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Senate Bill 2511 |
Senate Author: Williams |
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Effective: 6-19-09 |
House Sponsor: Eiland |
Senate Bill 2511 amends the Special District Local Laws Code to create the Chambers County Improvement District No. 2, subject to voter approval at a confirmation election; to grant the district the powers conferred by general law applicable to municipal management districts and municipal utility districts, including the provision of firefighting and emergency medical services; and to authorize the district to issue bonds and impose taxes. The bill authorizes the district to exercise the powers of a Type B development corporation, and all or part of the district's area is eligible for inclusion in a tax increment reinvestment zone, a tax abatement reinvestment zone, an enterprise zone, or an industrial district. The bill grants the district the power to undertake certain road projects, but bonds for road projects require approval by a two-thirds majority of those voting in a district election, and the bonds or other obligations for such projects may not exceed one-fourth of the assessed value of the real property in the district. The bill authorizes the district to grant an abatement for a tax or assessment and prohibits the district from imposing an impact fee or assessment on specified types of utility properties.
Among other provisions, Senate Bill 2511 authorizes the district to develop or finance recreational facilities, to create a nonprofit corporation to assist and act for the district in implementing a project or providing a service, to contract for law enforcement, to establish and provide for certain economic development programs, to enter into strategic partnership agreements, and to establish defined areas or designated property to pay for projects that primarily benefit that area and do not generally benefit the entire district. The district may exercise the power of eminent domain only for the purposes and only to the extent the general law provides for a municipal utility district and subject to the limitations of such general law, but the district may not exercise that power outside the district to acquire a site or easement for an authorized road project or a recreational facility. The bill sets forth provisions on the district's authority to annex and exclude territory, as well as a municipality's authority to annex district territory. Provisions of the Water Code relating to contracts for construction work apply to the district, but Local Government Code provisions relating to competitive bidding on certain public works contracts do not. The bill requires that the district be treated as a municipal utility district situated wholly within Harris County for the purposes of any applicable evaluation by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality regarding the economic feasibility of the district or its projects and bonds, debt service tax rate, maintenance tax rate, or overlapping tax rate.