinvestment zone under Section 312.002, including subsequent amendments and modifications of the guidelines or criteria;

(2) a copy of each tax abatement agreement to which a taxing unit that participates in the appraisal district is a party;

(3) the information described by Section 312.205(a)(1) of this code and Section 403.0246(c), Government Code, in connection with each tax abatement agreement described by Subdivision (2) of this subsection; and

(4) any other information required by the comptroller to administer this section.

SECTION 4. Subchapter A, Chapter 312, Tax Code, is amended by adding Section 312.008 to read as follows:

Sec. 312.008. INTERNET LINK TO AGREEMENT. A taxing unit that maintains an Internet website and that executes a tax abatement agreement under this chapter shall provide on the website a direct link to the location of the agreement information published on the comptroller's Internet website under Section 403.0246, Government Code.

SECTION 5. The changes in law made by this Act apply only to an agreement entered into on or after the effective date of this Act. An agreement entered into before the effective date of this Act is governed by the law in effect on the date the agreement is entered into, and the former law is continued in effect for that purpose.

SECTION 6. This Act takes effect September 1, 2023.

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