By: Rangel H.B. No. 2164
73R6377 T
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-1 AN ACT
1-2 amending Chapter 616, Acts of the 72nd Legislature, Regular
1-3 Session, 1991, by increasing the number of counties to which it
1-4 applies and making provision for a county utility board to operate
1-5 and manage certain utilities.
1-6 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-7 Section 1. That Section 1 of Chapter 616, Acts of the 72nd
1-8 Legislature, Regular Session, 1991 (Article 717v, Vernon's Civil
1-9 Statutes), is amended to read:
1-10 "Section 1: This Act applies only to a county <with> which,
1-11 at the time of initial action under this Act, has a population of
1-12 <1,500> 10,000 or less, according to the most recent federal
1-13 census."
1-14 Section 2. That Chapter 616, Acts of the 72nd Legislature,
1-15 Regular Session, 1991 (Article 717v, Vernon's Civil Statutes), is
1-16 amended by adding a new Section as follows:
1-17 "Section 2a: (a) In lieu of the commissioners' court being
1-18 directly responsible for the entire operation and management of the
1-19 county's wastewater collection and treatment system, water supply
1-20 and distribution system, or the solid waste collection and
1-21 disposition system, any one or combination thereof, the
1-22 commissioners' court, by an order adopted at a regular meeting of
1-23 such court, may adopt the provisions of this section and make this
1-24 section applicable to the county and thereby establish a "________
2-1 County Utility System Board" as a body politic and corporate.
2-2 (b) The Board shall thereafter have the responsibility of
2-3 the day to day operation and management of such utility system or
2-4 systems which are placed under its control by the order making this
2-5 section applicable to the county which are owned or in the process
2-6 of being acquired by the county, subject to the provisions of this
2-7 section.
2-8 (c) The Board shall be composed of five directors. One
2-9 director shall be an ex-officio member of the Commissioners' Court
2-10 appointed by the court each year on the first meeting of the fiscal
2-11 year of the county and shall serve for a period of one year. Four
2-12 directors shall be designated as position 1, 2, 3, and 4, and shall
2-13 be elected by qualified voters in the county and shall serve for
2-14 two year terms. Elections will be held each September on the
2-15 second Saturday for Positions 1 and 3 on odd numbered years and 2
2-16 and 4 on even numbered years. Candidates for directors shall be
2-17 qualified voters of the county. The election shall be administered
2-18 by the County Election Administrator, or by the County Clerk if the
2-19 county does not have a County Election Administrator. The election
2-20 shall be governed by the Texas Election Code.
2-21 (d) The Commissioners' Court shall appoint members to the
2-22 board to serve until an election is held for the positions as
2-23 specified in article 2(c).
2-24 (e) The directors shall organize by the selection, for one
2-25 year term, of a president, a vice-president, a secretary and a
2-26 treasurer, provided that the secretary and the treasurer may be
2-27 combined. The person serving as secretary, treasurer and/or
3-1 secretary/treasurer need not be a member of the board of directors.
3-2 The president shall (i) preside at all of meetings of the board,
3-3 and (ii) shall be its chief executive officer and budget officer.
3-4 The vice president shall assume the duties of the president when
3-5 the president is incapacitated or absent from meetings. The
3-6 secretary (or secretary/treasurer) shall keep the records and the
3-7 minutes of the meetings of the Board. The treasurer (or
3-8 secretary/treasurer) shall be responsible for the deposit of all
3-9 revenues of the system or systems operated and managed by the Board
3-10 (for which provision is made by paragraph (h) of this section), in
3-11 a separate account or accounts with the county depository, provided
3-12 that any funds set aside for the payment or security of obligations
3-13 issued on behalf of the Board may be deposited with the paying
3-14 agent for which provision is made in the order authorizing the
3-15 issuance of such obligations. The board shall require the
3-16 execution of a bond in an amount equal to the estimated amount to
3-17 be in the hands, at any one time, of the person holding the office
3-18 of treasurer (or secretary/treasurer). The premium of such bond
3-19 shall be paid by the Board.
