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Senate Bill 902 |
Senate Author: Fraser |
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Effective: See below |
House Sponsor: Callegari |
Senate Bill 902 is an omnibus bill that revises statutory provisions relating to the powers and authority of certain water districts generally, as well as to water control and improvement districts and municipal utility districts specifically.
Current law requires institutions of higher education and certain governmental entities to implement certain energy efficiency measures. Senate Bill 902 amends the Health and Safety Code to exempt from those measures the electricity consumed by a groundwater conservation district or other applicable water district for specified purposes but requires those districts to take other energy efficiency measures.
Current law prohibits the board of directors of a municipal management district from imposing a requirement for payment, construction, alteration, or dedication on certain residential property. Senate Bill 902 amends the Local Government Code to exempt from that provision a tax authorized or approved by the voters of the district or a required payment for a service provided by the district. The bill expands the projects for which a municipality is authorized to enter into a contract with a water district or a nonprofit corporation to include recreational facilities, roads and road improvements, and firefighting facilities.
Senate Bill 902 amends the Water Code to authorize certain water districts to employ or contract with certain entities to serve as district tax assessor and collector and revises statutory provisions relating to district meetings, governing board, and elections to select board members and authorize district contracts. Among other things, the bill establishes that a contract between districts to provide facilities or services is not required to specify the maximum amount of bonds or expenditures authorized under the contract under specified conditions.
Senate Bill 902 authorizes the boards of certain water districts to allow disbursements of district money to be transferred by electronic means and revises and clarifies provisions governing the issuance of district bond anticipation notes and tax anticipation notes. The bill applies the prohibition against a district issuing bonds to finance a project unless it is approved by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) only to a project for which TCEQ has adopted rules requiring review and approval.
Senate Bill 902 revises and clarifies provisions regarding charges and fees of certain water districts that are not impact fees. The bill removes the cap on the credit card processing fee a district is authorized to collect set at five percent of the amount of the fee or charge being paid. The bill increases from $50,000 to $75,000 the threshold amount of a construction, equipment, materials, or machinery contract over which a district board is required to advertise the letting of the contract and changes a notice requirement deadline.
Senate Bill 902 amends provisions relating to the establishment of a fire department by certain water districts to provide for the financing of a department with property taxes and amends related provisions to reflect this authority. The bill revises and clarifies provisions governing district peace officers.
Senate Bill 902 authorizes certain water districts to develop and maintain recreational facilities on a site acquired for the purpose of developing water, sewer, or drainage facilities and revises provisions regarding bonds to finance district recreational facilities supported by property or contract taxes in certain counties.
Senate Bill 902 requires a person, in order to be qualified for election as a director of a water control and improvement district, to be a qualified voter in the district in lieu of owning land subject to taxation in the district, in addition to other qualifications. The bill authorizes a district to finance, develop, and maintain recreational facilities even if similar facilities may be provided by a political subdivision or other governmental entity included wholly or partly in the district. The bill authorizes a district board, after bonds issued for a defined area or designated property are fully paid or defeased, to declare the defined area dissolved or repeal the designation of the designated property, after which the board must cease imposing any authorized special taxes on the property located in the defined area or on the designated property.
Current law authorizes a city to provide in its written consent for the inclusion of land in a municipal utility district that an allocation agreement between the district and the city be entered into prior to the first issue of district obligations. Senate Bill 902 specifies that the district be initially located wholly or partly outside the corporate limits of the city. The bill revises provisions relating to street and security lighting in a municipal utility district and exempts certain road and recreational facility projects from a prohibition against a district issuing bonds supported by property taxes to pay for the purchase, installation, and maintenance of street or security lighting.
Senate Bill 902 removes acquisition of facilities by a municipal utility district as a prerequisite to authorizing the substituting of land of equal value within the district and clarifies that the bond prerequisite pertains to bonds payable from property taxes. The bill, in regard to the addition and exclusion of district territory and the impairment of the security for payment of district obligations, provides for the meaning of the taxable value of included land. The bill makes these provisions relating to the substituting of land of equal value and the impairment of a security effective May 18, 2013.
Except as otherwise provided, Senate Bill 902 takes effect September 1, 2013.