3-20 (f) The budget officer, with the assistance of the business
3-21 manager, shall prepare a tentative budget (showing the anticipated
3-22 revenues by sources and the expenses of the utility system and the
3-23 Board) for the ensuing fiscal year of the county and submit it to
3-24 the Board no later than June 1. The board shall schedule a public
3-25 hearing to consider the budget no later than July 1. The secretary
3-26 shall post notice of the hearing not later than ten (10) days prior
3-27 to the hearing. Said notice shall include the date, time, and
4-1 place of the hearing. The final budget shall be adopted by the
4-2 board no later than July 15 and submitted to the commissioners'
4-3 court for consideration by the commissioners' court as a part of
4-4 the county budget. If no county budget has been adopted, the
4-5 budget for the utility system or systems shall be the same as for
4-6 the preceding fiscal year, except the budget will be increased
4-7 proportionally if the prior budget was not for a complete fiscal
4-8 year. It shall be the affirmative duty of the board and the
4-9 commissioners' court to include in the budget an amount which is
4-10 sufficient to provide for the payment and security of any
4-11 outstanding obligations approved by the attorney general to the
4-12 extent such obligations are payable from the revenues of the
4-13 utility system or systems.
4-14 In the by-laws the Board shall provide procedures for the
4-15 disbursement of funds it has deposited in the separate accounts
4-16 with the county depository only after the board has determined the
4-17 funds for payment were properly budgeted, except such approval of
4-18 the board shall not be required for the transfer of funds to a
4-19 paying agent for the payment and security of outstanding
4-20 obligations approved as to legality by the attorney general. All
4-21 checks issued by the Board shall be signed by at least two persons,
4-22 one of whom must be an officer of the Board.
4-23 (g) During the period between the enactment of this
4-24 legislation and the next fiscal year, the board shall operate with
4-25 the budget approved by Commissioners' Court for the current fiscal
4-26 year.
4-27 (h) The board shall have the power to establish rates and
5-1 charges for services, fees for connections and reconnections,
5-2 security deposits, and other charges required for efficient
5-3 operation of the utility system or systems for which it has day to
5-4 day responsibility for management and operation.
5-5 (i) The Board shall have no power:
5-6 (1) to incur or issue any obligation payable, in whole
5-7 or in part, from ad valorem taxes; or
5-8 (2) to exercise the power of eminent domain.
5-9 Such power shall be vested solely in the county.
5-10 (j) The Board may provide for extensions and improvements to
5-11 the system or systems, but may not provide for the extension of
5-12 service to any area within the boundaries or extra-territorial
5-13 jurisdiction of an incorporated city, town, village or conservation
5-14 and reclamation district established under Article 16 Section 59 of
5-15 the Constitution of Texas, without the consent of the governing
5-16 body of the city whose territory is involved.
5-17 (k) With the approval of the commissioners' court, the Board
5-18 may purchase an existing privately owned wastewater collection and
5-19 treatment system or water supply and distribution system, either or
5-20 both, which supplies retail utility service to inhabitants of the
5-21 county. With the consent of the directors of a conservation and
5-22 reclamation district, the commissioners' court may assume the
5-23 outstanding obligations of a conservation and reclamation district
5-24 established within the county under the provisions of Article 16
5-25 Section 59 of the Constitution of Texas, and provide for the
5-26 abolition of such district, but the area of the former district
5-27 shall remain secondarily liable for the payment of any taxes
6-1 pledged to the payment of outstanding indebtedness of the former
6-2 district until such indebtedness has been paid off, provision has
6-3 been made for the payment of such obligations, or they have been
6-4 refunded by the county. Such taxes, if any shall be required,
6-5 shall be levied against the area of the former district by the
6-6 commissioners' court as the successor to the district.
6-7 (l) The Board may adopt by-laws, not inconsistent with the
6-8 provisions of this act to regulate its affairs and establish the
6-9 area within the county where it shall have the responsibility of
6-10 providing utility service, but in no event shall the service area
6-11 of the Board include any territory, which on the effective date of
6-12 this act, is served by another under a certificate of public
6-13 convenience and necessity during the time such certificate is
6-14 effective. The by-laws may provide for a seal for the Board.
6-15 (m) The Board shall be subject to the Open Meetings Act, the
6-16 Open Records Act, the County Purchasing Act, and the Public Funds
6-17 Investment Act of 1987, as amended (Article 842a-2, Vernon's Texas
6-18 Civil Statutes).
6-19 The Board is a "governmental unit" as such term is defined in
6-20 the Texas Tort Claims Act and all of its activities are in the
6-21 performance of an essential governmental function.
6-22 (n) The county, by the adoption of an order at a regular
6-23 meeting of the commissioners' court, may authorize the issuance of
6-24 obligations (payable in whole or in part from ad valorem taxes) on
6-25 behalf of the Board for the purpose of acquiring, improving,
6-26 repairing or extending the county's wastewater collection,
6-27 treatment system, water supply and distribution system, or the
7-1 solid waste collection and disposition, either or any combination
7-2 of the three, but if the obligations are payable from ad valorem
7-3 taxes and revenues, the board must also approve the issuance of the
7-4 obligations. If obligations are to be issued for one or more of
7-5 such purposes and are to be payable solely from the gross revenues
7-6 of the system or systems, the board, by resolution, may authorize
7-7 their issuance. Nothing herein shall prohibit an appropriation by
7-8 the county of any available funds for assistance in the maintenance
7-9 or operation of the system or systems, but no agreement or pledge
7-10 to do so beyond the then current fiscal year shall be effective
7-11 unless there is compliance with the provisions of Article 11,
7-12 Section 7 of the Constitution. The provisions of Chapter 271 of
7-13 the Local Government Code, the Bond Procedures Act (Article 717k-6,
7-14 Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes); Chapter 784, Acts of the 61st
7-15 Legislature, Regular Session, 1969, as amended (Article 717k-3,
7-16 Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes); Chapter 503, Acts of the 54th
7-17 Legislature, Regular Session, 1955, as amended (Article 717k,
7-18 Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes); Chapter 656, Acts of the 68th
7-19 Legislature, Regular Session, 1983 (Article 717q, Vernon's Texas
7-20 Civil Statutes), Chapter 3, Acts of the 61st Legislature, Regular
7-21 Session, 1969, as amended (Article 717k-2, Vernon's Texas Civil
7-22 Statutes), and Section 2 to 9 of this Act shall apply to and govern
7-23 the county and the Board when operating under this Section except
7-24 that the maximum maturity of any obligation issued under this
7-25 Section shall be 40 years.
7-26 (o) Each member of the Board shall be entitled to
7-27 reimbursement of actual expenses incurred in the conduct of the
8-1 business of the Board and a fee for each meeting attended as
8-2 established by the Commissioners' Court."
8-3 Section 3. All actions heretofore taken by or on behalf of
8-4 the commissioners court of a county in the acceptance of grants for
8-5 the construction of a water supply and distribution system or a
8-6 wastewater collection and treatment system, either or both, or the
8-7 acceptance of a conveyance of such a system or systems, and in each
8-8 situation, all actions taken by or on behalf of the county since
8-9 the acquisition of such a system or system (including the operation
8-10 thereof) are hereby ratified, confirmed, and validated. This
8-11 section does not validate any action which is the subject of
8-12 litigation upon the effective date of this act.
8-13 Section 4. The importance of this legislation and the
8-14 crowded condition of the calendar in both houses of the legislature
8-15 create an emergency and imperative public necessity that the rule
8-16 requiring bills be read on three several days in each house be
8-17 suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended, and this act shall
8-18 take effect and be in force from and after its passage, and it is
8-19 so enacted.